Duck, You Sucker!

Duck, You Sucker!
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed bySergio Leone
Screenplay byLuciano Vincenzoni
Sergio Donati
Sergio Leone
Dialogue byRoberto de Leonardis
Carlo Tritto
Story bySergio Leone
Sergio Donati
Produced byFulvio Morsella
StarringRod Steiger
James Coburn
Romolo Valli
Maria Monti
Rick Battaglia
Franco Graziosi
CinematographyGiuseppe Ruzzolini
Edited byNino Baragli
Music byEnnio Morricone
Production
companies
Rafran Cinematografica
Euro International Films
San Miura
United Artists
Distributed byEuro International Films (Italy)
United Artists (International)
Release dates
  • 29 October 1971 (1971-10-29) (Italy)
  • 7 July 1972 (1972-07-07) (USA)
  • 16 September 1972 (1972-09-16) (Madrid)
  • 6 October 1972 (1972-10-06) (Barcelona)
Running time
  • 157 minutes (Italian version)
  • 154 minutes (standard version)
  • 138 minutes (American theatrical version)
CountriesItaly
Spain
United States[1]
LanguagesItalian
English
Spanish
Box office₤1.829 billion (Italy)[2]
4,731,889 admissions (France)[3]

Duck, You Sucker! (Italian: Giù la testa, lit. "Duck Your Head", "Get Down"), also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution, is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn, and Romolo Valli.

Set during the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s, the film tells the story of Juan Miranda, an amoral Mexican outlaw, and John Mallory, a former member of the Irish Volunteer Army. After they accidentally meet under less-than-friendly circumstances, Juan and John involuntarily become heroes of the Revolution, despite being forced to make heavy sacrifices.

It is the second film of Leone's unofficial Once Upon a Time Trilogy, which includes the previous Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and the subsequent Once Upon a Time in America (1984).[4] The last western film directed by Leone, it is considered by some to be one of his most overlooked films.[5][6]

  1. ^ Cox, Alex (2009). 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western. Oldcastle Books. p. 285. ISBN 978-1842433041.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fisher1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "French box office for 1972". Box Office Story. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018.
  4. ^ "The film with three names – in praise of Sergio Leone's neglected spaghetti western". British Film Institute. 24 April 2018. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Duck, You Sucker". Premiére. Hachette Filipacchi Media. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 25 April 2009.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ The Sergio Leone Anthology|DVD Review Archived 24 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine 2007-06-27, Slant Magazine