Thursday, December 20, 2018

50th Anniversary of “The Mercenary”


50 years ago today “Il Mercenario” (The Mercenary) premiered in Rome, Italy. Directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Franco Nero, Tony Musaante and Giovanna Ralli it tells the tale of a Mexican revolutionary who is lying low as a U.S. rodeo clown, the cynical Polish mercenary who tutored the idealistic peasant tells how he and a dedicated female radical fought for the soul of the guerrilla general Paco, as Mexicans threw off repressive government and all-powerful landowners in the 1910s. Tracked by the vengeful Curly, Paco liberates villages, but is tempted by social banditry's treasures, which Kowalski revels in.

Il Mercenario – Italian title
Salario para matar – Spanish title
El mercenario – Spanish title
Jaguar – Spanish title
Ammattitappaja – Finnish title
Un tuer professionnel – French title
El mercenario – French title
Mercenario – der Gefurchtete – German title
Die zwei Gefurchteten – German title
Die gefurchteten Zwei – German title
O epanastatis – Greek title
O misthoforos – Greek title
O skliros, to moutro kai o zorikos – Greek title
O Pistoleiro Profissional – Portuguese title
Gringo-Professionell Pistolero – Swedish title
Revenge of a Gunfighter – English title
A Professional Gun – U.K. title
The Mercenary – U.S.A. title

A 1968 Italian, Spanish co-production [Produzioni Europee Associate (Rome), Profilms
      (Madrid)]
Producer: Alberto Grimaldi
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Story: Giorgio Arlorio, Franco Solinas
Screenplay: Adriano Bolzoni, Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Spina, Luciano Vincenzoni
Cinematography: Alejandro Ulloa [Technicolor, Techniscope]
Music: Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai
     Songs: “Bamba vivace”, “Estasi”, “Il Mercenario”, “Fiesta”, “Liberta”, “Paco”, “Canto a mia
                 terra”, “Notte di Nozze”, “Riccioli” sung by I Cantori Moderni
Running time: 111 minutes

Cast:
Sergei Kowalski – Franco Nero (Francesco Sparanero)
Ricciolo/Curly/Curl/Elam – Jack Palance (Vladimir Palahniuk, Jr.)
Paco Roman – Tony Musante (Antonio Musante, Jr.)
Columba – Giovanna Ralli
Alfonso Garcia – Eduardo Fajardo
Ramon – Álvaro de Luna (Álvaro Blanco)
Mateo – Raf Baldassarre (Raffaele Baldassare)
Hudo – Remo de Angelis
Larkin – Joe Kamel (Giuseppe Frisaldi)
Sebastian – José Canalejas
Elias García – Vicente Roca (Vincente Roca)
Garcia’s brother - José Riesgo (José Cortina)
Mexican - Angel Ortiz (Ricardo Ortiz)
Studs – Franco Ressel (Domenico Orobana)
Captain – Guillermo Méndez
Simón – Simón Arriaga
Innkeeper – José Zalde
Antonio – Francisco Nieto
García’s cousin – Tito García (Pablo González)
Pepote – Franco Giacobini
Notary – Ángel Álvarez (Ángel Fernández), Enrique Navarro
Ramirez – José María Aguinaco
Mayor – Juan Cazalilla
Juan – Alejandro de Enciso
Marco – Milo Quesada (Raúl Alonso)
Sergeant – Fernando Villena
Curly henchman – Hermano Reynoso
Officer – Lorenzo Robledo
Land owner – Ugo Adinolfi
With: Bruno Corazzari, A. Jiménez Castellanos, Julio Peña (Julio Muñoz)
Master of arms: Remo de Angelis
Stunts: Miguel Pedregosa


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