Duccio Tessari and his films

Duccio Tessari is another of the prolific Italian directors, whose movies, sadly, I still have to explore a lot more. There are some I saw multiple times. But not all those I would like to watch.

My Son, the Hero (1962)
A peplum movie and I think the first movie to star Giuliano Gemma.

Secret of the Sphinx (1964)
An eurospy movie. I just found out about its existence.

A Pistol for Ringo (1965)

A classic spaghetti western with Gemma and Tessari's to be wife Lorella de Luca. But not my favorite. Too long, too clean shaven characters and too clean environment.

The Return of Ringo (1965)
The second Ringo is, on the other hand, the negative of the first and maybe therefore my favourite Tessari. This is an amazing spag with basically the same cast an crew of the first movie, but this time they are all much better.

Kiss Kiss - Bang Bang (1966)
And almost all of them returned for this spy movie, but I have never seen it. I used to think that Gemma's most frequent lady partner was Evelyn Stewart, but it's apparent that actually it was Nieves Navarro.

The Bastard (1968)
An Italian attempt to do a film noir probably, starring Gemma again with Rita Hayworth, Margaret Lee and Klaus Kinski. I have yet to see it.

Alive or Preferably Dead (1969)
On the other hand I almost pity I saw this. A really unfunny attempt to make a spaghetti western comedy. The movie looks like a TV movie, which really doesn't help.

Death Occured Last Night (1970)
And Giuliano Gemma is gone for a while. The first of Tessari's gialli, of which, unfortunately, I haven't seen anything. Frank Wolff stars. It's based on a book which I have, but still, I haven't read it.

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971)
Another giallo that is now on Netflix, so I will probably watch it soon... Starring Helmut Berger.

Long Live Your Death (1971)
A spaghetti western that tries to be a sequel of The Mercenary and Companeros, and a remake of The Good The Bad and the Ugly at the same time. But it lacks basically everything that makes those movies great. Only Nero, Wallach and Fajardo stand out.

Forza G (1972)
A plane racing movie probably. Maybe the only film with both Anita Strindberg and Barbara Bouchet.

Tony Arzenta (1973)
Tessari's first poliziottesco and his first working with Alain Delon. A good movie, but I haven't seen it for a very long time. I guess the only thing I remember is Richard Conte.

The Heroes (1973)
I found out about this film only as I started writing this article. A war movie with Rod Taylor and Rod Steiger should be quite interesting. Also starring Gianni Garko, Claude Brasseur and Terry-Thomas.

Tough Guys (1974)
A really bizzare film. Blaxploitation made by Italians, co-starring Lino Ventura! The only available copy is unwatchable though.

Puzzle (1974)
Another giallo, this time with Luc Merenda and Senta Berger. Anita Strindberg appears for a while.

Zorro (1975)
Another of the zillion Zorro adaptations. This one was quite popular since the hero is played by Alain Delon.

Safari Express (1976)
Giuliano Gemma is back! But not in a western, but in an adventure movie, co-starring an ape, Ursula Andress and Jack Palance. The same year there was a similar movie called Africa Express, directed by Michele Lupo and starring the same cast...

Tex and the Lord of the Deep (1985)
And finally, Giuliano Gemma again in a western, this time an adaptation of a comic book The only Gemma and also only Tessari western I haven't seen.

Fernando di Leo and his movies

Fernando di Leo was an interesting filmmaker. As a screenwriter, he left his traces in any possible genre, including many spaghetti westerns, even many famous spaghettis, like Navajo Joe, The Return of Ringo, Massacre Time or Long Days of Vengeance. But when he became a director, he never made a western and made a lot of mafia movies instead. His heroes were mostly gangsters or vigilantes, when he made a movie about a cop, he was usually a corrupted one.

Naked Violence (1969)

All I know is this one is more of a social drama perhaps? Co-starring Nieves Navarro under her Susan Scott alias.

Slaughter Hotel (1971)

At the beginning of his career, he tried to make a giallo, and... didn't succeed. This movie is mostly boring and pornographic. Rosalba Neri is hot as hell in this, but we didn't need to see her body double touching herself. Klaus Kinski is useless in it.

Caliber 9 (1972)

This is where the real Fernando di Leo begins. A mafia movie with a great cast (Gastone Moschin, Barbara Bouchet, Mario Adorf, Lionel Stander, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli etc.), good story and unexpected twists. Perfect score by Luis Bacalov and Osanna, amazing opening sequence.

The Manhunt (1972)

Second film of his sort of trilogy, this time starring Mario Adorf as a falsely accused pimp, who has to hide from mafia killers. And those killers are Henry Silva and Woody Strode. Bad times for Mario... bad times for almost everybody, mostly the women - and what women! Luciana Paluzzi, Femi Benussi, Sylva Koscina... Great funky score, this time by Armando Trovaioli, great action sequences. The chase in the middle of the movie is insane.

Boss (1973)

Final film of the trilogy, but not as good as the previous two in my opinion. Henry Silva stars as a cold-blooded killer, who kills everyone in his way to the top. Richard Conte is the mafia boss, Gianni Garko is a corrupt policeman.

Shoot First, Die Later (1974)

Again a weaker one, first of Di Leo's collaborations with Luc Merenda. Merenda plays a cop here, but a cop working for the mafia. Richard Conte is here again, as a lawyer this time, and we also get Di Leo's favourite actor, Vittorio Caprioli, playing a deaf old guy, who becomes a witness of a crime, and therefore dangerous for the mafia. Delia Boccardo is Merenda's girlfriend, so we know she won't meet a good end here.

Kidnap Syndicate (1975)

Merenda again as a father, whose son is kidnapped together with a son of a rich businessman played by James Mason. When Mason refuses to pay the ransom, the poor child is killed in order to force Mason to pay. Merenda gets in a rage, but... the second half is not such a riot as we would expect from the director of Manhunt. Vittorio Caprioli is back as the policeman.

Loaded Guns (1975)

Poliziesco / sex comedy starring Ursula Andress! Not a bad one though. Yes, it becomes really silly and there are moments when Andress' body plays the lead, and the final fistfight is really silly and feels out of place. But a fun movie.

Nick the Sting (1976)

To be honest, I stopped with Di Leo in 1975 so far, so just quickly to the rest. This one stars Merenda again, paired with Lee J. Cobb. All I know about it.

Mr. Scarface (1976)

Jack Palance as a mafia boss in a eurocrime comedy. Seems so.

Blood and Diamonds (1977)

Claudio Cassinelli takes the lead here, Barbara Bouchet returns as a gogo dancer once again. Martin Balsam is in it as well I think. And Vittorio Caprioli again.

To Be Twenty (1978)

A sex comedy that turns into a horror in the end.. Sex comedy starlets Gloria Guida and Lilli Carati starring. Caprioli again co-starring.

Madness (1980)

Joe Dallesandro as a criminal on the run in this movie. I think so.

Killer vs. Killers (1985)

I think this is di Leo's last movie and he didn't end with anything else than a gangster movie with Henry Silva. He made an action flick with him the previous year as well I think.

Well, seems like apart from crime movies and sex comedies and one sex drama Di Leo really didn't do any other genres. But that kind of compares him with Sergio Leone, as the master of the poliziotteschi genre. Not that his movies were as great as the Sergio Leone westerns,but he really concerned to one genre, like Leone with westerns or Dario Argento and Mario Bava with gialli and horror. Other directors made most of the genres. These did their stuff.

Top Lee Marvin Movies

Lee Marvin was king. I dig him since I first saw him... in what? In The Professionals? Someting else? I don't know. His cool silent appearance, his deep voice, when he appeared on screen he shined. Mostly. It's true that in some of his earlier parts where he just sat by a table and played cards or something he could have been easily missed - he had no lines or ust a single word, no close-ups, the focus was on somebody like Audie Murphy or Rock Hudson. I don't like Murphy - if he would have ever met Marvin as a co-star nobody would be paying attention to him. Randolph Scott managed to do better with Marvin having him several times as his antagonist. I still have to watch Seven Men from Now - because the other two Boetticher-Scott movies were absolutely boring... Even though they had Richard Boone, Henry Silva, Lee Van Cleef or James Coburn.

Well, when Marvin made his great in 1953 with The Big Heat where he absolutely outshone Glenn Ford, he began to get bigger and bigger parts until finally become a star with 1965's Cat Ballou. I still have to watch this one... Saying that, I unfortunately haven't watched so many Marvin movies that I would like to watch. Reasons unknown. I just know that I turned off Death Hunt with Charles Bronson twice. Perhaps it says something...
But here are my top 5 Marvin's movies:

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Absolute classic with a cast that could make the screen explode. Almost everybody in this movie is one of the toughest Hollywood had to offer at the time - and the rest are some of the greatest actors. We get Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Robert Ryan, Robert Webber, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland and of course Marvin who is above everybody being absolutely convincing in his part, the probably best he could ever get. Love this movie.

Point Blank (1967)
The same year, something absolutely different, but the same iconic. Marvin says probably less than 50 words in the entire movie, but still remains the most interesting person on screen. I absolutely love the atmosphere, the locations, the photography, the other performances (particularly Carroll O'Connor), the style. A perfect example of 60's neo-noir.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
This is of course a Spencer Tracy vehicle, but a great one. I saw just a few Spencer Tracy movies, but tthey were all magnificent - especially Judgment at Nuremberg. This is like a modern western and a great one. Marvin is one of Robert Ryan's thugs - the other one being Ernest Borgnine. Directed by John Sturges who later made the great The Magnificent Seven and the magnificent The Great Escape - almost a pity that Marvin, Borgnine and Ryan aren't in the western. Marvin would make great both Chris and Britt, Borgnine would make great Harry and Ryan would make great Lee. But actually the cast of The Magnificent Seven is perfect so there's really no pity for these three.

The Professionals (1966)
More of a Burt Lancaster vehicle, where Marvin and Ryan did sort of their own Magnificent Seven, but only four with Lancaster and Woody Strode. Cast includes Jack Palance as a sort of a villain who isn't really bad, and Claudia Cardinale who is hot as hell in the hot desert. I hate Lancaster's teeth, but apart from him is the movie good. The setting of the Mexican revolution is more typical for Italian westerns than American, so that makes this also interesting.

Prime Cut (1972)
An exploitation flick surprisingly starring two Oscar winners (the other being Gene Hackman), together with very young, pretty (and nude) Sissy Spacek, the huge Gregory Walcott or the foxy (and almost nude) Angel Tompkins. Not a great movie, but a very entertaining one with cool groovy Lalo Schifrin score and great leads of the coolest of the cool Marvin and the baddest of the bad Hackman.

A few other Marvin movies that are interesting or amusing:

The Big Heat (1953)
This noir starring the flat Glenn Ford isn't special except for Marvin who does a great villain.

The Big Red One (1980)
An epic war movie that had smaller budget than it deserved. Marvin is great, and his troop contain Robert Carradine and Mark Hamill too! Good movie.

Delta Force (1986)
Chuck Norris kicks ass of Arabian terrorist harming innocent Jews in this Menahem Golan Cannon flick. Lee Marvin is Chuck's commander, he unfortunately hasn't got much to do in his last part. But a fun flick.

And a few movies, that I haven't watched and I want to:

Attack (1956)
A Robert Aldrich war flick with Jack Palance and Lee Marvin must be something..

Cat Ballou (1965)
I was avoiding this, but I'll give it a chance.

The Killers (1964)
Lee Marvin plus Don Siegel. It looks rather talky, but I'll give it a watch anyway. Still don't know when.

Hell in the Pacific (1968)
A movie with only Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune? Must be great!

Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
Lee Marvin against crazy conductor Ernest Borgnine, directed by Aldrich again! Why the hell didn't I watch it yet?

Spike's gang (1974)
Lee Marvin plays in western shot in Spain! Pity he never did a spaghetti western...

Canicule (1984)
a.k.a. Dog's Day. French thriller starring Marvin instead of French regulars like Ventura or Delon! Looks really crazy... Co-starring Jean Carmet and Miou-Miou.