As Luck Would Have It

As Luck Would Have It

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As Luck Would Have It
As Luck Would Have It
And Starring Orson Welles As The Villainous Mexican Colonel! - Part Three

And Starring Orson Welles As The Villainous Mexican Colonel! - Part Three

Celebrating the inspired eccentricity of Patrick McGoohan, the legal heft of James Coburn, and John Philip Law's commitment to the art of non-acting.

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Richard Luck
Sep 10, 2024
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As Luck Would Have It
As Luck Would Have It
And Starring Orson Welles As The Villainous Mexican Colonel! - Part Three
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And what of the other American names that appeared in Spaghetti Westerns? In the case of James Coburn and Rod Steiger, they signed on to make 1971’s Duck, You Sucker"! (aka A Fistful Of Dynamite) as their contracts stipulated that the picture would be directed by Sergio Leone. As it turned out, Leone wanted very little to do with the film, his interest in the West having given way to his desire to make the ultimate movie about the Mafia.

Indeed, Duck, You Sucker! does at times feel like a movie made under duress. Though it has plenty of die-hard fans and lots to recommend it, it’s a little ragged at times - good editing would have tightened things up although that would have required even more of Leone’s rapidly-dwindling attention. As for the leads, Coburn is terrific as the ex-IRA man hoping revolution will be easier in Mexico than in his homeland while Steiger adds thick-eared Latino to his range of screen accents, one where the quality is easily dwarfed by the quantity.

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