Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Not that he would have attached any importance to it, but Sergio Leone accomplished something that no one else has been able to do, not even Stanley Kubrick. He directed five consecutive films that are ranked in my Top 500 list, which is one more than Kubrick managed to string together.

Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964) came close, but the low budget film was simply a prelude to the high quality 'spaghetti' westerns that followed. For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly wrapped up the Clint Eastwood trilogy in style, and Leone moved on to more ambitious but slightly lesser films. Once Upon a Time in the West was well received, but Duck, You Sucker! was heavily edited by the studio and died in the theaters. Many years would pass before Leone was able to create his greatest film, the gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

Today, Duck, You Sucker! is better known as A Fistful of Dynamite. The studio changed the title to associate the film with the highly successful "Man with No Name" trilogy. Leone, however, considered it to be the second leg of his second trilogy. During its production, the working title was Once Upon a Time... the Revolution. To confuse matters further, the official title is Giu la testa, which Google's web engine translates as "Down the Head." Or in other words, duck.

Whatever title one chooses for the film, it is a very good movie that suffers only in comparison with Leone's other splendid westerns. As with all of Leone's movies, the score is provided by Ennio Morricone, who lightens the mood of the action scenes by adding curious chants of "Sean, Sean."

A Fistful of Dynamite is generally a comedy for most of its first hour. Perhaps the silliest moment has Juan (Rod Steiger) visualizing a golden banner around the head of Sean (James Coburn) with the translated legend, National Bank of Mexico. A veteran rural bandit, Juan dreams of the big score, and sees his opportunity with the aid of explosives expert Sean.

But the revolutionary Sean has plans of his own. He gradually recruits Juan as a freedom fighter against the extremely repressive military dictatorship. The film becomes increasingly somber due to the various depictions of wholesale military executions of peasants, whose only crime is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Many viewers will prefer the early and more light-hearted scenes. Juan is initially a brutal and comical figure, and his character might even be considered racist by some. Juan's peasant heritage is condemned at length in a scene on a train, which has him disparaged by a series of smug middle-aged Spanish descendants. When Juan reveals his true purpose and obtains his revenge on the sneering aristocrats, the audience is expected to laugh, even when he rapes the least unattractive of the train passengers.

These early 'comic' scenes are uncomfortable, but the film finally finds its legs once Juan and Sean have become partners. Steiger is surprisingly convincing as a Mexican peasant, although I suppose that a linguist would find his accent contrived. Steiger is best known for his Oscar-winning role as a bigoted police chief in Best Picture winner In the Heat of the Night (1967). Steiger, who nearly disappeared into his roles, was also nominated for his work in The Pawnbroker and On the Waterfront, where he was the recipient of Marlon Brando's legendary "Contender" speech.

When Rod Steiger died earlier this year, it went almost unnoticed. In a way, this only shows his effectiveness as an actor. Steiger blended into his roles like a chameleon, unlike Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, or John Wayne whose strong charisma effectively typecast their careers.

James Coburn, on the other hand, is nonchalant throughout, as if it matters little to him even whether he lives or dies. He is passionate only about one thing, and that is the removal of the evil military dictatorship.

A Fistful of Dynamite is not quite on the level of Leone's legendary westerns, with the exception of the rather derivative A Fistful of Dollars. But Leone expertly handles the mood transition from comedy to drama, and draws out the tension during key scenes, such as the unlikely duo's encounter with the Mexican Governor (Franco Graziosi). (70/100)

My full top 500 list can be found at filmsgraded.com


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older