SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 14
Now, I can’t quite remember exactly when I first saw W Django! (Mulargia, 1971) so I can’t remember exactly where it sits in the time line of my Steff education (my Steffucation?), but I DO know that it was whilst sitting in front of this underrated little corker from Edoardo Mulargia that I had the epiphany which comes to us all (almost), eventually. That epiphany was, of course…
“You know what? I think I… quite enjoy the performances of… Anthony… Steffen!”
…Followed understandably enough by a quick self-medical to make sure I hadn’t been hit on the head by a winch or accidentally ingested a bumbag full of magic mushrooms. But no: Enjoy it I did, and I intend to enjoy it again today (I might keep some hard drugs on standby though, just in case).
*13. Cicero: Time of Vultures
-This has been always one of my favorites, not up there in my top20 but it’s one I like to watch again occasionally. Beginning is quite weak but once Frank Wolff’s Black Tracy enters the picture it’s just pleasure. Tracy is one of my all-time favorite bad guys in the genre, epileptic psychopath and sadist. And Femi Benussi looked sooo good, too bad her role is so brief. 7/10
Took the time to watch “Inginocchiati straniero… I cadaveri non fanno ombra!” (Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows)
All I can say about it is…
I will say though it was fun to indulge in the laws of Spaghetti Land, where a man can snipe people from a hundred yards away by aiming a revolver from the hip and especially when a head shot allows for a character to not only survive for several seconds, but to speak a few final words.
So you will have noticed that I have been recording the roll and shoots etc for each of these Steff outings because they are the tropes and devices I always expect from and attach to his films. You may also have noticed that although they are pretty regular so far they have not been quite as excessive as you might expect. So why do they stick in the memory so much. Well, with 15 under my belt and 10 more to go I am starting to suspect that maybe they became more prevalent as time went on and his films became more and more formulaic and his screen persona got more locked in. We shall see. It could also just be that my expectations of Steff got locked in after watching No Room to Die. Because this baby has all the tropes in Spades and abundance. 2 dive and shoots and 2 roll and shoots (one each for Steff and Berger) are just the tip of the iceberg. We get seven, yes SEVEN, slow eye reveals from under the hat brim. Was this Garrone’s idea? You can only presume so. Was it just because he was now settled into the big hat and wanted to make the most of it? Who knows?
Whatever, this is classic cliched Steff in botox face mode and is consequently both satisfying and slightly disappointing for that. Over the first 15 films I have begun to have much more respect for Steff’s abilities and have come to suspect that a lot of his “Stiffen” performances were as much a result of direction than his ability.
Anyway, I enjoyed this one and on reading back over my old review (see below) obviously more than I did back in 2008. I still find the music jarring but it’s positives far outweigh its negatives and I had a lot of fun with it.
I read somewhere that Steffen was considered an ‘ersatz Eastwood’ when he start making Italian/Spanish westerns (so not in JF Cooper adaptation - I think it was The Deerslayer - he did in Germany). He has the same tall stature and type of face, but looks a little ‘dirtier’ (which might have been an advantage). The ‘stiffen’ performances were therefore introduced to emphasize the similarities between the actor and his model, after all Clint is not known at all for a hyperactive acting style. And yes, the rolls where ‘his’. Rollin’ rolin’ rollin’ …
I’ve learned to endure him, but to me he remains the least favorite of that circle of well-known spaghetti western leads (although i’m not a fan of Craig Hill either)
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 15
Day 15?? Halfway through SpagvemberFest 2017, already? Let us Pray! Today I’m hitting up Requiescant (Lizzani, 1967), the most fun you can possibly have with a village bell on your head. Which is better - Lou Castle’s unlikely marksmanship, Mark Damon’s scenery-chewing villainy or Riz Ortolani’s virtually perfect TWANNG, TWANG TWANG TWANGTWANGTWANGTWANGTWANG TWANG, TWANG, TWANNNNNG! score? I just don’t know. Another thing I don’t know is how this film is not in the official Top 20.
*14. Lucidi: Pecos Cleans Up
-Disappointing sequel for the cool My Name is Pecos. Woods is really great here but the villain is just stupid and too much of the film’s running time is focused on the annoying musicians. I actually had always thought that this film was made in the early 70’s because it has this really cheap look like some Fidani films and other cheapies from the era had. 4/10
*15: Mulargia: Shango
-Film with cool atmosphere and beautiful looking autumn colors. The cage scene during the titles is something that really stays in your mind even though the rest of the film isn’t that memorable. Steffen had so many dive and shoots that I lost the count. But we have Phil for this anyway.
6/10
Well made film with a great score. Nice to see it again, even if the family plot is not my bag. Couldn’t agree with the Master of the House when he called the Mistress of the House “a cheap whore”. She looked expensive to me.
Dive and Shoot = 2
Roll and Shoot = 2
Slow Eye Reveal = 0
In reading back over the film’s forum page this would appear to be among many members’ favourite Steffs. I’m not sure I can say the same. It certainly has some promising elements; PLL’s psycho kid character, Garringo’s Dirty harry approach to law enforcement, Giombino’s score… But somehow for me it never quite delivers enough on these promises and left me a bit flat by the end. This is also the second Steff I can recall so far where there is no final resolution face off between the two main protagonists. I love Raf Baldassarre but riddling PLL with bullets at the end was clearly not his job in the film. It was Steff’s. Taking it away from him gave the film a slightly anti-climactic feel for me.
Also, picky I know, but if you are going to beat the truth out of a captive bad guy it seems counter productive to give him the option of hitting you back. Just saying.
Anyway, despite all that it’s a likable enough film but won’t make my TopTen Steff list if such a thing is created.
Falls into the category ‘Not that good but gets better after watching lots of shitty spaghs’. I found an upload of the movie on You Tube that has better image quality than my French DVD.
