User Reviews

There's a great DVD set put out by St. Clair Vision that offers nine films, appropriately titled "Spaghetti Westerns", and fairly oozing garlic oil and marinara. If you're only familiar with the Clint Eastwood 'Man With No Name' films, you'll be intrigued and entertained by the offerings here, among them "The Grand Duel". Lee Van Cleef stars doing what he does best, as a calm lawman on the outside with a seething vengeance on the inside. His character is a former marshal, but you're never really sure about that until he produces a star, and even then it's questionable.

The only other Western I can think of that offers a homosexual character is "Little Big Man", and in that picture it was an Indian. Here, one of the Saxon Brothers is an overtly limp wristed, white suited desperado with a silk scarf for added effect. The fact that he's a ruthless gunman is almost beside the fact, his pock marked face is worthy of a seamy horror flick.

The three Saxon Brothers are out to avenge the death of their father, and numerous flashback sequences that offer the darkened outline of the killer point to only one person, and yet when Sheriff Clayton (Van Cleef) reveals it was himself, it almost comes as a surprise. The Saxon's had fingered rival Philip Wermeer (Peter O'Brien) for the murder of the Patriarch; Wermeer's own father in turn had been murdered over his ownership of a silver claim. Early in the story, it appears that Clayton's quarry is Wermeer, until they team up following the apparent killing of Wermeer by bounty hunters - neat twist!

If you're used to the Eastwood style of the genre, you might find the circus type acrobatics of "The Grand Duel" to be somewhat off base, but it seems to be standard fare in some of the other films on the collection I mentioned earlier. Here it's Philip who entertains with some improbable flying maneuvers, but it does make for highly innovative action sequences.

Also pretty clever was the game of checkers at the Saxon City saloon. Played with glasses of whiskey, it seemed to me that the winner would be the guy who got drunk first; after all, you had to down your shot after jumping the opposition.

I would swear I'd heard portions of the musical score in another film, it's so provocative you find yourself actually anticipating some it. There's a definite Ennio Marricone influence, though here it's provided by Sergio Bardotti and Luis Bacalov. Quite definitely another reason to tune in.

"The Grand Duel" is definitely one to sample, coming out near the end of the Eurowest cycle. Be prepared for marshals in business suits and the not so subtle portrayal of a gay bad guy, but also keep an eye out for the new patriarch David Saxon sporting the same dimple in the middle of his chin as the portrait of his father hanging on a wall. If that weren't enough, I'd say the bartender at the Saxon saloon was one gay caballero too!

Prolific Spaghetti western scenarist Ernesto Gastaldi penned the script for this Lee Van Cleef continental oater "The Grand Duel," directed with considerable competence by Giancarlo Santi. Although he didn't helm any Spaghetti westerns aside from "Grand Duel" on his own, Santi served as Sergio Leone's assistant director on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) and his masterpiece "Once Upon A Time in the West" (1968) as well as Giulio Petroni's assistant director on "Death Rides A Horse"(1967). In short, not only did Santi know how to stage gunfights, but he also knew about the conventions of the Spaghetti western bullet ballet. Originally, Santi was hired to direct "Duck You Sucker," but Rod Steiger's complaints prompted Leone to replace Santi. "The Grand Duel" ranks high up in the lower 25 Spaghetti westerns out of the best 100. Three things make it memorable. First, this above-average shoot'em up benefits largely from Lee Van Cleef's iconic gimlet-eyed presence. Second, the mystery gradually unraveled --presented in surrealistic flashbacks--generates suspense and tension. Third, Sergio Bardotti & Luis Enriquez Bacalov's unforgettable orchestral score that signals the tonal changes in the narrative.

Roughly speaking, the motives of the characters in "The Grand Duel" reverse the relationship between the old gunslinger (Henry Fonda) and youthful gunfighter (Terence Hill) in Tonino Valerii's "My Name Is Nobody." Meanwhile, Van Cleef's entrance in "The Grand Duel" imitates his striking introduction in Leone's "For A Few Dollars More." In these Italian horse operas, Van Cleef is presented initially as a commercial passenger. In "The Grand Duel," he rides in a stagecoach, while he rides in a train with his head bowed beneath a black hat in "For A Few Dollars More." In the latter film, Van Cleef concealed his face behind a huge Bible when he asked the conductor about the train making an unscheduled stop. The conductor warns him they aren't going to stop where Van Cleef's frock-coated, black hat clad character wants. Nevertheless, Van Cleef tugs the emergency cord, halting the train, and disembarks to fetch his horse from the freight car.

As "The Grand Duel" opens, lawmen fire warning shots at the stagecoach that Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) is riding in and refuse to let Big Horse (Jess Han of "Escape from Death Row") enter Gila Bend. They explain that escaped killer Philipp Wermeer (one-time-only actor Peter O'Brien, aka Alberto Dentice) has holed up with a girl in town after breaking out of jail in Jefferson. The authorities have posted a $3-thousand bounty on Vermeer's head. Nevertheless, Clayton disembarks and strolls without any apparent concern past two lawmen and several bounty hunters to quench his thirst in Gila Bend. This introductory scene unfolds at a leisurely pace as it covers points, such as where the bounty hunters are hidden and Clayton's imperturbability in the face of death. Clayton indicates the positions of all the bounty hunters to Vermeer. Later, after our wrongly convicted hero eludes the bounty hunters during a furious horse chase. The villains kill his horse, but he flags down a stagecoach. The entire scene resembles the scene from John Ford's "Stagecoach" when Ringo (John Wayne) who was afoot clambered inside the vehicle.

The omniscient Lee Van Cleef hero dominates the action. The hooked-nosed, veteran Hollywood heavy delivers a stern but seasoned performance as the worldly-wise elder. Van Cleef smokes his signature curved pipe. Actually, when we meet Clayton, he is no longer the sheriff of Jefferson. He protested Philip Vermeer's conviction and the authorities stripped him of his badge. Earlier, he had taken the Patriarch to court three times. Eventually, as the best man with a gun in the entire state, Clayton ushers in justice above the law. Anyway, one of the Patriarch's sons Eli Saxon (bald headed Marc Mazza of "Moonraker") accused Philipp Vermeer of killing the Patriarch, (Horst Frank in a dual role wearing whiskers), a wealthy, unscrupulous power-broker hated by half of the state. Vermeer suspects that the Patriarch had his father shot in the back because he learned about the silver on Vermeer's land. Meanwhile, Eli demands to know the identity of the man who killed his father. Clayton reminds Eli that the Patriarch was gunned down from behind and that Vermeer stood in front of them at the railway depot. Clearly, Vermeer couldn't have killed the Patriarch.

The vicious and degenerate "Grand Duel" villains qualify as challenging adversaries. David (Horst Frank of "Johnny Hamlet") rules the Saxon clan, while Eli serves as Saxon City's marshal, and Adam Saxon (Klaus Grunberg of "Fire, Ice, and Dynamite") runs the saloon. Grunberg plays Adam as a depraved homosexual who wears a vanilla-white suit, fedora, and constantly caresses a long scarf looped around his neck. The first time that we see Adam, he guns down an old man that his henchmen have thrown out of the saloon. Later, Adam massacres a wagon train with a machine gun and Brother David orders him to leave no eyewitnesses. David's words: "In a violent country, he who seizes today, controls tomorrow," epitomizes his treachery.

"The Grand Duel" plays out in three settings: first in Gila Bend; second at the isolated Silver Bells stagecoach station, and third in Saxon City where a showdown occurs in the stock pens in traditional western style. Santi never lets the action malinger. He does a good job with the first large-scale gunfight at the stagecoach station. The bounty vermin not only blow-up the stagecoach, but also shoot each other to increase their shares after Vermeer surrenders. The Saxon City shootout when Vermin pole vaults to safety is neat. The black & white night sequence that he stages during the Patriarch's killing has surrealistic quality. Meantime, hardcore Lee Van Cleef fans won't want to miss "The Grand Duel" for its several shootouts as well as the twists and turns in Gastaldi's screenplay. Get the wide-screen Wild East DVD; it surpasses the full-frame, public domain DVD or the foreign, semi-letterboxed version.

Never consider a gun empty and never think that Spaghetti Westerns ran out of idea bullets. It's never empty of a good story, even if it's presented in a lousy matter. Yes, this movie is deprived of historical accuracies, strange anachronisms and filled with clichés like one kill shots, but it's still worth watching if you like the genre. This film doesn't feature a lot of originality in it, so it's somewhat empty. Director Giancarlo Santi create this film, after years of being assistant-director to Sergio Leone and Giulio Petroni. The Grand Duel might not live up to Sergio Leone's films, but at least it's not the worst. There is a bit of pretentious and silliest in this film. The film starts out with an ex-sheriff name Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) arrived by stage coach, to find out that an escape convict, Phillip Vermeer (Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O'Brien) is hiding out in his town. He is wanted for murdering a local patriarch and even so persecuted by a group of bounty hunters, paid by the patriarch's sons, the Saxons. Clayton believes that Vermeer is innocent, and wants to prove it. The action is well-executed, but way too cheesy. There is a scene where Vermeer shot a man off a building where the man's body fell on a wagon, that slingshot Vermeer over a building, while doing a somersault shot another man from the other side of the room. Yes, totally outlandish acrobatic feats. There are odd scenes, where Vermeer seem dead, and somehow these bounty hunters had no idea to check if he was really dead. Come on, movie! Do you think we're that dumb? At less, the elaborated striptease scene that he had to do, didn't make it to any known final cut of the movie. I don't want to see his hairy nude body around. The only good part about the film is that film turn into a murder mystery. Lee Van Cleef has more a reason to be there and more to do. Half of the time, his character seem bored, and lazy. The final twist, although a bit obvious, is told in a series of flashbacks, shot in de-saturated, heavily filtered colors. It's get really annoying, as the colors change throughout the flashbacks. I would rather those scenes in black and white. It does looks better. The Saxon Brothers are particularly well-cast; and my favorite characters in this film. There is David Saxon (Horst Frank) who plays both the patriarch and his oldest son, a cunning, knowing man with political ambitions, who bides his time; then the middle child, Sheriff Eli Saxon (Marc Mazza) who is a simple and impatient man of action, and then the youngest brother, Adam Saxon (Klaus Grünberg) who steals the movie with his portrayal of a homosexual maniac who kills an entire community of Dutch immigrants just for fun, in a scene so over the top it will leave you cringing. I love how he plays with his scarf all the time, and his face rippled with zits. I love how nearly all the brothers wear white suits. I love how Adam putt on white gloves before executing a defenseless old man, so that it doesn't dirty his hands. Very sinister. The camera angles and shots are just too close or too far away. I can barely see what it is going on. There are scenes with both of them talking to each other, but the other man is not in the shot. I think the main reason why people might remember this movie is because of the score. Director Quentin Tarantino used a part of it for 2003's Kill Bill. This score is attributed to both Luis Bacalov and Sergio Bardotti, but Bacalov sustains he wrote all compositions. According to O'Brien, the music played over the end credits was written by the De Angelis brothers. Edda Dell Orso voice is Italy's greatest treasure, what a voice! She is just amazing in all the work she has done with the great Ennio Morricone and Luis Bacalov. This piece of music in the film is so strong and primitive, you can see the big blue sky, and feel the scorching sun, as sand grates against your pupils. Your eyes squint, sweat trickles down your trigger hand, the whooshing wind taunts your ears and your mind with the gravity of your own mortality. You stare down the would be killer. The music fits in with the final duel in the film. The movie can be found in anything, do to it, being in the public domain. I found my copy on 5 dollar bin at Wal-Mart. The quality copies are below any acceptable standards. The audio is awful. Lot of cackle, crackle noises. The dubbing to English is pretty odd in a way as they left in Italian and Croatian languages without sub-titles. The film footage is full of scratches and blemishes. The 'bloody hand print' shot present in the US trailer is missing from most versions of the US copies. You can find the film on the internet if you want to. The movie has different titles in some recopies and prints out there. In the United States, the film is known as Grand Duel, Storm Rider, the Loner, and the Big Showdown. In the U.K, it's known as Hell's Fighters. Plus, to let you know, Grand Duel is not Big Gundown like some critics say. I watched the Big Gundown version and it's not the same movie. So heads up about that. So check out the film, if not, there is a pretty cool game of Checkers, you can play with glasses of whiskey that I have learned from the film.

The Grand Duel was directed by Giancarlo Santi, who was Sergio Leone's second unit director. He only directed two other movies on his own, Quando c'era lui... caro lei! And Con la voce del cuore, although he assistant directed on films like Death Rides a Horse and both of Luigi Cozzi's Hercules movies. It was written by the man behind so many giallo films, Ernesto Gastaldi.

Philip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice) has been convicted of killing Ebenezer Saxon, the patriarch of Saxon City and also the man who killed his father. He escapes from prison and heads off to Gila Bend, a small town where he's soon trapped by several bounty hunters all after the reward posted by Saxon's sons. Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) comes to town to take him back to jail, which means battling everyone after the price on Wermeer's head.

Even after Wermeer's innocence is shown and the Saxons are shown to be horrible people - massacring an entire silver mine worth of people, including their own men - they still want revenge. They even strip Clayton of his star and disgrace him.

By the end, Clayton must duel all three Saxon brothers and as a gentleman, he refuses to draw first. Like the best of Italian western heroes, he's putting his life on the line to keep true to his beliefs.

I was never a fan of the spaghetti western. With the exception of the few Sergio Leone films I had a chance to see when younger I'd never really explored the genre. That all changed with Arrow Video. Arrow has made a point of going back and taking some of the most influential films of the genre that rarely played the normal theater circuit back when they were released and issued them in pristine fashion with tons of extras. Now I find myself drawn to them with major thanks to Arrow. Which brings me to THE GRAND DUEL their latest release.

As with KEOMA (also just out from Arrow) this is a movie that's made the rounds from various companies. For a while it seemed like anyone who had a company was putting out this movie. It's even been released as a double feature with the afore mentioned KEOMA. So I wasn't sure what to expect in spite of the fact that it starred one of my favorite western actors Lee Van Cleef. I needn't have worried.

Van Cleef stars as Clayton, an ex-sheriff traveling in a stagecoach that shows up at a stop where a group of bounty hunters is determined to capture Phillip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice). Wermeer is wanted in Saxon by the family the town is named after. He's been accused of killing Ebenezer Saxon, the patriarch of the family. Wanted dead or alive with a $3000 price on his head, it's fortunate for him that Clayton has arrived. With no recourse he allows the bounty hunters to take Wermeer. Elisabeth, a female passenger who's taken a shine to Wermeer, talks to Clayton who tells her that Wermeer is innocent.

Clayton catches up to the bounty hunters and finds them questioning Wermeer. It turns out they're more interested in finding out where Wermeer's father hid some silver than the reward. Clayton frees Wermeer and the pair head for Saxon with Wermeer still a free man.

Arriving in Saxon the pair discover that the sons of Ebenezer, David, Eli and Adam, are waiting with the hope of hanging Wermeer. Eli is now the town's sheriff and he and Clayton don't see things eye to eye. Wermeer demands to know who killed his father as he remains accused of killing Ebenezer. But things aren't all what they appear and the only one who seems to know what has really taken place is Clayton. Just who will come out in the end is up for grabs until the final moments of the film.

Unlike many of the spaghetti westerns released during their heyday this one offers a deeper plot than most. I don't recall any having as much as this one does with perhaps the exception of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. It keeps you guessing and trying to decipher just who was responsible for the death of not only Ebenezer but Wermeer's father as well.

There isn't a bad acting job to be seen here. Van Cleef remains one of the coolest of characters here just as he did in so many westerns. Dentice is a match for him as a naïve and strong headed young man trying to seek justice and stay alive at the same time. Klaus Grunberg as the slightly effeminate brother Adam is something different to see decked in white and ready to kill those who oppose the family.

This was only one of three films directed by Giancarlo Santi which is a disappointment. He does a great job here. His time spent as an assistant director on movies like THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, DEATH RIDES A HORSE, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and DUCK YOU SUCKER paid off when it came to directing this film. Why he stopped with three films I couldn't find out.

Arrow has done a fantastic job with this release starting off with a hi def 1080p presentation. But let's face it, when it comes to Arrow you know that the extras are going to equal the film itself and this time around is no exception to that rule. The extras on this release include a new audio commentary track with film critic/historian Stephen Prince, AN UNCONVENTIONAL WESTERN a new interview with director Santi, THE LAST OF THE GREAT WESTERNS a new interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, COWBOY BY CHANCE an interview with actor Dentice aka Peter O'Brien, OUT OF THE BOX a new interview with producer Ettore Rosboch, THE DAY OF THE BIG SHOWDOWN a new interview with assistant director Harald Buggenig, SAXON CITY SHOWDOWN a new filmed video appreciation with academic Austin Fisher, the original Italian and international theatrical trailers, an extensive image gallery, a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin, TWO DIFFERENT DUELS a comparison between the original cut and the longer German cut of the film, GAME OVER an obscure sci-fi short directed by Bernard Villiot starring Marc Mazza who plays Eli Saxon and MARC MAZZA: WHO WAS THE RIDER ON THE RAIN? a video essay about the elusive actor by tough-guy film expert Mike Malloy.

This is a movie that everyone can enjoy and a western that fans should make a part of their collection. Not just fans of spaghetti westerns but westerns in general. It was a movie that can be watched and enjoyed with repeated viewing and I know it is a welcome addition to my shelf here, one to be revisited time and time again.