The Principles:
Sergio Leone, James Coburn, Rod Steiger, Ennio Morricone
The Premise: A Mexican bandito meets an on-the-lam IRA dynamite expert, who gets him reluctantly involved in the Mexican Revolution.
Is It Good:
Mostly! Like the great Leone Westerns, Duck, You Sucker (also known as Fistful of Dynamite in one of its US releases) is long and sprawling, and that works well with an epic story set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution. That said, the movie hits a patch in the third act where it could end anyplace and the audience would feel fairly satisfied.
Something that makes the film unique but might hold it back from legitimate greatness is how weird the casting is. Rod Steiger is playing a Mexican, and frankly it’s horrible casting. He’s actually pretty great in the role, but he’s about as Mexican as old Chuck Heston in Touch of Evil, and all the brown face paint in the world won’t change that. Added to this is his atrocious accent – it really sounds like a dry run for Al Pacino’s infamous Tony Montana. I would be surprised to learn that Steiger’s performance imprinted itself on Pacino, in fact.
On the other end of the accent spectrum is James Coburn, occasionally affecting an Irish brogue. Coburn’s always flashing those tombstone teeth of his, just before blowing something or other up. There’s an interesting chemistry between the two leads, even if it never fully gels in a way that feels classic.
Is It Worth A Look: Without a doubt. It’s Leone’s last Western, and it’s got a very unique energy. Duck, You Sucker is often quite funny, although it makes a hard right turn into serious territory in act three, and ends with one of the most incongruously serious and arty moments possible. I think Leone is often underrated when it comes to his comedic chops, but anyone watching the scene where a flustered Steiger tries to rob a bank only to find it full of political prisoners will realize how good the director is at staging a punchline.
It’s an easy film to criticize because it’s so overstuffed and often so meandering and strange, but at the same time these are the things to love about it. It’s a flawed but unique work, and it’s easy to sit through, even in the fully restored 158-minute cut.
I had a chance to see the film on the big screen – my first viewing of the movie ever! – and I can’t recommend that experience enough. This feels like Leone’s most panoramic film, with vistas and huge distances of desert being key. Leone plays with space in the frame a lot, effectively going from luxurious wide shots to cramped interior and city scenes, all of which play especially well on the big screen. But more than this is a large canvas adventure movie, and huge columns of horses and thunderous bridge explosions feel primed for the large screen experience.
This week of Westerns was inspired by playing Red Dead Redemption, and I’m glad I happened to catch this film this weekend, because the game and the movie both tackle (in some way) the Mexican Revolution. I’m not sure how realistic either version is, but Red Dead and Duck both do a nice job of engaging the political realities of such a struggle while maintaining entertainment as job one. Leone’s movie isn’t political in a specific way, but rather it’s about the places where the personal and the political collide.
Random Anecdotes: Peter Bogdanovich was supposed to direct at one point, as Leone had felt he was done with the West after Once Upon a Time in the West. Also supposedly a candidate: Peckinpah, although some dispute the claim. The title is a translation of the Italian title, ‘Duck Your Head, Asshole,’ which Leone seemed to think was an American catchphrase. People in the movie do say ‘Duck, you sucker’ quite a few times.
Not only does Duck, You Sucker have some of the strangest flashbacks of all time (Coburn’s history is explained in slo-mo, dialogue-free flashbacks), but the final flashback is kind of a mindfuck. I’m still not sure I understand it completely. Steiger is both offensive and brilliant, and his energy level keeps the film soaring; whenever he gets too big, Coburn’s dry wit brings everything down a notch. Morricone’s score is robust and as weird as the movie itself.
Cinematic Soulmates:
Viva Zapata!, Once Upon a Time in the West
Tally So Far