Yes, that’s pretty inconsistent.
The sudden emotions after he learns about the death of his sons clash with his emotionless reaction to the earlier losses.
Leone was actually not very good in creating “real” characters, and the intended Character drama in DYS does not work that good.
Steiger was a boring choice who would never have gotten that role if it wasn’t for his In the Heat of the Night Oscar.
This was disappointing on first viewing … but as the years have passed, I have a special affection for the film.
I agree with all points made here … but for me it’s like the unloved child that needs a little more respect and attention.
There’s lots of stuff wrong with it … and yet I watch it as a piece of film making history, rather than viewing it as a film on it’s own merits.
That’s very likely … as most would agree that Eli Wallach should have had the part, but perhaps he didn’t have the perceived Star Power back then ?
PS: A contact from Spain says that Steiger’s accent in the film is more Cuban than Mexican … and as an Irishman, I can guarantee that Coburn’s accent is from some mythical version of Ireland, only seen and heard in the movies.
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Coburn was a great actor, but maybe accents weren’t his thing. His “Australian” accent in The Great Escape isn’t convincing either.
Terrible! He sounded English the entire movie.
Perhaps he’d never heard a real Aussie accent in 1963 ? … Richard Harris’ attempt at Aussie at the beginning of ‘The Guns of Navarone’ isn’t much better, and there are a few real Australians in that scene … couldn’t they have coached him ? 
Yep, the studio ‘needed’ two big Hollywood stars in the roles 
that ruined Leone & Eli’s friendship.
Imo, Anthony Steffen should have been in the Steiger part and John Phillip Law in Coburn’s. Either way this Spagh sucks for me.
I do very much enjoy this film. It is, rather jarringly, a film in two halves. The anarchic joy ride John and Juan share ends at the explosion of the bridge. The proceeding melancholy scene of the Cavern Massacare is pervasive over the rest of the picture. The start of Leones dramatic panning shots and extreme close ups of the pile of bodies - with the sound of Juans gunfire going on outside- that ends with a silent, shocked John looking on at something that HE knows he played a part in - is one of the strongest and dramatic emotional scenes in Leones whole body of work. Unlike in any of his previous work, the characters and the tone of the film completely changes. It enters a zone of maturity that he unfortunately never really explored again. For me, that is the strongest part of the film.
What I do not not like about the film is the lack of exposition between the changes of location in the first half of the film. The characters change locations so much that it becomes confusing to follow - from desert, to town, to rebel camp in the forest, to train, to town. I know that this was not Leone’s fault - a lot of the film was cut to length so that more viewings could be had by the audiences in the cinema. But it gives the pre-bridge explosion part of the film a very rushed, incoherent feel.
Leone was so good in For A Few Dollars and The Good The Bad And The Ugly, at the 'road movie’e element - of physically transporting his characters across vast distances from A to B and making it entertaining, and giving the films incredible levels of continuity. Here, in Giu La Testa - this does not happen. John and Juan suddenly appear (sometimes together / sometimes not - again, something that is not explained) in a different location with no verbal or visual meaning as to why they are there. It leaves the film wanting. It could have been more.
So, what’s the best release for this movie so far? I have the Special Edition R1 DVD and the Italian Blu-ray. The mono on the R1 disc is quite poor and it has different music playing at the end. I am guessing this was one of the errors MGM made, so does that mean the mono is just a downmix of the newly created 5.1 track? As for the Italian Blu-ray, the audio is very good and sounds much louder and clearer than the DVD. It does, however, switch over into Italian language at the end, so I don’t have a definitive version yet.
Watched the Italian Blu-ray. The picture quality is better than my DVD (not sure why there were so many complaints) and the sound is excellent in comparison with the other releases, so I’m happy with this for now. Only problem is that it goes into Italian briefly in the middle and the end. Hopefully a better release will surpass it in the future.
As for the film itself, my opinion is that it is Leone’s third best. I honestly like it more than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and it’s also my third favourite spaghetti. Like with many other Zapata westerns, I do have difficulty placing this within the genre sometimes. It stops being a western after the first hour and transforms into more of a war film. It feels like a very unusual picture. Even though it was marketed as just another spaghetti western, I do think that Leone was trying to move out of the genre and create something different. Anyway, I really like what he did here and it’s a pity it isn’t appreciated as much as his other films.
The scene in the rain and the the flashbacks in the pub are excellent.
I called in to Toners pub yesterday to take a few shots - see below shots then and now.
I love these old Dublin pubs that have hardly changed over the years. The 6 beer taps in the photos are the originals (not used now).
“FIST FULL OF DOLLARS” was filmed there too? Cool.
Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing them.
I didn’t even notice the mistake on the photo!
Here are some photos to compare the movie shots to the other Irish location at Howth castle:
and these
and here is a photo that I found onlne
Coburn is thinking “Boy, I can’t wait until their next argument”
I find there is a sense of melancholy that resonates throughout this film that is not present in Leone’s other westerns, especially with the music. The deaths that occur in the film somehow feel more real to me with more emotional resonance. The flashbacks also have a somber quality to them. There is some comedy interspersed throughout like the other films, obviously. But I find at the end of the film I’m left feeling for the main characters in a different way.There is obviously some very melancholic music and scenes in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, though overall it still feels more “fun” I guess, for lack of a better term. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Duck, You Sucker is downright depressing, still there is definitely a somber feeling that I get from watching it.
I agree, it’s much closer to Once Upon a Time in America than his previous films and it doesn’t really feel like a spaghetti western to me. It has elements of a spaghetti western in the first hour but I think this is more a wartime drama. I like Duck You Sucker much more than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and I know I’m definitely in the minority but I think this is one of his most underrated films. It’s in my top three Leone films next to Once Upon a Time in the West and For a Few Dollars More.
