Duck, You Sucker (9/10): Sergio Leone's overlooked but brilliant film

“Where there's revolution there's confusion, and when there's confusion, a man who knows what he wants stands a good chance of getting it.”

With every new opportunity I get to watch a Sergio Leone film, the more I fall in love with his direction and style of film making. He is becoming one of my favorite directors of all time, and so far every film of his that I’ve seen is either a masterpiece or very close to being one. Duck, You Sucker (also known as A Fistful of Dynamite or Once Upon a Time… the Revolution), is a glorious and epic film that unfortunately has been overlooked by many. I got to experience the two and a half hour restored version of the film and all I can say is that it is incredibly entertaining. This is the second film in Leone’s Once Upon a Time trilogy although this one takes place in Mexico during the Revolution of 1913 and it is his most forgotten work probably because its squeezed in the middle of his most revered films. This was Leone’s final spaghetti western, and I only wish he had made more films like this because they are completely captivating. His classic trademarks are all included in this film beginning with his fascination for extreme close-ups contrasted with his wide angle shots, his collaboration with Ennio Morricone, whose score is always influential in the story, and his unique introduction of main characters who we don’t know for sure if they’ll be the hero or the villain. The introduction of the two main characters in this film is memorable and the chemistry both Rod Steiger and James Coburn shared together was a plus. There is very little I can criticize about this film because Leone once again had me guessing where the story was heading and what motivated each character. His spaghetti westerns always broke genre conventions and he did so once again with Steiger’s character who is an outlaw we eventually end up rooting for. Leone loves to mix things up and during some flashback scenes it becomes evident how much he has influenced modern filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.

We are introduced to Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) in the very opening scene as he is begging a traveler who is passing by to take him into town. He is mocked due to his poor man appearance but eventually is allowed into the comfortable and elegant stagecoach where some wealthy passengers are heading to America. He is treated with disdain and has to listen to all kinds of hateful and racial remarks when all of a sudden a group of bandits hold up the stagecoach. We discover that they are Juan’s bandit family, and it was all part of a well planned robbery. The victim ended up being the leader of the band and he leaves the disrespectful passengers naked in the middle of the road taking all their belongings with him. As they are celebrating their conquest, a series of explosions go off near the road and a man in a motorcycle passes by them. Juan shoots at the tire and the man suddenly stops revealing himself as John Mallory (James Coburn). Not too pleased with what the bandits did to his motorcycle he sets off an explosive in the stagecoach and threatens them. John is an Irish Republican who is wanted by the British army, but due to his expertise with explosives Juan wants to recruit him for a bank robbery and tries to convince him to stay with his family. What Juan doesn’t know is that John is really in Mexico trying to help the revolutionaries led by Doctor Villega (Romolo Valli) and isn’t interested in money. Juan unwillingly becomes a part of the revolution by trying to stick with John and that gets him into trouble with army Colonel Gunther Reza (Antonie Saint-John) and the tyrant Governor Don Jaime (Franco Graziosi). What ensues is a series of epic and confusing adventures for Juan and John. 

Duck, You Sucker is a wonderful epic film that perfectly balances the comedic moments with the action. Steiger and Coburn are excellent together and it was fun to see how they each kept on facing each other when Juan was trying to force John to do things his way. At first I didn’t really care much for Steiger’s character, but over time he grew on me. The true hero however was Coburn’s John. His entrance is as splendid as any of Leone’s introductions and he literally shows up on screen with a bang. The visuals might not have been as groundbreaking as they were in Once Upon a Time in the West, but the performances and the score truly enriched the story. What’s fun about Leone’s style is that his narratives are never straightforward and that always makes for an entertaining adventure. It is missing the usual western duels but it focuses more on building the friendship between the two leads so you can take it as a western buddy comedy of sorts more than anything else. It also has some very emotional scenes as well so Leone once again manages to squeeze different genres into this powerful film. It may not be a masterpiece, but I had a blast with Duck, You Sucker.    

Once Upon a Time in the West (10/10): A Flawless Epic Western!

"Do you know anything about a guy going around playing the harmonica? He's someone you'd remember. Instead of talking, he plays. And when he better play, he talks." 

What a pleasure it was for me to finally get to watch this masterpiece which I kept on putting off because of its nearly three hour runtime. I was blown away by Sergio Leone’s direction in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and that was the only film of his that I’d seen up to this point, but now I honestly can’t say which of the two films I prefer. This is perhaps a better film because it is set on a grander and epic scale, but perhaps not as entertaining as the other. Both films have terrific performances with memorable characters and a masterful score composed by Ennio Morricone that accompanies Tonino Delli Colli’s beautiful cinematography. Leone’s exaggerated close ups show us the dirt and the sweat coming out of these grim people’s faces and it’s juxtaposed perfectly with these extremely long shots of the vastness of the Western valley. I can’t imagine liking this film more than I already do, but it is clear that these films were made to experience them in the big screen and it’s a pity I couldn’t do so. There are also many memorable quotes in this film and I absolutely loved the screenplay. For the first 90 minutes or so I wasn’t sure what direction the movie was heading and that is what I liked about this film since it had me guessing at some of the characters motivations and where the plot was trying to go. The characters have a lot depth and not even the villain is portrayed in a stereotypical way.  Along with Unforgiven these are the three best Westerns I’ve seen so you can bet I will watch more of Leone’s spaghetti westerns in the future. 

The film couldn’t open in a more spectacular fashion as the camera follows three gunmen waiting for someone at a station. Once the train arrives, the men don’t find who they are waiting for and as they are walking away they hear someone playing a harmonica. It is the mysterious man they’ve been expecting (Charles Bronson) who asks them where Frank is. They’ve been sent to kill him, but Harmonica is too quick for their guns and finishes them off claiming they “have brought two (horses) too many.” Then we are introduced to a recently married family man who is living on his deserted property with his three children and expecting his new wife to arrive that very day, but a group of bandits led by blue eyed Frank (Henry Fonda) kills them all one by one for reasons that aren’t explained yet. The bride, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), arrives to find them all murdered and the officers find evidence that lead them to believe that the outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards) is responsible. The lives of these three men all intersect with Jill’s and as the story develops the plot and mystery unfolds.  

Sergio Leone had me engaged with the film from the very opening sequence and he sets the slow paced tone rather quickly. He takes his time to let the action unfold but thanks to the beautiful cinematography and the gripping score I was never bored for a minute. I was continually trying to guess what was going on and what the motivation of each character truly was. I was surprised that Leone decided to have Ford’s character shoot a young kid in a very early scene in the movie, and I can only imagine what a shocker that must have been for audiences during that time who were used to seeing Ford play the hero. Bronson is mysterious but it is rather obvious from the beginning what his intentions are. He still delivers a gripping performance as this mysterious character and when his backstory is finally revealed it all pays off. It was Robards’ character who had me guessing at times what his real intentions were. At first I believed he was going to be one of the main villains, but he delivers most of the funny scenes and was perhaps one of the best characters in the film. The breathtaking Claudia Cardinale may have not been given a strong female role, but she wasn’t simply a damsel in distress and she seemed to know what she was doing. Once Upon a Time in the West is not a straightforward revenge story and it blends several tones throughout the film having you sympathize with each character at different points of the story. Leone maintained the thrilling atmosphere for its entire runtime and the final showdown is rewarding. This is an epic masterpiece and a new addition to my favorite movies of all time list that I’m glad I finally had the opportunity to experience.

My Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (10/10)

¨You see in this world there`s two kinds of people my friend, those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.¨

I wonder what would`ve been of Clint Eastwood`s career if it weren`t for the ¨Dollars¨ trilogy. Before working with Italian filmmaker, Sergio Leone, he had a career as a television actor in Rawhide, a western based TV series, but he couldn`t get a decent job in Hollywood so he began to look for work abroad. He reached international success thanks to Leone`s reinvented spaghetti westerns: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966), known as the ¨Dollars¨ trilogy. He proved producers wrong because they thought that people wouldn`t pay to see movies of actors they could see for free on television, but audiences were  more than willing to see him in the big screen. His pairing with Leone couldn`t have worked out better for him since the director`s trademark was combining long wide shots with extreme close-ups. These wide shots couldn´t have been enjoyed as much on the small television sets at home. Eastwood`s rough features and manly charisma also contributed to Leone`s success, and both seemed destined to work with each other. There is no need to see the previous ¨Dollars¨ movies as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly stands out on its own and is actually a prequel since the movie takes place during the Civil War in the early 1860`s before the other plots take place and they are all separate stories that only have Clint Eastwood`s character in common. When I see Eastwood`s latest films as a director I can`t help but think how much he was influenced by the great Sergio Leone. He must have learned a great deal working with the Italian director in this masterpiece. It is just shot beautifully and to perfection by Leone, the cinematography and scenery are amazing and feel real, and the score is perfect. Eastwood may be a different director than Leone was, but he pays close detail to his craft and also knows how to shoot beautifully.

The plot is pretty simple for a movie that is about three hours long, but Leone`s use of the camera and extended shots makes the film longer. He also adds several side stories that work really well in the narrative. The film begins by introducing each character (although in the opposite order: The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good). The film begins with an extreme close up on a bounty hunter (Al Mulock) and then when we see the wide shot there are three of them who are quietly entering a bar. Once the men enter we hear three shots and out comes Tuco, also known as The Ugly (Eli Wallach), who escapes. In the next scene we are introduced to The Bad, Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), who is tracking down a peasant farmer. The scene is truly a classic as no words are spoken for about ten minutes, but the tension can be felt. Angel Eyes is actually looking for information on the location of a treasure of coins lost during the Civil War and he is told a soldier named Bill Carson has it. Finally, we are introduced to Blondie, The Good (Clint Eastwood), who saves Tuco from a group of men who want to turn him in because there is a reward on his head. Blondie saves him only to collect the reward himself, but once Tuco is about to be hanged he shoots the rope and sets him free as part of a scam in which they divide the money. They later turn against each other only to discover the location of the treasure that has been buried and the race begins to see who can get to the treasure first as the three men have different information regarding its whereabouts.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is my all-time favorite Western. Any other film in the genre will always be measured by its standards. The opening scene in which we are introduced to Angel Eyes (The Bad) is just so beautifully shot that no dialogue was needed and we were already hooked (Ennio Morricone´s amazing score can also take some credit for that). The first ten minutes have no dialogue whatsoever but it sets up the general tone of the movie: several wide shots where we can see the great landscape and deserts combining them with extreme close ups of the characters facial expressions, the tension and suspense is built with long and slow scenes and suddenly the violence happens so quickly that we are caught off guard. The film doesn`t celebrate violence, it portrays it truthfully. The main character is the quiet Blondie (The Good), but without a doubt Tuco (The Ugly) is the one who has the most lines and brings some unbalance and goofiness to an otherwise serious picture. One of the funniest scenes is when he is in the tub and one of the bounty hunter shows up to kill him but before shooting he begins the classic speech villains tend to give and Tuco pulls out his gun and fires at him saying, ¨When you have to shoot, shoot, don`t talk.¨ Tuco plays a key role and his character is kind of the gray in an otherwise black (Angel Eyes) and white (Blondie), good guy and bad guy western movie. He breaks the conventionality in the genre. The final Mexican standoff scene is also truly memorable and one of the best shot sequences. This is a truly unique film that has stood the test of time; it catapulted Eastwood into a movie star, and has influenced him on his way to becoming a great director. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is one of my all time favorite movies and is a must see film.

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