I drew no.20 from my Box O’ Fate today, and that’s a slab of fair-to-middling Van Cleefery in the form of The Grand Duel (Santi, 1972). Wow, between the lot of us this SpagvemberFest feels like it’s becoming a bit of a VanCleefyFest, doesn’t it? I’m not complaining of course. For me, LVC is the Spag Daddy. The Grand Duel is not my favourite from him by a long shot, but it’s a decent enough ride, certainly enough for it to be a Spagvember stalwart for me most years. And of course it earns a million brownie points for being a real and proper spag in the “parody spag” age. #PhilipVermeerIsInnocent
Re-watch. A slow burn SW that has a solid payoff at the finale that makes the slow burn worth it. I’m surprised it’s never been a contender for the Alternative Top 20. I’m not sure if Tanio Boccia aka Amerigo Anton had intended the film as an allegory for what gold does to the wicked, but he certainly gave that impression with the gang slowly imploding on itself as the film progresses.
I do wish Rod Dana had more screen time as Randell though, he was kinda underused in the film, though when we do see him, he’s really good as a villain. Larry Ward was pretty good as the unlikely and unusual hero in this one, and is another actor I think could’ve gone far in the genre had he stuck around a little longer.
Furio Mencioni was great as Braddock, and is extra good in the scene where he gets shot up by Rod Dana. He’s one of a few Italian character players that I felt didn’t get enough opportunities at bigger roles.
I sure do hope Koch makes this one a part of their new line in 2023 as the DVD is fine, but a new restoration wouldn’t hurt.
As usual I pick one Winnetou movie for this event. This one got Guy Madison which was a nice add. These movies require specific mood, still I’m finding them enjoyable.
Day 6: ¿Quien sabe?
Known as first Zapata western. Damiano did not agree this is a western, but it is at least a agent movie in Spaghetti style! Typical Bacalov score, two anti heroes Chuncho and El Nino, close-ups, brutally and merciless. There is Chuncho stealing guns and selling them to revolutionaries. You might think he is doing this for mexican revolution, but he is always out for himself first. And there is El Nino, a gringo with unclear goals for a long time. He manipulates people and plays them off against each other. He would sell his mother for gold. There is some kind of friendship between both. Just at the end when Chuncho realizes what disrespect El Nino shows to hard working but poor mexican people and how El Nino tricks him, Chuncho shoots him down. In a supporting role Klaus Kinski plays a choleric and shooting priest. Perfect casting!
Very enjoyable, fantastic cast, a must-see Spaghetti!
Like the title says, it is bad. It is such a shame that such a good cast goes to waste, James Mason is severely underused in particular; the film stresses its tongue-in-cheek nature insofar as it becomes distracting, which vitiates the whole effort in the process. The aforementioned drawback is not exactly remedied by the fact that the characters stay largely vague and the movie fails to establish any of them to a satisfactory degree, forcing a precipitate pace and a fleeting narrative focus with more and more turnabouts as well as set pieces being pelted at the audience.
It lacks the solid, well-rounded structure of such capers as Five Man Army and exhibits some serious issues with pacing; with its prevalent superficiality, it is reminiscent more of a pilot for a TV series than a feature-length film of a cinematic scope. Regrettably, the said faults are additionally compounded by film’s steadily accruing ineptitude and utterly horrendous soundtrack. While you can discern the higher budget in the way some shootouts are staged and whatnot, the directing and the editing are rather lame for something with such a hefty roster filled with such heavyweights. Everything appears misaligned and the overall structure feels disjointed, badly pieced together and messed up. Out of the big-budgeted spaghetti productions, it’s one of the worst works in my book.
In the end, I got pretty much the kind of farrago I had anticipated: the gallimaufry features a musical part sporting the black heroine, Lola’s character arc adumbrating some vestiges of a revenge motif, a bit of a romance/drama plotline in which Peter Martell takes part as well as more of a regular western storyline about an imperious landlord terrorizing the local town, all of which is rolled into one big flapjack of a motion picture, the final result is as flat as a flapjack too. In addition to the aforesaid so-so mixture, the movie has some middling directing plus an unremarkable soundtrack both of which affirm work’s humdrum stature.
The style is reminiscent of the kind of stuff you would see in those Americanized, early period genre examples: not particularly bad, but nothing outstandingly original or memorable either. The latter factor accounts for why this outing is not especially absorbing to watch; simply put, this whole potpourri might have worked better on the purely poppy level if it had boasted a more flamboyant rendition and finish. At the end of the day, it just gets bogged down in its stillborn attempts at fusing all these divergent themes, eventually lacking both in terms of style and substance.
It is Sunday morning so that makes it a great time for a re-watch of the Italian release of a classic. This movie is an example of film making at its best and it never fails to mesmerize me every time I watch it.
What begins as a typical revenge spaghetti western soon becomes an adventure film with epic battle scenes set in Canada. The fort action scenes are very impressive and show the film had a huge budget for such an obscure title. To my surprise, the film’s theme sounds very spag-ish. Despite that, the film is somewhat weak and doesn’t really have that spaghetti flavor.
Just like that I’ve seen every spaghetti western ever sold as a Django film, some of it was great, some of it was tortuous, most of it was alright, like this one was.
Currently at home and feeling quite ill so I don’t currently have access to the spags I had downloaded for the fest so I’m turning to rewatches of my blu-rays. Return of Sabata is such a guilty pleasure for me. I adore the goofy theme tune and I love Cleef in this one. The plot is bananas and all the characters are so silly but at the same time it also feels really well made. The great giallo-like lighting in the opening scene is fab and the film has a constant use of cool camera shots.
Seemed like the perfect Spag for a Saturday afternoon and so it proved. Always been an old favourite of mine and still remains very enjoyable in a semi bonkers way. LVC is supercool. Franco Ressel one of my all time favourite Spaggie bad guys. And a stand out scene I had somewhow forgotten when William Berger (Banjo) has a relationship commitment nightmare dream.
And so it seemed an obvious to make it a Sabata weekend and Sunday afternoon was a good fit for this one although, as is often the case with Sunday afternoons, I struggled to stay awake in places. Actually enjoyed this one more than previous despite that though although it is a long way short of the original in my book. Isabella Incontrera never looked better too.
I drew no.26 today, which means that my draw at sundown has brought me a Duel in the Eclipse: the delightfully bonkers Requiem For Gringo (Merino, 1968), featuring a host of boss-level baddies, a Tarantino-style fractured narrative, an eclipse, and a bloke in a leopard-print shawl. Grrrrrrrrrrowl!
First time watch. I have to disagree a little with @Max as I thought this was honestly an enjoyable little SW. It dragged a little in the middle, but overall I would give the film a B+. It definitely doesn’t add anything new to the genre as our @Admin said in his Blu Ray review, but Franco Rossetti tells his tale very well and uses the tropes we’ve come to love about the genre to great effect.
Andrea Giordana does a pretty good job as the title character. He’s no Franco Nero, Gianni Garko, or Giuliano Gemma, but he has a presence similar to John Garfield: that of the loner who feels like a stranger everywhere he goes and can’t seem to settle. I found it very refreshing to see Piero Lulli playing a good guy for a change, so often he played jerks and scumbags so seeing him play a loving father was a treat.
Herr Bruckner does another fine job with his company’s release of this film, the image quality is fantastic, and the audio is pretty good for its age.
A spaghetti western that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves as it has an interesting but simple story with lots of action. It has elements of old school westerns, the more violent spaghettis, and just a little The Magnificent Seven blended in for good measure. Nothing in this film is life changing by any means, but it is a whole lot of fun.
The soundtrack from John the Bastard suits the film just fine and generally speaking, the flick is pretty enjoyable though it kinda slows down towards the end and requires some fast-forwarding for an optimal experience. I’m not sure how much of it was actually directed by Fidani; while it was definitely filmed at the Cave Studios and has the same cheap look as other Fidani productions, at the same time it displays a slightly different look from a regular Fidani entry, feels slightly more conventional both visually and narratively and utilizes its recycled score to good effect instead of shoehorning it in where it saliently doesn’t belong.
That is evidently not to say it is some grand work of art, as it most certainly is not and includes plenty of habitual Fidani attractions such as bar brawls and the likes, nevertheless, the entirety of it appears slightly more consistent and cohesive in its overall flow and buildup, plus it features one tasteful fistfight in the sandpit puddle. I dunno, perhaps it was one of those times Fidani had a stroke of inspiration (or just a regular stroke and somebody took over from him). At any rate, the motion picture winds up being prepossessing enough in spite of its baseborn origins.
George Ardisson’s best western far and away and one of those hidden, cheap gems one feels lucky to excavate from the vault of cinematic history. Albeit nothing inordinately grand, film’s graceful simplicity combined with its cheapness informs the viewing with the mellow atmosphere characteristic of those lesser-known but none the less entertaining outings whose compromises as well as frugal pragmatism shaped them in some distinctive, charming ways.
It is superior to multiple more renowned entries not only by virtue of the aforementioned constituents, but also by reason of its leisurely pacing which imparts some extra character. Additionally, Ardisson turns in probably his most charismatic performance yet in that he does not appear to be reprising this or that role, pretending to be this or that spaghetti A-lister, but rather finds his own voice and produces a genuinely convincing persona in the course of film’s developments. Throw in some solid directing courtesy of Zurli as well as some decent photography and you obtain the highly enjoyable mid-tier entry which is a lot better than what its obscurity would betoken.
Day 7: Il Mercenario
Had much fun with Quien Sabe? yesterday, so decided to continue with another Zapata. New technologies, explosions, many shoot-outs and great humour (can just speak about german synchronisation here). Again I was well entertained.
…sounds like a Pokémon
