QT6 - Harry ducks and dodges during Italian WWII Night: FIVE FOR HELL and FROM HELL TO VICTORY!!!

ITALIAN WAR FILM NIGHT

Cine-Muerte & Fantastic Fest & Alamo Drafthouse Programmer Du Jour, Kier-La Jannisse does the intro – thanking the sponsors – Omni, Tipping Point, Austin Film Society, Austin Chronicle. Next the radiant Kier-La began to geek out and pine over the upcoming film, because of Luciano Rossi. You might recognize him as being “that Spaghetti Western hunchback,” but if you love your spaghetti westerns – he was in just about all of the Django films as various characters, but he’s blonde and cute according to Kier-La – and I like to imagine that she has a Luciano Rossi shrine somewhere in her home – where incense and candles burn eternally for pasta player.

As Kier-La was confessing her undying worship of Luciano Rossi – Quentin was over in the shadows giggling like a giddy maniac appreciating another’s mania. When he took the stage – he began to tell us about the sad tragic hateful day that Spaghetti Westerns ceased to be. From 64-70 there were somewhere around 350 Spaghetti Westerns made. That’s 50 Westerns a year being cranked out of a single country. Quentin asks us to really think about that. In all those films – an actor like Gianni Garko, star of tonight’s film, did about 30 Spaghetti Westerns, while Character Actors – “forget about it, they never ceased working” And the directors usually did at least 3 movies a year. Before the westerns, the Italian film industry revolved around the sword & sandal Gladiator films, when that dried up, it was the Western – then the Giallo – while some went to crime. But the genre of choice really became the Italian WWII movie. Which he said was exemplified by FIVE FOR HELL.

You see, towards the end of Spaghetti Western’s run, the DIRTY DOZEN hit and it was the biggest movie in the world at that time. Running like 3 and a half hours, this was a movie so successful that Robert Aldrich was able to buy his own studio – which Quentin said was something that just doesn’t happen often. After Aldrich, it was Copolla and after Copolla – it was Robert Rodriguez. THE DIRTY DOZEN just raked in the money in Italy, Germany and Spain and they just ate it up. “The Italians only need one movie to create a fucking genre!” He then told us about how Charlton Heston’s CALL OF THE WILD played Italy – and suddenly you had films like Fulci’s WHITE FANG, which he promised to bring to show us some time.

Bringing it back to FIVE FOR HELL – he tells us the genre basically became the “misfit gang brought together to pull off a mission” and Frank Kramer was especially well suited for this. He feels that Frank Kramer must be some sort of godfather to Robert Rodriguez and that he might have been into the circus, cuz his spaghetti westerns and films always had Acrobatics, gymnastics, gadgets and gimmicks. He then recalled showing Rodriguez, ADIOS SABATA and Luciano Rossi having the ball-bearing drop into this little cup like thing on his shoe/boot – then with a roundhouse kick slamming it into somebody’s skull like a human slingshot. Quentin tells us we’ll see in this film that acrobatic shit is part of the mission. “You’ve got your hand guns, Hand Grenades, Machine Guns, Explosives and a Little portable trampoline!”

Gianni Garko became a star when Kramer cast him as Sartana in the film of the same name (aka GUNFIGHTERS DIE HARDER – U.S. title) which became an on-going series for Garko. Think he did 5 of these. “I am your pallbearer” – friggin love that line from SARTANA. Garko is also a major veteran of QT fests. He did THE PSYCHIC – which Quentin has said he wanted to remake. WIPEOUT which was one of the great crime films we’ve seen in the past. And now FIVE FOR HELL!

Then he tells us about Margaret Lee – “She’s no Barbara Bouchet, who you’ll be seeing tomorrow night DEATH RAGE!” But he does tell us that she was the queen of Italian spy films and apparently she’s quite good in this.

Then – he gets quite excited, because he’s gotten to the performer that he feels steals the movie, which should be of no real surprise to any fan of his work… Which is Klaus Kinski, “The Star of the Show” - “He made his reputation playing crazy sleazy psychotic villains in the westers, but man, it was like he was waiting for the chance to play a Nazi, just wait till you see Klaus Kinski as a Nazi!” Then Quentin thanked Harry Guero – who brought this print down here to show. He’s one of the great print collectors in the country!

“Alright, so get ready for Spaghetti World War II Men on a Mission Hijinks with FIVE FOR HELL!”

With that, it became time for the trailers…

The first trailer was for a film that played at QT 1 – MARCH OR DIE – an amazingly great film that had the terrible misfortune of opening opposite STAR WARS – and thus… you’ve never heard of it.

Speaking of STAR WARS – the next trailer was for FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE – I love this film. Now mind you, it ain’t the fucking GUNS OF NAVARONE, but what is? As a kid though – this was where Apollo Creed, Han Solo and Quint all had an adventure together. I adore the film.

Then it was time for the movie. So what did I think?

Well – this is a quirky, fun-filled – rollicking even, WWII caper movie. However, it’s trying to do the big World War II movie on a budget, so the “German High Command” for the region – it only has… maybe 30 Nazi troops and a very small interior group. However – any pretense of reality goes out with the trampoline and the soft ball ball bearing delivery system. This isn’t supposed to be an Alistair MacLean story – or a giant Hollywood production… this is a little cheap Italian WWII film – and as I watched it – I couldn’t help but think of something.

How far America has fallen. At the time this movie was made, in the decades around it – The Italians were making films about American Heroes. They were making films to enhance the mythos of the United States. This just does not happen today. Sure, you could say the economics of cinema have changed so radically that it doesn’t pay for foreigners to make “American Hero Flicks” that could possibly compete with say SPIDER-MAN or the latest Spielberg flick, but dammit – I miss this. The closest thing to this in today’s world is something like THE TRANSPORTER – which Luc Besson produced – but frankly – that was financed by 20th Century Fox… who probably required that the hero be American, even if a Brit were playing him.

Watching this film – there’s such a feeling of “we can do it” that’s coming out of these characters. And then there’s just the very idea that the Italians were making WWII films with Americans as the heroes of a war in which – they would be considered “the bad guys”.

I mean – do you think that at some point in the future in IRAQ or AFGANISTAN – that there will be a film industry where they make films celebrating the heroic Americans defeating the evil extremists?

I don’t think so. But you never know.

Klaus Kinski’s sleazy as hell SS officer and just how he treats Margaret Lee is classic. He lays on her bed as she is telling him to leave, puts his hands behind his head – and doesn’t say a word. He knows she knows that he knows what she knows, and knows that she’ll make sweet love to his Aryan hide if she wishes to survive. And you just don’t need words to get in the way of the silent obviousness of the situation.

All that being said… the final Garko gag of the film as Kinski’s on his ass is one of my favorite out of total left field bits of – “HOLY SHIT THAT’S COOL!!!” that I have seen in quite a while. Very cool.

As Quentin comes out to introduce the second film of the night – He instantly begins going into FROM HELL TO VICTORY as directed by Umberto Lenzi under one of his, “crazy American pseudonyms” – Hank Milestone – that turns out to be one of the best films of the whole international coalition gigantic sprawling WWII epics.

Quentin feels that if this was made in the 60 when big muscular WW2 genre was at the top of its game – it would be recognized as one of the greats. Now the funny thing he points out is that if this had been made in 64 or 65 it’d probably have the exact same cast. You see – the film stars George Peppard, George Hamilton, Horst Buchholz, Capucine, Sam Wanamaker.

He then states that of all the movies that hopped all around the globe – with that helter skelter structure – this is the best. Umberto manages to establish the friends so clearly in the pre-war bit – that you never are confused as to where you are or what you’re seeing. It’s very very clear. He then stated that when the Italians made big giant epics, they usually stumbled, but with this – he makes no apologies and feels no excuses have to be made – this can stand next to BATTLE OF THE BULGE and any of those films.

It was at this point though that Quentin drops a bomb. “Ok, there’s one more thing I have to be clear about here. I watched my print and we’re missing ONE SCENE,” the audience erupts in laughter. You see – if you know or have a history with the QT fest – you know that these are not generally perfect prints. They’re scratched up, fading, maybe a bit red – or sometimes absolutely perfect. It’s a big bunch of the charm of the fest… He then details that the scene in question has Anny Duperey being harassed by Nazis and then we’re missing what happened scene – and have her and Horst Buchholz reunited. We’re missing how Horst pulled her out of that situation. So there – now we won’t be confused.

Quentin then went into how he met Umberto Lenzi, and he went into how he’s a fan of his Zombie films, CANNIBAL FEROX and especially of the 4 Giallos that he made with Carroll Baker – and he asked Lenzi, “Why did you do 4 movies with Carroll Baker?” and Lenzi answered, “Whaddayou think, I was in love with her!”

Quentin got this print very recently for $50 – it was supposed to be red, but he says he sees color all over the place on the print.

Then it was time for trailers…

VON RICHTHOFEN AND BROWN – directed by Roger Corman and starring John Phillip Law as the Red Baron. I must see this film. The trailer looks awesome!

DAMNATION ALLEY – look – it’s the truck from LAND OF THE DEAD!

LOVE AT FIRST BITE – Dad has begun to growl – he hates this and ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE with a passion. Personally, I thought they were fun.

Now for FROM HELL TO VICTORY…

This is just a fantastic film. Some in the audience are probably going to dislike it for the melodrama aspects – but frankly I love this movie. It’s very much about how War can tear friends apart and task them beyond anything they’ve ever known, but in the end – the friendship will survive – at least some part of it will.

Some of the relationship work may be a bit lacking here, but just a little. The two “children” storylines are my least favorite parts of the film… but, I still like them. My favorite aspects of the film have to do with Peppard, Hamilton, Duperey and Capucine. Their storylines are pretty damn rock solid – and Hamilton’s French guerilla fighter is awesome in the film, and I really can’t believe I can say that.

The film had me constantly looking at my notes and thinking, “Umberto Lenzi directed THIS?!?!?” I’m so used to his $3 Cannibal flicks, that a film of this scale and scope just seemed impossibly beyond anything he was capable of – from my meager knowledge of his career – and this has assured that I will more deeply delve into his other films. The scenes with hundreds of planes swooping and firing – or the scenes with dozens of tanks… it’s just HUGE.

However, George Peppard has the best scene of the film. Well, action scene. They briefly show us a map that is of this area where the Nazis have a secret liquid oxygen plant – and then we have Peppard and crew on the way to the mission – and then they’re driving through Nazi blockades, then suddenly they’re machine-gunning dozens of Nazis – then they drive off into the canal, put on scuba gear – venture into the secret Nazi base that looks like something out of DR NO, where they do a big explosive rig – then swim ten miles to a bunch of Mills to escape with Undercover Dannish resistance disguised as Nazis! And it happens like SNAP! It’s so fucking cool it hurts.

I know several people that preferred the first film of the night tonight, and even more that preferred this one. Me – I liked both quite a bit. But FROM HELL TO VICTORY is a great WWII film, especially when you see it on a BIG screen. The scope is stunning and will give you a new appreciation for Umberto Lenzi.