Caliber 9

The entertaining and originally titled 'Thug City Chronicles' sat in the 'Saved' portion of my Netflix queue for months, and all the while I waited for it to become available. A four-movie collection, I really only wanted to see one of the four -- 1972's The Italian Connection -- but four movies on one disc? Yes, please. I'll give a bunch of Italian crime movies a chance any day of the week. In other words? Expect a wave of those reviews, starting today with 1972's Caliber 9.

Fresh out of prison three years into a much longer sentence thanks to a general pardon, ex-con Ugo Piazza (Gastone Moschin) is looking to go straight and leave his criminal past behind. Too bad for Ugo though because he's immediately approached by former partner, Rocco (Mario Adorf). Apparently Ugo was up to no good before he was sent away, hijacking $300,000 meant for an American drug dealer, but no one was ever able to find out if he did it, and if he did, where he hid it. Everyone wants their hands on the money, especially Rocco's boss, mob kingpin dubbed the Americano (Lionel Stander). Ugo just wants to put it all behind him, and he's got a plan to get out clean.

I grew up watching and continue to watch spaghetti westerns as I can find them. It's a natural jump then to Italian crime movies. Instead of the wild west setting, we get city-scapes full of hired guns, mob bosses, killers, hookers, and anything the criminal underworld can offer. The time is obviously different, but just about everything else is similar. It's a nasty, filthy world where you can be killed for the change in your pocket, and your killer? He won't think twice about it. Writer/director Fernando Di Leo specialized in these movies and knew exactly what the audiences wanted. Watch the opening six minutes HERE, and tell me you're not curious about the rest of the movie. Talk about a real, legit shocker of an opening.

And what would that be exactly? These movies have a distinct look, a shoot from the hip, rogue filmmaker type of feel. A B-movie for the 1970s if that makes sense. The style is part of the appeal from the bad 1970s suits and haircuts to the Italian cities serving as a backdrop. There's a look to the movies that's hard to explain (some of that probably due to the average to below average quality of the DVD). Like the spaghetti westerns, the soundtrack -- here from Luis Bacalov -- is key, an eclectic mix of spaghetti western themed singing, electric guitar, big orchestras and psychedelic 1970s rock. Listen to a very good, very catchy sample HERE. The music and style is aggressive and in your face. So what else do you need?

Those nasty characters, ranging from an anti-hero to the filthiest of villains, and this one's got it all. Moschin is a perfect anti-hero as Ugo, the stoic, nearly silent ex-con who wants nothing more to do with the world he's a part of. He just wants out and to get back with the girlfriend who sort of waited for him, Nelly (Barbara Bouchet), who also happens to be an exotic/belly dancer. Adorf hams it up like nobody's business as Rocco, the possibly psychotic thug who always gets his way. Adorf especially gets a bad dub, hamstringing his character. Stander is oddly menacing with Mario Novelli and Giuseppe Castellano as two of his hired guns working with Rocco. In small but essential supporting parts, Ivo Garrani and Philippe Leroy play Don Vincenzo, a former don now blinded, and Chino, his bodyguard. Lots of particularly nasty characters, and it doesn't end well for most of them in this blood-stained criminal underworld.

The finale especially doesn't disappoint, two major plot points being revealed. The ending is appropriately dark because if nothing else, I've learned European audiences weren't demanding Hollywood happy endings. So with all that said, I can still only give 'Calibre' a slightly above average score. The story drifts too much in the midsection, and thanks to the dubbing, I wasn't always sure what was going on. On top of that, whole scenes with Frank Wolff and Luigi Pistilli's police officers talking about crime and its impact on society are out of place and bring the story to a screeching halt. Still, the positives are there. A good Italian crime flick that could have been great.

Caliber 9 <---trailer (1972): ** 1/2 /****

Death Rides a Horse

The middle film in Sergio Leone's famous Dollars trilogy, 1965's For a Few Dollars More, is considered one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made and is also my personal favorite of the genre. Two years later, 1967's Death Rides a Horse hit theaters, and hhmm, something sure seems familiar. Borrowing liberally from Leone's earlier western, it uses the same basic storyline with some almost identical scenes. Thankfully it does enough to stand on its own.

At an isolated ranch where $100,000 is being guarded one rainy night, a gang of bandits and killers descend on the ranch, taking the money as they kill the guards and family. All except one that is...a young boy. Some 15 years later, the boy has grown up, and Bill (John Phillip Law), is looking for the men responsible for his family's murder. A dead-shot with pistol or rifle, Bill is still inexperienced, but he has specific memories that will help him identify the killers without having seen their faces. As he travels though, he meets up with Ryan (Lee Van Cleef), an older gunman fresh out of prison. Their plans seem the same as both men are gunning for the same bandits. Will they work together or as foes?

Sounds like For a Few Dollars More, doesn't it? The young gunslinger teaming with the older, more experienced gun-hand isn't unique to just FAFDM, but it is an example of a movie that handles it really well. But in the wave of movies that were released after the Leone westerns, some similar stories popped up, and director Giulio Petroni uses that story as a jumping off point. Similar elements are there -- the dynamic between characters, the blood-tinted flashbacks -- but this is a movie that stands on its own. There's a reason it is remembered as one of the best spaghetti westerns around. And wouldn't you know it? This Lee Van Cleef guy is a big reason why.

By 1967, Van Cleef was a star thanks to the spaghetti western. He'd already starred in FAFDM, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and The Big Gundown, and with 'Death' adds another classic to his name. His Ryan is a slightly different version of Col. Mortimer, albeit a little more down on his luck. Even when his characters are in the right though, Van Cleef gave them a mean streak right up their back. He's an anti-hero, but one you're never sure of his intentions. Cool as gunfire starts, he knows what he wants and plans on getting it. Playing Colonel Mortimer for Leone is probably his most iconic role, but this is one of my favorites of his. Unfortunately John Phillip Law just can't match Clint Eastwood's part, but he does a respectable job as the revenge-seeking Bill. It's hard to tell if it's his acting or a bad dubbing, but wooden aptly describes the character. There is a chemistry with Van Cleef's Ryan though and that goes a long way in saving the story.

So who should our revenge-seeking gunmen go after? 'Death' fills out a cast will plenty of recognizable faces, all just waiting to be picked off. Law's Bill as a child saw little things he could remember about the killers; a tattoo, an earring, a scar, and now he's looking for those clues. The killers include Luigi Pistilli as Walcott, now a respectable banker (saw him clearly), American actor Anthony Dawson as Cavanaugh (chest tattoo of four aces), a saloon owner and town boss, with two bandit brothers, including Jose Torres as Pedro (scar over his left eye) and Angelo Susani as Paco (an earring from his right ear that dangles). Also look for Mario Brega as one of Walcott's henchmen, an actor continuing his trend of dying horrifically in spaghetti westerns, and Bruno Corazzari as another hapless henchmen. Don't forget about him in the finale. Where is he hiding?

All the touches of a successful spaghetti western are here from the anti-heroes and the despicable villains to the dusty border towns and extreme close-ups. For a movie that's 114 minutes though, it is not action-packed. The story builds up the tension as Bill and Ryan hunt down their revenge, but it's rarely dull. Just don't think you're seeing two hours of shootouts and gunfights. The ending though is one of the more memorable finales of the genre; Bill and Ryan in an isolated Mexican mountain village shooting it out with Walcott's men. A wind storm whips across the mountains, enveloping the town as sand, dirt and wind swirl around. If you were looking for action, this is the best place to find. Also worth mentioning, a twist that probably shouldn't come as a surprise, but it works nonetheless in terms of the two characters involved. Great finale, great ending.

Now in a spaghetti western, you'd be safe guessing that composer Ennio Morricone did the musical score, and here, you would be 100% correct. It never ceases to amaze me this man's talents. Some scores had touches of familiarity, but his 'Death' score is unlike any other he did and in general, one of his most underrated scores from a long and distinguished career. Listen to the main theme HERE for an idea. Another sample comes late in the movie -- dubbed Mystic and Severe -- which you can listen to HERE and watch in context HERE. Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan of the score, using both those music cues in his movies Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Inglourious Basterds. A great score though to keep things moving in a great spaghetti western. Van Cleef was rarely better in bad-ass mode, and you'll be hard-pressed to come up with too many that are better than this movie. You can watch the entire movie HERE at Youtube, but the quality isn't great.

Death Rides a Horse <---trailer (1967): *** 1/2 /****

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

With 1964's A Fistful of Dollars, director Sergio Leone put the spaghetti western on an international stage and in the process made star Clint Eastwood a hugely popular actor worldwide. Leone followed it up the next year with For a Few Dollars More, what some (including this guy) consider to be the best spaghetti western ever. It was all practice though for 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a movie that is bigger than just a spaghetti western or even a western in general. It's one of the best movies ever made.

It's 1863/1864 in the American southwest, and the Civil War is raging as Union forces battle with fleeing Confederate troops. Amidst all the fighting, a Confederate payroll has been stolen and ultimately hidden, buried away in a grave in a cemetery with thousands of near identical graves. The payroll of $200,000 in gold coins seems destined to waste away for all time, but three men know about it and are dead-set on acquiring it. Running a bounty scam, a drifting gunfighter, Blondie (Eastwood) and a Mexican bandit, Tuco (Eli Wallach) stumble across the information, one knowing the cemetery, the other knowing the name on the grave. A third man, a hired killer, Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), is also on the prowl and never far behind. Who can get there first? Can they even make it alive?

I try not to throw this term around loosely, but The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of those rare perfect movies. Everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle, all the little things working together seamlessly, impressive considering the scale of this movie. With the Civil War as its backdrop, it is a big, big western, the epitome of an epic. The scale Leone shoots his movie would be jaw-dropping in itself, but it's handled well. The Almerian locations in Spain become an additional character, using the land like so many other spaghetti westerns attempted but failed to do. It is an incredible visual experience. If not beautiful, it is powerful in its image. More details on all of this later, but Ennio Morricone's score is among the most instantly recognizable scores ever, the acting is perfect, the set pieces leaving a lasting impression, and a movie overall that won't easily be forgotten.

Like so many of the best directors, Leone had a knack for casting, and with Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef, the Italian director hits three home runs. Eastwood reprises his role from the first two Dollars movies, the man of few words gunslinger, Blondie (instead of Joe and/or Manco), who usually lets his gun do his talking. There's even an introduction of his infamous poncho. He is the prototypical anti-hero, the silent gunfighter looking for treasure. Van Cleef as Angel Eyes (Sentenza -- means Death Sentence -- in the Italian dubbing) is an all-time sinister villain, the hired killer who always seems to show up when least desired. Sinister, brutal, maniacal, all apply to this gunhand. The scene-stealer though is Wallach as Tuco, a well-traveled Mexican bandit. He's going 100 mph at all times, the fast-talking, quick-draw who is always crossing himself over his victims. These are all characters capable of carrying a movie on their own, but instead they work together to form one of the great lead ensembles ever assembled for a movie.

A couple smaller performances also deliver, regardless of how little screentime they have. Aldo Giuffre plays a Union captain who Blondie and Tuco come across in the midst of a battle. An alcoholic, he questions the lunacy of his orders but continues on because an officer must do his duty. Spaghetti regular Luigi Pistilli plays Father Ramirez, Tuco's brother who looks down upon what his brother has become, a lowly bandit. Spaghetti baddie Mario Brega plays Cpl. Wallace, a sadistic Union soldier looking over Tuco. Al Mulock plays a gunfighter gunning for Tuco after a past encounter. Fans of the genre should also look out for Benito Stefanelli, Aldo Sambrell, and Lorenzo Robledo as members of Angel Eyes' gang.

What ends up being another character is Morricone's score, as key an ingredient to the movie's success as any score/movie relationship I can think of. The main theme -- listen HERE -- is instantly recognizable, and basically everyone around the world has heard at it some point whether they knew it or not. The unique sound, the whistling, the tune, it all sets the stage for a score that goes from epic and huge to personal and moving with the snap of a finger. Used several times in the movie, Carriage of the Spirits is an ethereal, other-worldly beautiful sample of music that still sends chills up and down my back upon hearing it. That's what Morricone does, he makes his music effective and powerful no matter what the scene or setting. The best though of all -- even better than the GBU main theme -- is a track entitled Ecstasy of Gold, a hauntingly beautiful piece of music. Why's it so good? More on that later (sorry, I will get to it). All in all, an incredible score that serves an integral role in making this movie a classic. One of the all-time great film scores.

A handful of set pieces dominate the film -- several abandoned western towns, a shootout in a bombed out town, a huge, bloody battle between Union and Confederate forces -- but it all pales to the ending, the film's last 30 minutes or so as Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes all near the gold. The extended sequence starts with Tuco finding the cemetery, racing through rows and rows of graves trying to find the name Blondie has told him. Set to Morricone's Ecstasy of Gold, the sequence defies words. It's dizzying and unsettling, Leone's camera breathlessly following Wallach as he runs, finally finding the wanted grave. Watch it HERE. Then it's the showdown, one of the most respected, iconic (drinking game? How many times have I used that?) gunfights ever. Leone's trick though is the build-up. It's almost 5 minutes of positioning and mind games, the camera bouncing back and forth in close-ups and extreme close-ups, a blur of eyes, hands, and guns, all three men daring the other to draw. Watch it HERE, the single, greatest standoff in the history of movies.

Watching this recently on a big screen -- thank you, Doc Films -- I realized something odd and unique about the movie. It took an Italian director in Leone to make the best Civil War movie around. I think that gets lost sometimes with the scale and epicness of the movie. Wrapped up in it all is an anti-war message, and an effective one. All the soldiers we meet are cripples, drunks, corrupt, and dying. We see bodies littered on trails and in streets like discarded garbage. A thief is callously shot down by a firing squad. A Confederate spy's body is lashed to a cow-catcher on a train as a warning to others. Without beating us over the head with his message, Leone effectively shows the horror of war but also the lunacy and stupidity of it all. As Eastwood's Blondie states while overlooking a battle, "I've never seen so many men wasted so badly."

There it is, an epically long and rambling review for an epically great movie. Dark and cynical, it is oddly funny -- Tuco's 'When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk' and the running 'There are 2 types of people in this world' line providing some good laughs -- and shows off an underrated script with a story that spans months and hundreds of miles. It is that perfect movie. A buddy-journey story set in the American Civil War with perfect performances, an immensely giant scale, a great musical score, and choreographed action which has been attempted over and over ever since. The definition of what a movie should be. It doesn't get better than this.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly <---trailer (1966): ****/****