Starring: James Coburn, Rod Steiger, Romolo Valli

Director: Sergio Leone
Released: 1971

Mood: If you and your BFF show love through fiesty rivalry and you want to watch a Western with that same spirit.

I have no idea why Western fans and Sergio Leone fans don’t like Duck, You Sucker! It’s so good.

Duck, You Sucker!, aka A Fistful of Dynamite, is one of the first Westerns that my late father-in-law shared with me. Every time he said the title aloud, I thought he was joking. As far as the actual movie goes, well, I had some beer and my only lasting impression was that there was a lot of desert and not enough dynamite.

Now that I’m a few years older, and not really wiser but at least better at researching the Westerns I watch – there’s a lot of great stuff to unpack in the story. The underlying theme of friendship is strengthened by the two men being from vastly different countries, both fighting oppressive governments that would persecute them. It’s creepy how events from over a century ago are repeating themselves…

This was Sergio Leone’s final Western, and it definitely demands multiple viewings to grasp everything going on. Whether you like Spaghetti Westerns or are just a fan of Leone or Coburn, this is a win all around.

Duck You Sucker, aka A Fistful of Dynamite, aka Once Upon a Time … the Revolution is a tale of two outlaws whose paths collide during the early years of the Mexican Revolution.

One is a local bandido with zero morals, and the other is an Irish Republican wanted for murder. They form a buddy-cop-type relationship that’s initially about gold, but later tests each man’s beliefs in freedom, loyalty, and heroism.

Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) is a stagecoach robber who has no qualms about committing sexual assault and murder. He and his gang shoot the tires out from explosive expert John Mallory’s (James Coburn) motorcycle. Juan asks John to join his gang in a huge bank heist, and he refuses.

What ensues is a series of retaliations between the two, with a body count. They join up in Mesa Verde to rob that bank, supported by local revolutionaries including Dr. Villega (Romolo Valli). But the robbery doesn’t quite go as planned; Juan gains no gold, and instead comes out a hero of the revolution.

While seeing more and more of the brutal genocide makes John begin to give up and retreat, Juan develops a moral compass. Their cause feels increasingly doomed, a theme Coburn would reprise the following year in A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die. But even knowing how that revolution turned out, you still hope they’ll win.

Sergio Leone’s distaste for war, classism, and specifically for American capitalism is tangible throughout Duck, You Sucker! So is his cynicism toward rebellions against those same things.

The Dollars trilogy more subtly challenged and criticized the Western ideals being romanticized in American cowboy movies, but in this movie it hits you like a brick:

• There’s no American gun-slinging protagonist; all Americans (and Germans) are portrayed as the enemy
• The ‘town’ doesn’t get saved; the bad guys just keep doing more bad things and winning
• There’s no gold or other bounty; any time Juan acquires something it’s soon stolen or lost in attacks
• It’s literally a poor brown native and an immigrant fighting against a dictatorship, with heavy-handed visual references to Nazi Germany and Maoism

In the first scenes, we see Juan watching rich, white Americans gorging on expensive food while criticizing and mocking the lower classes. Their brutish behaviour while calling other races ‘savages’ is the queasy spotlight of Leone’s unflinching close-ups.

As the film progresses, Leone seems to almost delight in dangling moments of hope before the viewer and then blasting them to smithereens with a firing squad. The comedic moments are on point, yet it’s inescapably unsettling to laugh at a civil war movie in the current political climate.

James Coburn was a legend, an icon, and a man with a glorious Western moustache. He was born to be captured by Leone’s lens. I’m also eternally grateful that the role of John went to Coburn instead of Eastwood, who turned it down to distance himself from Spaghetti Westerns.

In Duck, You Sucker! Coburn can deliver more depth than we usually get with his aloof characters. John is an explosives madman that you’d want along on any D&D campaign and I seriously want to be him for Hallowe’en, but he’s also got both a cheeky wit and a sad past. It’s a refreshing change for a Leone film.

Although the flashbacks feel painfully cheesy, we learn that John participated in the Irish War of Independence (which didn’t officially start until after the Mexican Revolution ended, almost 10 years after this movie takes place, but whatever). He and his close friend Seán both loved the same woman, and maybe had some conflicted feelings about each other. When Seán identified John as a rebel to British Soldiers, that betrayal created the John we see in the movie.

After John witnesses Dr. Villega betraying the Mexican revolutionaries to the Germans, just as his friend betrayed him to the British Army, John’s non-judgement bluntly challenges the audience – do we really think we’re any better than either of them?

Rod Steiger is highly entertaining as Juan, even though Leone fans can clearly see that the role was written for Eli Wallach. Steiger has the larger character transformation, and it’s through his eyes (in extreme close-up) that viewers see the need for a revolution and take the rebels’ side.

Romolo Valli doesn’t have much overall screentime, but he makes a lasting impact with his earnestness and the sheer intensity of his character’s scenes. All of them are pivotal turning points and Valli, a veteran stage actor, has a beautiful moustache.

Duck, You Sucker! is highly watchable for its rich storytelling, its great use of the Spanish landscape, and for its DYNAMITE. I’ve never seen another Western that gives you more machine guns and dynamite than pistols and rifles.

It also has a lot of fun facts. So here’s a bullet list for your enjoyment:

• Leone wasn’t supposed to be the movie’s director, just a screenwriter; after the original director bailed, Leone stepped in and did what he was clearly meant to do
• The role of Juan was based on Tuco from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and written for Eli Wallach (brilliant), and George Lazenby was also considered
• The role of John was written for Jason Robards (swoon!), and others considered or offered the part were Clint Eastwood, John Wayne (rejected by Leone), and Malcolm McDowell (okay, I’m interested)
• Coburn had previously been offered parts in A Fistful of Dollars and Once Upon a Time in the West
• Ennio Morricone turned down scoring A Clockwork Orange to score this movie
• Rod Steiger took language lessons for three months to prepare for his role, while James Coburn went on vacation to Ireland for five weeks
• The original runtime is 157 minutes, so if you’re watching anything less (like I did) and notice some weird jumps, that’s missing scenes
• John is seen reading and throwing down a book called Patriot by Mikhail Bakunin, who was a Russian revolutionary anarchist
• Apparently Juan’s body count is 37, and John’s is a whopping 123