When the Italian film industry was at its prime, plenty
of America actors and actresses flew to the land of pizza and gladiators for
quick paydays in roles that didn’t even require talking on the set. In the late
’50s and early ’60, they’d end up in Biblical epics or don a toga to be the
next Hercules. But a few were able to elevate their careers to become
international superstars. Lee Van Cleef had kicked around Hollywood since
debuting in High Noon as a silent gunman way down on the credit list. For 13 years
he’d appear as a henchman on every Western and crime TV show. A decade later
Lee was still far down the credit list when he appeared in The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valance. But then he got a ticket to Europe to make A Few Dollars More
with Clint Eastwood, a supporting actor on Rawhide. On the landscape of Spain
and the studios of Rome, the duo were stars of Sergio Leone’s next big hit
after Fistful of Dollars. They returned for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and
became the faces of the new Western. While Eastwood went back to Hollywood to
become a force of nature, Lee Van Cleef kept returning to Italy to maintain his
leading man status in numerous Spaghetti Westerns. The Grand Duel placed Lee in
the midst of a battle between outlaws and bounty hunters.
Sheriff Clayton (Escape From New York‘s Lee Van Cleef)
arrives on stagecoach in the barely there town of Gila Bend. He’s looking for
Philip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice), a recent prison escapee. But he’s not the
only one looking for the guy since there’s quite a few bounty hunters lurking
around. Clayton senses that Wermeer isn’t the real killer. The Sheriff wants to
take Wermeer back to Saxon City to expose the real killer of Ebenezer Saxon
(Django, Prepare a Coffin‘s Horst Frank). However the Saxon brothers don’t seem
to care about any real killer because they’re ready to hang Wermeer. There’s
little hope for the local law enforcement helping out since Eli Saxon (Marc
Mazza) is the Sheriff of Saxon City. Will there be any true justice in this
family run town?
The Grand Duel is all about the skills of Lee Van Cleef
as an actor. He’s perfect as the sheriff who is out to get his man yet also
driven to expose true justice. He might not have the most handsome of faces,
but he has a face that lets you know that he’s going to do the job. Don’t mess
with him. Lee Van Cleef is able to show that the power he brought to the screen
in the small doses in Hollywood Westerns could be expanded to being a leading
man. He holds the film together. He proves with this film and others that he
was more than Clint Eastwood’s “wingman” in the previous Leone movies. Thank
goodness he stuck around Europe to be a leading man in Spaghetti Westerns such
as The Grand Duel instead of reverting back to being a supporting character
back home.
The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 2K restoration from
the original 35mm negative lets you fully appreciate what Lee Van Cleef could
do with a close up stare. The audio is Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio. Things
sound fine on both the original English and Italian dubs of the soundtrack.
When you chose the language, you are also choosing the credits for that
version. Since it was an international cast, both versions were created in ADR.
The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist
Stephen Prince starts off pointing out that the film’s limited budget kept the
production in Italy for the exteriors. They shot in the Tuscany region. He
speaks of how this movie came out around the time when the Spaghetti Westerns
were losing their box office domination in Italy. He gives a bit of biography
of Lee Van Cleef.
An Unconventional
Western (31:40) is a newly filmed interview with director Giancarlo Santi.
He talks about how the producers came to him with the script and Lee Van Cleef
already attached. He speaks of how they got funding. There’s a strange story of
when he worked on The Passenger. He was an assistant director who was the
original director on Duck, You Sucker until Sergio Leone had to return to the
director’s chair as the stars freaked out.
The Last of the
Great Westerns (25:37) is a fresh interview with screenwriter Ernesto
Gastaldi. The prolific writer known for his Giallo scripts including Torso, All
the Colors of the Dark and The Suspicious Death of a Minor also did several
Spaghetti Westerns including My Name Is Nobody, Light the Fuse… Sartana Is
Coming and Arizona Colt. He talks about how crews were working 300 days a year
making Westerns between Spain and Italy. He talks about how the script came
around.
Cowboy by Chance
(35:32) sits down with actor Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O’Brien. He started
making musical theater. He has major praise for Lee Van Cleef. The duo played
guitars between shots. Lee had a stuntman that was nearly a clone of him.
Out of the Box
(29:02) catches up with producer Ettore Rosboch. He came on board the project
because the other producers had a contract with Lee Van Cleef.
The Day of the Big
Showdown (21:07) gives assistant director Harald Buggenig a chance to line
up how the shoot went. He had connections with a lot of folks in the credits.
He was essential to the crew since he spoke both English and German so he was
able to speak with the international cast.
Saxon City
Showdown (15:32) a newly filmed video appreciation by the academic Austin
Fisher. He focuses on Lee Van Cleef’s persona in the Westerns. He explains why
the film was sold as The Big Showdown in certain markets.
Original Italian
and international theatrical trailers (2:56) sets up the sheriff, the
wanted man and the three brothers wanting revenge for their father’s death.
They’re both the same length just different languages. The international
trailer has the title as The Big Showdown.
Extensive image
gallery (11:20) featuring stills, posters, lobby cards and home video
sleeves, drawn from the Mike Siegel Archive and other collections. They even
have the boxes from the 8mm versions.
Two Different
Duels (15:38) a comparison between the original cut and the longer German
cut of The Grand Duel. The German cut wasn’t kept up well so we can see a
comparison of the differences. It’s nothing too dramatic missing from the
version on the Blu-ray.
Game Over (9:12)
is a sci-fi short film from 1984 starring The Grand Duel’s Marc Mazza. Who is
Mazza? Check out the next bonus feature.
Marc Mazza: Who
was the Rider on the Rain? (12:32) is a video essay about the elusive actor
Marc Mazza by tough-guy film expert Mike Malloy. It’s amazing how this small
part player ended up films like Moonraker. Malloy does a fine job illuminating
this familiar face who never truly got the spotlight. Mazza inspired a Doors’
song as a villain in Charles Bronson’s Rider on the Rain. We even find out
Mazza’s outside acting success. This is a great career tribute to the actor.
Arrow Video presents The Grand Duel. Directed by
Giancarlo Santi. Screenplay by: Ernesto Gastaldi. Starring: Lee Van Cleef,
Alberto Dentice, Jess Hahn, Horst Frank & Marc Mazza. Rated: Unrated.
Running Time: 94 minutes. Released: May 7, 2019.
Tags: Arrow Video, Lee Van Cleef, Spaghetti Western
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