Duck, You Sucker
All actors and roles (10)
Short description
Set during the Mexican Revolution of 1913, this western follows Juan Miranda, the head of a bandit family that robs stagecoaches, and John H. Mallory, an Irish explosives expert and member of the Irish Republican Army who is on the run from the British. After the two meet in Mexico, Juan recognises the value of Mallory's skill with dynamite and persuades him to join a planned raid on the bank of Mesa Verde, alongside the revolutionary leader Dr. Villega. The robbery does not go as intended: the bank turns out to hold political prisoners rather than money, and the explosion that frees them turns the pair into heroes of the revolution against their will. Government troops commanded by Colonel Gutiérrez subsequently pursue them.
The film was directed by Sergio Leone, who wrote the screenplay with Sergio Donati and Luciano Vincenzoni, and produced by Fulvio Morsella. It is the sixth of the seven features Leone directed, arriving between Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America. Rod Steiger plays Juan Miranda and James Coburn plays John H. Mallory, with Romolo Valli as Dr. Villega, Maria Monti, Rik Battaglia and Franco Graziosi among the credited cast of forty-one.
Produced in Spain and Italy with United Artists among the production companies, the film runs 157 minutes. It holds a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb from around 41,000 votes and 7.7 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 1,200 votes. A critics' rating of 7.4 out of 10 from 26 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The character of John Malloy was specifically written for Jason Robards, and Eli Wallach was the director's initial choice for the role of Juan Miranda. However, the studio wanted more famous actors in the film, so the leading roles went to James Coburn and Rod Steiger.
- James Coburn was offered roles in 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964) and 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968) at one point. When Leone offered James the role of Sean, Coburn wasn't particularly keen on appearing in the film and asked for time to consider. A few days later, James met with Henry Fonda, who starred in 'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968), and asked him what he thought of Leone. Fonda replied that he considered Leone the greatest director he had ever worked with. After that, Coburn agreed to star in the film.
- Malcolm McDowell was originally slated to play Sean.
- According to Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah agreed to direct the film after Peter Bogdanovich left the project. However, he requested too high a fee, and the studio declined his services.
- The full version of the film has a runtime of 158 minutes.
- Peter Bogdanovich was initially supposed to direct the film, but Rod Steiger and James Coburn demanded that Leone be the director.
- Jason Robards and Clint Eastwood were considered for the role of John.
- Sergio Leone offered Eli Wallach the role of Juan Miranda, but Wallach was unable to participate in the film due to commitments to other projects. After much persuasion from Leone, Eli agreed to the role and left another project. However, by that point, the studio had already signed a contract with Rod Steiger. Leone offered no compensation to Wallach, so the latter sued the production company.
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