50th anniversary of the “The Grand Duel”

 

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the premier of “The Grand Duel” directed by Giancarlo Santi and starred Lee Van Cleef, Horst Frank, Peter O’Brien and Marc Mazza. The film is about

Clayton (Lee Van Cleef), former sheriff of Jefferson who stops a bounty killer siege on the young Philip Vermeer (Peter O’Brien), who had managed to escape and take refuge in the mountains after being wrongly accused by the Saxon brothers of killing their father, called "The Patriarch". Vermeer was sentenced to death by a corrupt judge, and Philipp believes that Clayton is a bounty hunter, and tries to stay away from him, but is actually taken under his protection. In the end, however, he ends up in the hands of the three Saxon brothers, one of which, the marshal (Marc Mazza), directs the hanging to proceed. Clayton stops the hanging and reveals that he was the killer of ‘The Patriarch’ in order to stop his thirst for killing. At the end of the film a furious duel between Clayton and the Saxons frees the town of their tyrannical rule. The film grossed 477,266 lire on its original relese.

 

Il grande duello - Italian title

Le grand duel - French title

Drei Vaterunser für vier Halunken - German title

Sabata, o Justiceiro - Brazilian title

Suuri kaksintaistelu - Finnish title

Fataal tweegevecht - Flemish title

Keravnos kato apo ton ilio - Greek title

Monomahia mehri thanatou - Greek title

I megali mahi - Greek title

A nagy leszámolás - Hungarian title

O Grande Duelo - Portuguese title

El gran duelo - Spanish title

Gran duello al amanecer - Spanish title

Den Stora Duellen - Swedish title

Büyük duello - Turkish title

Hell’s Fighters - U.K. title

The Great Duel - English title

The Big Showdown - English title

The Loner - English title

Storm Rider - U.S.A. title

The Grand Duel - English title

 

A 1972 Italian, French, West German film co-production [Mount Street Film (Rome),

     SNC (Paris), Corona Filmproducktion (Munich), Terra Film (Berlin)]

Producers: Henryk Chorscicki, Ettore Rosboch

Director: Giancarlo Santi

Story: Ernesto Gastaldi

Screenplay: Ernesto Gastaldi, Albert Kantof

Cinematography: Mario Vulpiani [Eastmancolor, CinemaScope]

Music: Luis Bacalov, Sergio Bardotti

Running time: 100 minutes

 

Cast:

Sheriff Clayton - Lee Van Cleef (Clarence Van Cleef, Jr.)

David Saxon, Patriarch - Horst Frank

Philipp Vermeer/Newland - Peter O’Brien (Alberto Dentice)

Marshal Eli Saxon/Joe Buck - Marc Mazza (Marco Mazzacurati)

Adam Saxon/Jeff - Klaus Grünberg

Elisabeth - Dominique Darel

Anita - Sandra Cardini (Alessandra Cardini)

Big Horse/Anthony/Peacock - Jess Hahn (Jesse Hahn)

Hoak/Skinny - Antony Vernon (Antonio Casale)

Borghese - Gastone Pescucci

Madame Oro - Elvira Cortese

Mrs. David Saxon - Anna Maria Gherardi

Old John - Giovanni Filidoro

Deputy - Bob Clark (Robert Clark)

Joe Barrel - Hans Terofal (Hans Seitz)

Saxon henchman - Ray O’Connor (Renato Capitini), Memè Perlini (Amelio Perlini)

Bull - Giorgio Trestini

Hotel owner - Maria Teresa Piaggio

Bouncer – Mimmo Crao (Domenico Crao)

Saloon patron – Romano Milani

Saloon patron - Maurizio Streccioni, Angelo Boscariol, Salvatore Baccaro

Hangman - Furio Meniconi

Undertaker - Mimmo Rizzo (Giacomo Rizzo)

One-eyed man - Giancarlo Badessi

Townsman - Pierogiorgio Plebani, Aldo Formisano, Massimo Ciprari

Onlooker at hanging – Giovanna Sanfillipo, Anna Manduchi

Bounty killers - Franco Fantasia (Francesco Fantasia), Angelo Susani, Sergio Sagnotti

With: Vittorio Sancisi, Ottorino Poletini, Luigi Antonio Guerra, Michaelangelo Mastroni, Gianni Di Segni, Clemente Cipriano, Luigi Masironi, Luigi Scavran

Master of arms – Sergio Sagnotti