Oh great: another Italian Comedy Western that's low on laughs and everything else to boot. This is even more disappointing as it was directed by Duccio Tessari of Tony Arzenta fame, and it stars Guilliano Gemma of loads of great films fame. Sometimes these tongue-in-cheek comedies work (like Run Man Run and Fistful of Lead) but most seem to rely on lame slapstick that you've seen Charlie Chaplin do several hundred years previously. This one involves two brothers who hate each other, but who also have to spend six months living together in order to receive an inheritance from a dead Uncle. Don't ask me why. There's a bunch of bad guys who are harassing Gemma's brother who periodically turn up throughout the film to ruin Gemma's increasingly dumb attempts at crime sprees (including robbing a bank where everyone who enters the bank trips over the same step…hmm).Gemma does get to show off his trapeze skills and there's an axe fight on a train that results in an entire carriage being destroyed, but no one in their right mind is ever going to want to watch this unless they are obsessively watching their entire collections of Italian films. Ahem.Other comedies not being reviewed any time soon: My Name is Trinity, My Name is Nobody, Cry! Onion, Life is Tough, Eh, Providence, Trinity is Still My Name etc etc.

This Chorizo/Pasta Western displays noisy action , thrills , stirring adventures , shoot'em up , slapdash , and results to be pretty amusing . Two brothers , Monty (Giuliano Gemma) and Ted (Nino Benvenutti) , will inherit $300,000 from the valuable inheritance of their deceased uncle if they manage to live together for six months . This is an amusing film including booze , banks & broads! . The roguish brothers have their hands in everything , but especially on a beautiful young (Sidney Rome) who is kidnapped , she is daughter of a banker (Jorge Rigaud) to pay a huge rescue . Meanwhile , the funny couple helped by Barnds (Antonio Casas) carry out bank hold-up , assault stagecoaches , take on their nasty enemy Jim (Cris Huerta) and hoodlums (Alvaro De Luna , Simón Arriaga , Dan Van Husen , José Canalejas , among others) . This amusing , engaging movie is crammed of fist-fights , punches , kicks , moving stunt-work , colorful outdoors and lots of humor . ¨Alive and preferably dead" or "Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid" is just a mildly amusing action comedy Western , about on the level of a lesser Bambino/Bud Spencer - Tritinity/Terence Hill movie . Giuliano Gemma is top-notch as a likable freewheeling rogue , meanwhile taking on an ominous villain , Chris Huerta . This is a nice and funny juvenile story for Giuliano Gemma fans , as he's delightful and attractive . It packs action , fist-play , slapdash , humor with tongue-in-cheek and is quite bemusing . This is an acceptable S.W. full of action , shootouts , fist-play and some touches of humor in charge of Giuliano Gemma/Monty Mulligan and Nino Benvenuti/Ted Mulligan characters . They are very fine , they ravage the screen , they jump , bounds and leaps , hit and run ; plus , lots of jokes , laughs , they are a complete show , delivering a nice chemical . Gemma starred several films of all kinds of genres as ¨Master touch¨ with Kirk Douglas , ¨Stay away¨ with Amidou , as well as ¨Africa Express¨ and ¨Safari Express¨with Ursula Andress and with similar artist and technician team , but especially Westerns as ¨Arizona Colt¨ with Fernando Sancho and Nello Pazzafini and ¨California ¨ with William Berger and Romano Puppo . This release ¨Vivi or Preferibilmente Morti (original title)¨ or ¨Alive or preferably dead¨ has some cool moments and a great number of hilarious scenes , adding a wonderful Sidney Rome as the kidnapped lady in mystery . The film isn't always good , sometimes is fresh and diverting and on a couple of memorable occasions , it's frankly delicious . The movie displays innumerable laughs , jokes and slapstick . In this very mild entertainment picture appears usual secondaries seen in several Spaghetti/Tortilla Westerns , many of them uncredited in brief appearances , such as : Antonio Casas , Julio Peña , Alvaro De Luna , José Canalejas , Simón Arriaga ,Luis Barboo , Victor Israel , Dan van Husen , Julio Pérez Tabernero , Miguel Del Castillo , Rafael Albaicin and special mention for the fatty Chris Huerta . It's a co-production Spanish-Italian and , of course , shot on location in Manzanares Del Real , La Pedriza , Colmenar Viejo and Madrid surroundings , that is well photographed in Eastmancolor by Manuel Rojas , though a perfect remastering is necessary because of the film-copy is washed-out . There are many fine technicians and professional assistant direction and decent production design by Antonio Cortés , a magnificent scenario on the villages , ranch , an spectacular assault on a train and barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets . The musician Gianni Ferrio -Spaghetti Western's usual-, composes an agreeable soundtrack and well conducted and splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and lively score , including catching ballads . The motion picture written by Ennio Flaiano was middlingly directed by Duccio Tessari . This Italian writer/filmmaker Duccio Tessari so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . He wrote several Westerns as ¨A fistful of dollars ¨, ¨A train to Durango¨ , ¨Seven guns for McGregor¨ , ¨The return of McGregor¨ . He directed five Westerns with abundant touches of humor as ¨Vivi o Preferibilment Morti¨, ¨Don't turn the other cheek¨ and ¨Zorro¨ with Alain Delon and , of course , ¨Ringo¨ and sequel ¨The return of Ringo¨ at his best , mostly starred with his fetish actor Giuliano Gemma . This is a passable entertaining juvenile that will appeal to Italian comedy buffs . Rating : Average , only for Giuliano Gemma and Spaghetti/Paella Western fans.

Not all of the slapstick works, but there are more hits than misses. Frankly I think the humor and production values are better here than all but the first of "Trinity" western-comedies. The English dubbing is not "awful," as one reviewer stated. It's actually better than in many spaghetti Westerns. I liked the attention to detail in the depiction of even minor characters, like the bank employees & dishonest doctor who encases one brother in a total body cast. While I agree the American distributors were guilty of giving this film an terrible "let's cash on on a better movie" title, I don't think seeing the prelude would have added much.The picture already seems a bit too long, with a throw in the kitchen sink approach to the screen writing ("Then's let's have them try this and fail, an then this..."), when a plot more focused on one or two criminal acts might have been better. I also watched this as part of the Mill Creek 20 pack, mostly to get Monte Hellman's "China 9, Liberty 32" and "The Big Gundown" I have only found one (so far) that was truly unwatchable ("Apache Blood"). My main complaint is being deprived, in most cases, of seeing the films in the original Techniscope widescreen process (similar to Superscope but invented at Technicolor's Italian lab), which, through setting the number of frames per inch of film higher in the camera, used only half as much film as Cinemascope or Panavision did. Some complained they could see more grain in the projected image in theaters, but in many cases that worked to the film's advantage, contributing to a gritty washed out look. As with Superscope (now called Super 35), the anamorphic squeeze was done in the lab on an optical printer, enabling the directors to use normal rather than expensive anamorphic lenses in shooting these movies. Unlike Techniscope, Superscope used a normal frame in the camera, so did not save any film stock. The price of film stock was a large part of the cost of making feature movies back then. Now, with digital video, it's not an issue.

A Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I will always have utmost respect for Giuliano Gemma for his performances in genre-greats such as "Day Of Anger" (1967) and "Price Of Power" (1970) as well as in other films, such as Dario Argento's stunning Giallo "Tenebre" (1982). Duccio Tessari's "Vivi O, Preferiblmente, Morti" aka "Sundance Cassidy And Butch The Kid" of 1969, however, is certainly the worst movie I've ever seen Gemma in, an utterly silly slapstick-Spaghetti Western that tries to imitate the style of satirical SWs starring Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill, but fails. Although the movie is amusing in some parts, and certainly not a total disaster, it is just too silly and not as funny as it should be, and Gemma is probably the only good reason to watch it.Two estranged brothers, city gambler Monty (Giuliano Gemma) and Wild West farmer Ted Mulligan (Nino Benvenutti) inherit 300.000 Dollars from their late uncle, on condition that they endure to live together for six months. The two start a fight over everything, and trouble begins as soon as Monty arrives in Ted's hometown...Besides Gemma, the only other Spaghetti Western regular appearing in "Sundance Cassidy..." are Antonio Casas (who should be known to lovers of the Italian Western for his appearances in "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly", "The Big Gundown", "Face To Face", "Price Of Power", "A Pistol For Ringo" and others), and Cris Huerta ("Navajo Joe", "They Call Him Holy Ghost", "Cemetary Without Crosses"), who plays the obese leader of an outlaw gang. Apart from Gemma and Casas, and one kinda funny, recurring gag, the movie has little to offer except for very flat gags. Beautiful Sydne Rome has a supporting role, but that doesn't turn the movie into a highlight either.All things considered, "Vivi O, Preferiblmente, Morti" is kinda funny in some scenes and an acceptable time waster if you're looking for featherbrained entertainment, but the only people I would really recommend it to are hardcore-fans of Giuliano Gemma. Others, watch Bud Spencer and Terence Hill flicks instead. 4/10