Giù la testa (1971)

Director:

Sergio Leone

Writers:

Sergio Leone (story) and
Sergio Donati (story) ...

Release Date:

29 October 1971 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Western | Action | War

Tagline:

Rod Steiger and James Coburn will blow you apart in "A Fistful of Dynamite" ("Duck You Sucker") by the master of adventure Sergio Leone

Plot:

An IRA explosives expert on the run in Mexico meets an amoral Mexican bandit; together they get drawn into the Mexican revolution.

Plot Keywords:

Deception | Once Upon A Time In The Title | Bank Robbery | Flashback Sequence | Child With Gun

Awards:

1 win

Cast

James Coburn	...	John H. Mallory
Rod Steiger	...	Juan Miranda
Romolo Valli	...	Dr. Villega
Maria Monti	...	Adelita, woman in stagecoach
Rik Battaglia	...	Santerna (as Rick Battaglia)
Franco Graziosi	...	Governor Jaime
Antoine Saint-John	...	Gutierez / Col. Günther Reza (as Jean-Michel Antoine)
Vivienne Chandler	...	John's girlfriend (flashback)
David Warbeck	...	John's friend Sean Nolan (flashback)
Giulio Battiferri	...	Miguel
Poldo Bendandi	...	Executed Revolutionary
Omar Bonaro
Roy Bosier	...	Landowner
John Frederick	...	American
Amato Garbini

Also Known As:

A Fistful of Dynamite (UK) (USA) (alternative title)
C'era una volta la rivoluzione (Italy)
Duck, You Sucker (USA)
Once Upon a Time... the Revolution

Runtime:

157 min | USA:120 min (initial US release) | USA:138 min | USA:154 min (Laserdisc version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 | West Germany:18 (nf) (original rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) (re-rating) | Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 (cut) | Norway:18 (1972) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:R (laserdisc rating) (1996)

Filming Locations:

Almería Railway Station, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Trivia:

The character of John Malloy was written for Jason Robards while Eli Wallach was first choice for Juan Miranda but the studio wanted bigger names for the two leads so Rod Steiger and James Coburn were recruited.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Use of MG42s, a machine gun developed in Germany three decades after the Mexican revolution.

Quotes:

[John opens his coat to reveal the explosives he carries]
John H. Mallory: If you shoot me down, they will have to change all the maps...

Movie Connections:

Edited into Spaghetti Western Trailer Show (2007) (V)

Neglected Gem; needs region 1 DVD release!

I was lucky enough to see a newly struck print of a two and a half hour version of this film just yesterday, an immaculate print, as part of a Leone film retrospective here in Austin TX. I will not give a synopsis of the plot; what's important to note is that all the Leone hallmarks are there -- brilliant production design and camera work, carefully structured narrative, epic scale -- and some of the strangest music ever created by Mr. Morricone. The leads seem miscast, particularly Rod Steiger as the accidental Mexican revolutionary, but he gives an energetic performance that the film can hang its rather large weight upon.

I saw 'Good, Bad...' and '...West' immediately before I saw this picture and it is very much from the same cloth and in the same league as those two films -- more comic, a bit flawed and crude perhaps; but really it's evidence of an artist working on a grand scale and well worth your time.

If you consider yourself a fan of Mr. Leone's, do give MGM an email and demand the DVD release of this neglected, fascinating movie

Hopefully this picture will get the home video release it deserves. The VHS version of this film is much shorter and far more confusing -- a typical case of a long movie's being shortened in hopes that it will do better business, and being ruined in the process.