Face to Face (1967 film)
Face to Face | |
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Aldo Sanbrell Lidya Alfonsi | |
Cinematography | Rafael Pacheco |
Edited by | Eugenio Alabiso |
Music by | Ennio Morricone |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | PEA (Italy) |
Release date |
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Running time |
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Box office | 1.117 billion ITL (Italy)[4] |
Face to Face (
The film portrays the unlikely partnership of Professor Fletcher (Volonté), a
A major success at the European box office, Face to Face has received praise from critics and scholars of the Spaghetti Western genre for its story and acting, although some criticism has been leveled at the execution of Fletcher's character arc.[4] Sollima considered it to be one of the best and most personal of the films he directed.[7]
Plot
Sometime after the
Charley Siringo, a mysterious outlaw, encounters Fletcher and Bennet, convincing the latter to reform his gang, "Bennet’s Raiders". Bennet agrees, and he convinces Fletcher to return to Boston. While staying in a hotel in Purgatory City, awaiting an Eastbound train, Fletcher finds Bennet again, who has been hired by businessman Williams to dispatch Sam Taylor's gun-fighting gang; in exchange, Aaron Chase, a Raider, will be freed from prison. A gunfight between Bennet and the gunmen ensues, and Fletcher saves Bennet's life by killing one of them. Later, as Fletcher prepares to board his train, he decides to follow Bennet and Aaron; they are soon joined by fellow Raiders Vance and Jason.
Bennet and Fletcher ride to the de Winton
Vance confronts Maria and Fletcher; the latter subsequently kills him in
In Silvertown, a
As Fletcher attempts to take the other refugees across a desert, one of the transport wagons breaks down, and the people on board are forced to travel on foot. Upon being separated, the group is wiped out by Zachary's vigilantes. Bennet meets Fletcher and the others just as the vigilantes prepare to attack. As the refugees escape, Fletcher and Bennet prepare to hold Zachary's gang off. Siringo arrives to stop the posse, killing Zachary and a vigilante to prevent further bloodshed, and confronts Bennet and Fletcher alone. Fletcher, angry at Siringo for his betrayal of the Raiders and the people of Puerto del Fuego, prepares to kill him, but he is shot by Bennet. Expressing regret over his unfulfilled plans for Bennet's Raiders, Fletcher dies. Bennet allows Siringo to execute him, but Siringo, noticing Bennet's desire for redemption, shoots the face of the vigilante's corpse, creating a "fake" Bennet to present to the authorities. Confused but thankful, Bennet rides off to start a new life with the refugees.
Cast
- Gian Maria Volonté as Professor Brad Fletcher (Brett Fletcher in Italian)
- Tomas Milian as Solomon "Beauregard" (Beau) Bennet
- William Berger as Charley "Chas" A. Siringo
- Jolanda Modio as Maria
- Carole André as Annie
- Gianni Rizzo as Williams
- Lidya Alfonsi as Belle de Winton
- Ángel del Pozo as Maximilian de Winton
- Aldo Sanbrellas Zachary Shawn (Zachary Shot in Italian)
- Nello Pazzafini as Vance
- José Torres as Aaron Chase
- Linda Veras as Cathy, Fletcher's Mistress
- Antonio Casas as Leading Citizen of Puerto del Fuego
- Frank Braña as Jason
- Guy Heron as Sheriff at de Winton Plantation
- Rossella D'Aquino as Sally, Purgatory City Hotel Maid (Sandy in Italian)
- Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia as Taylor Henchman
- Lorenzo Robledo as Wallace
- Francisco Sanz as Rusty Rogers
Release
Face to Face was released in November 1967.[8]
Reception
A contemporary review, reviewing a 102-minute version of the film in the
References
- ^ a b Hughes, 2009
- ^ "Faccia a faccia (1967)". Archivio del Cinema Italiano On-Line.
- ^ Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 36, no. 420. 1969. p. 124.
- ^ a b Fisher, 2014
- ^ Broughton, Lee. "The Sergio Sollima Italo-Western Box: The Big Gundown, Face to Face & Run Man Run". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
- ^ Cox, 1993
- ^ a b Face to Face (Spaghetti Western Memories) (DVD). Zürich, Switzerland: Explosive Media. 1967.
- ^ Hughes, Howard (2018). "Westerns, Italian Style: Once Upon a Timeline". The Complete Sartana (Booklet). Arrow Video. p. 38. FCD1762 / AV151.
Bibliography
- Cox, Alex; Jones, Nick (1993). Moviedrome: The Guide 2 (PDF). London: BBC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
- Hughes, Howard (2009). Once Upon A Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85043-896-0.
- Fisher, Austin (2014). Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western: Politics, Violence and Popular Italian Cinema. I.B.Tauris.
External links
- Face to Face at IMDb
- Face to Face at Rotten Tomatoes
- Face to Face at the Spaghetti Western Database