Grande Duello, Il (1972, ITA/FRA/GER) C-96m. SCOPE **½ D: Giancarlo Santi. Starring Lee Van Cleef, Horst Frank, Alberto Dentice, Marc Mazza, Jess Hahn, Klaus Grünberg. Interesting Van Cleef western about escaped convict Dentice, who's wanted for killing the patriarch of the Saxon family. Marshal Van Cleef tries to track him down, but the young man is causing quite a commotion in his hometown. The Saxon family members (Frank, Grünberg) show an interest, too, as Dentice may be the only one knowing the whereabouts of a silver mine. Beautifully shot western with an interesting script by Ernesto Gastaldi will satisfy genre fans, although this is not really compelling enough. Good score by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, which was reused by Quentin Tarantino for KILL BILL VOL.1 (2003). Director Santi was assistant director for Leone in IL BUONO… and C'ERA UNA VOLTA… and in the stylish western DA UOMO A UOMO (1968). English titles: THE GRAND DUEL, THE BIG SHOWDOWN, STORM RIDER, and HELL'S FIGHTERS.


© Ron Altman