The Grand Duel

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Audience Member Looked really cheap made. I watched it all the way through but I really wouldn’t recommend it. James Welch, Henderson Arkansas may fifth 2023. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/07/23 Full Review matthew d A fascinating Spaghetti Western with a gripping Lee Van Cleef performance! Italian director Giancarlo Santi's Spaghetti Western classic The Grand Duel (1972) deserves its iconic status. The final duel with Lee Van Cleef facing down three men at once is outstanding with his fearless quickdraw skills. Santi's creative direction makes the numerous shootouts exciting and the traveling from place to place quite funny. Writer Ernesto Gastaldi's story of revenge and justice is interesting and has one killer twist. I appreciate The Grand Duel only clocking in at a tight 90 minutes too! No wonder The Grand Duel holds up with editor Roberto Perpignani's stylish cuts. His artful cutting dashes from glaring eyes, hands on pistols, to wide shots to see every shot taken. It's incredible how dreamlike the cool flashback sequences feel, especially with the slow tracking shot forward from cinematographer Mario Vulpiani. The fancy camera tricks from Vulpiani are enthralling and so original. The Grand Duel is simply awesome. American actor Lee Van Cleef is ultra cool as the quiet and smirking Sheriff Clayton. Van Cleef's easy going personality and calm persona work perfectly for Sheriff Clayton. He always feels a step ahead, whether he's scoping out how many gunmen are surrounding him to outsmart an escaped criminal. Lee Van Cleef really was the greatest Western actor of all time. The Grand Duel is merely one of numerous phenomenal acting performances from Lee Van Cleef. German actor Horst Frank is really underhanded and understated as the vile villain David Saxon. French actor Marc Mazza is a raging jerk as Sheriff Eli Saxon with his screwed up face in anger. German actor Klaus Grünberg is hideous as the loathsome villain Adam Saxon as he insults women and guns down an old man mercilessly. His ruthless gatling gunning down of innocent civilians is horrifying. Italian actor Alberto Dentice is wicked and entertaining as the criminal on the run named Philip Vermeer. He's got a wily personality. Italian actor Antonio Casale is cruel as the wretched head bounty hunter Hoak. French actress Dominique Darel is devastatingly gorgeous as the young lady Elisabeth. Italian actress Alessandra Cardini is so pretty and fun as Anita. Italian actress Elvira Cortese is funny as the stuck up Madame Oro. American actor Jess Hahn is fairly funny as the drunkard stagecoach driver Bighorse. I appreciate The Grand Duel having an international ensemble. Production designer Franco D'Andria creates believable old West towns with wooden saloons and sheriff's offices. D'Andria's set decoration puts all sorts of neat prop paintings, playing cards, and whiskey bottles everywhere to keep you in this old period. Costume designer Lina Nerli Taviani gives Lee Van Cleef the most amazing all black suit and one of the bad guys gets a killer white suit for his striking ensemble. The ladies' dresses are so colorful and elaborate. Alfonso Gola's make-up ensures the actresses are lovely and the men look dusty. The diseased look for one of the villains is pretty realistic too. Composer Sergio Bardotti creates the most beautiful Western film score with a triumphant main melody and a unique presence of symphonic instruments and a harmonica. Sound designer Elio Pacella does a cool job with fading in the music and cutting it for dramatic emphasis. In all, The Grand Duel is an excellent showcase for Lee Van Cleef to be understated as the steadfast hero with faster gun drawing hands. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member this lee van cleef euro-western gets more to my liking every time i view it. really do enjoy lee in his roles as it seems, he always has the same personality in each one -he is very polite but also hard-nosed when he needs to be. he made a lot of good ones so there's no getting tired of him. i was ok on this at first. now, i think i have watched it maybe 7 times and think it is terrific. i hope you learn to like it. it appears few people do. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review delysid d Van Cleef is one of the greats Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/11/18 Full Review Audience Member Average Violence, in story similar to The Good The Bad and the Ugly Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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