Starring
Lee Van Cleef, Alberto Dentice, Horst Frank, Marc Mazza, Klaus
Grunberg, Antonio Casale, Dominique Daril. Directed by Giancarlo
Santi. (1972/94 min).
On
Blu-ray from ARROW VIDEO
Review
by Mr. Paws😸
Like
any respectable western fan, I hold Sergio Leone’s “Dollars”
Trilogy in the highest regard. After all, they created the spaghetti
western template and remain the standard by which all others are
still judged. And of course, they made Clint Eastwood an
international star.
The
late, great Lee Van Cleef was in two of those films, For a Few
Dollars More and The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, and
with all due respect to Mr. Eastwood, I thought the characters
played by Van Cleef were the best parts of both of them. The
intensity needle dropped just a notch whenever he wasn’t on the
screen, and in my humble opinion, he’s not in either film nearly
enough.
The
coolest thing about 1972’s The Grand Duel (on-screen title:
The Big Showdown) is Van Cleef is almost the whole show here,
bringing an abundance of his beloved badassery. The popularity –
not-to-mention quality – of spaghetti westerns may have been
on-the-wane at the time, but Van Cleef was always enjoyable in them.
What renders The Grand Duel a cut above most of them is Van
Cleef’s character, Sheriff Clayton, an ambiguously-motivated
anti-hero not unlike Colonel Mortimer in For a Few Dollars More.
For
reasons slowly made clear as the story unfolds, Clayton repeatedly
saves Philip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice) from a variety of bounty
hunters. Philip is wanted for the murder of Saxon City’s patriarch,
Ebenezer Saxon, but claims he’s innocent, which Clayton is already
aware of. Ebenezer’s three sons supposedly want to see him hang,
but Philip, whose own father may have been murdered at the behest of
the Saxons, is looking for a little payback of his own. It’s soon
clear that the Saxons are actually more interested in making a
political power grab involving a nearby silver mine that Philip’s
father owned.
 |
| "No, Lee...I should NOT be dancing." |
The
plot itself ebbs and flows, as does the viewer’s overall interest
in it. The Grand Duel works best when it focuses on the
action, with scenes which range from intense & violent to
intentionally silly. The same could be said about some of the
characters. Van Cleef is his usual steely-eyed self, delivering each
line with intimidating authority and dominating every scene he’s
in. The Saxon boys make formidable protagonists, with Klaus Grunberg
a stand-out as the repulsively sadistic Adam. The same can’t be
said for Barry Gibb lookalike Dentice, whose overwrought performance
grows increasingly irritating.
The
Grand Duel is directed by frequent Leone collaborator Giancarlo
Santi. He may not have the master’s touch – or budget – but
shows he’s learned a thing or two along the way. Though story
itself ain’t much, the film is fast-moving, fun and occasionally
quite funny, with Van Cleef’s charisma to keep it all together.
Like
their recent release of Keoma, Arrow Video has put together a
comprehensive Blu-ray for this one, with a great transfer and
abundance of bonus features (outlined below), making this a good
pick-up for spaghetti western lovers.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
INTERVIEWS
– Included are several all-new – and lengthy – individual
interviews with director Giancarlo Santi, screenwriter Ernesto
Gastaldi, actor Alberto Dentice (who plays Philip), producer Ettore
Rosbach, Assistant Director Harald Buggenig. Alberto’s is the most
interesting as he discusses his early ‘hippy’ days leading up to
being cast. Santi, on the other hand, can’t seem to complete one
anecdote before moving on to another.
“SAXON
CITY SHOWDOWN” - An appreciation of The Grand Duel by
Austin Fisher, who knows his stuff.
AUDIO
COMMENTARY – By Stephen Prince
“MARC
MAZZA: WHO WAS THE RIDER ON THE RAIN?” - Mike Malloy narrates
an amusing video essay about bit-part character actor Marc Mazza, who
plays one of the nasty Saxon brothers.
“GAME
OVER” - A sci-fi short from 1984 starring Marc Mazza (what’s
everyone’s fascination with this guy?). Strange but interesting.
ENGLISH
AND ITALIAN VERSIONS
2
TRAILERS
IMAGE
GALLERIES – Featuring a variety of promotional material.
SUPPLEMENTARY
BOOKLET – Featuring a fine essay by author/historian Kevin
Grant, a collection of contemporary reviews.
REVERSIBLE
COVER ART
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS
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