The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us. 

DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (1971)

Run Time: 2:37:00
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: Sergio Leone, Sergio Donati
Music: Ennio Morricone
Key Cast: Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli

FILM MAKERS

Duck, You Sucker! (Italian: Giù la testa, lit. “Duck Your Head”), also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time… The Revolution, is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn and Romolo Valli.

It is the second film of Leone’s Once Upon a Time Trilogy, which includes the previous Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and the subsequent Once Upon a Time in America (1984). The last western film directed by Leone, it is considered by some to be one of his most overlooked films.

The musical score was composed by Ennio Morricone, who collaborated with Leone in all his previous projects as a director with the exception of his debut, The Colossus of Rhodes. Elvis Mitchell, former film critic for The New York Times, considered it as one of Morricone’s “most glorious and unforgettable scores”. He also sees “Invention for John”, which plays over the opening credits and is essentially the film’s theme, “as epic and truly wondrous as anything Morricone ever did”.

SUMMARY

The revolution is not a social dinner, a literary event, a drawing or an embroidery; it cannot be done with…elegance and courtesy. The revolution is an act of violence… – Mao Tse-Tung

Set during the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s, the film tells the story of Juan Miranda, an amoral Mexican outlaw, and John Mallory, a motorcycle riding ex-Irish Republican Army revolutionary. After they accidentally meet under less-than-friendly circumstances, Juan and John involuntarily become heroes of the Revolution despite being forced to make heavy sacrifices.

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Watch the film online for FREE

RIP Ennio Morricone. Read his obituary HERE


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