The Ballad of Hank McCain
Lean, imply and paranoid, convict Hank McCain (John Cassavetes) is sprung from jail by West Coast mobster Charlie Adamo (Peter Falk) to rob a Las Vegas on line casino that’s owned by an East Coast Mafia boss in the identical syndicate. Adamo’s underhanded try and muscle in on his fellow gangster’s territory ignites a gangland battle between factions with McCain caught within the center and operating for his life after he efficiently pulls off a $2 million greenback heist. Alongside the way in which, McCain is double-crossed by his personal son, hooks up with Irene (Britt Ekland), a bar hostess, is briefly reunited together with his former mistress Rosemary (Gena Rowlands) and goes down preventing in a real noir finale. Though it didn’t get any respect from the critics and even a lot discover from movie reviewers on the time, Machine Gun McCain (Italian title: Gli Intoccabili, 1968) is a remarkably taut, fast-paced B-movie crime thriller that’s as feral and cagey as its title hero. Cassavetes imbues his position with a pent-up depth that threatens to blow up at any second and infrequently does. It’s one in all his finest performances and demonstrates why he was extra in-demand as an actor in Hollywood as an alternative of a director.
Whereas Cassavetes and Peter Falk agreed to do Machine Gun McCain strictly for the cash, the film proved to be a fortunate appeal in additional methods than one. It was throughout the making of the movie that Cassavetes acquired to know Falk and commenced to collaborate with him on his subsequent unbiased characteristic, Husbands (1970). He additionally recruited Ben Gazzara, who was in Europe throughout the identical interval taking pictures The Bridge at Remagen (1969), to finish the trio featured in Husbands, a narrative of three married buddies who go on a consuming binge in London after a detailed good friend dies of a coronary heart assault. Due to Bino Cicogna, the co-producer of Machine Gun McCain, Cassavetes was in a position to safe financing for his movie when no Hollywood studio would decide to it. Cicogna, sadly, was not essentially the most dependable investor, and like a subplot from Machine Gun McCain, he bumped into hassle with collectors and fled to Brazil. However, Cicogna’s preliminary funding allowed Cassavetes to make Husbands and ultimately work out a positive distribution cope with Columbia Footage.
One fascinating facet of Machine Gun McCain is to see members of Cassavetes’ tight-knit filmmaking ensemble seem in a Euro-crime thriller and produce the identical model of improvised, spontaneous appearing to their roles. Val Avery, who beforehand labored with Cassavetes as an actor in Fringe of the Metropolis (1957) after which beneath his route in Too Late Blues (1961) and Faces (1968), seems right here as a Mafia businessman. Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes’ spouse, has a scene-stealing cameo towards the top as a former gangster moll who tries to rearrange protected passage for McCain and his girlfriend, Irene, overseas. And Falk, who is ideal because the treacherous, power-hungry Adamo, would go on to work with Cassavetes on 5 extra movies.
Montaldo’s movie is predicated on the crime novel Candyleg by Ovid Demaris and the screenplay by Mino Roli contains appropriately hard-boiled dialogue by Israel Horovitz that harkens again to the form of robust repartee you’d encounter in a basic Hollywood B-noir like The Slender Margin (1952) or Kiss Me Lethal (1955). An ideal instance is that this change between Hank and Irene as they cruise down the Vegas strip:
Hank: Twelve years of jail and I nonetheless get a kick out of those lights.
Irene: They’re stunning.
Hank: They’re not stunning. They’re low cost. It’s an attraction for unhappy, fats businessmen begging for extra money…for hustlers, for thieves, for pimps. I LOVE IT!
Different prime examples embrace this change between Hank and Jack (Pierluigi Apra):
Hank: Who’re these two slobs on the market?
Jack: Cuda and Barclay.
Hank: Cuda and Barclay!
Jack: They’re good!
Hank: They’re bums. They’re punks. They’re fringe nuthings.
And a dialog between Hank and his former mistress (performed by his real-life spouse Gena Rowlands) that sounds prefer it may have been pulled from a Cassavetes film:
Hank (to Rosemary): Boy, you actually look morbid.
Rosemary: Oh yeah. You don’t look so sizzling your self. You’re all grayed up.
Hank: So what? I acquired my character to drag me by means of.
Rosemary: Oh yeah. You’re an actual card.
Connoisseurs of giallos, spaghetti Westerns and Eurotrash films may also get a kick out of Machine Gun McCain‘s supporting solid which options such distinctive Italian actors as Gabriele Ferzetti (As soon as Upon a Time within the West [1968]), Luigi Pistilli (Dying Rides a Horse [1967]), Tony Kendall, also called Luciano Stella, who appeared in Mario Bava’s The Whip and the Physique [1963] and Django In opposition to Sartana [1970], and Brazilian born actress Florinda Bolkan, star of Elio Petri’s Investigation of a Citizen Underneath Suspicion [1970] and the ugly historic drama Flavia the Heretic [1974] through which she is skinned alive within the finale. The opposite noteworthy Italian contributor on Machine Gun McCain is composer Ennio Morricone who supplies a memorable rating together with the influential “Ballad of Hank McCain.”
Whereas most of Machine Gun McCain was shot in and round Las Vegas, there was some further location taking pictures in Rome, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Vacationers who keep in mind Vegas within the late sixties will get nostalgic watching Cassavetes and Britt Ekland cruise previous such as soon as well-known landmarks because the Golden Nugget, the Flamingo, The Golden Gate Resort & On line casino, the Fremont and the Frontier. Machine Gun McCain, nonetheless, is a lot better than a trip down reminiscence lane and loved vital acclaim in Europe when it was first launched. The director, Giuliano Montaldo, was even nominated for the Golden Palm award at Cannes when the film premiered there in 1969.
Right here is a variety of opinions on the movie from numerous critics and reviewers:
“Between the Mafia with its familial community of courtly captains and deferential lieutenants, and the unyielding loner McCain, whose private morality will exclude an solely son if crucial, a quite fascinating distinction develops. At finest the distinction isn’t sufficiently dramatized, and it lastly falls within the inexpressiveness of Cassavetes’s efficiency, the vagaries of the screenplay, and the superfluous introduction of an previous flame (Gena Rowlands), who provides nothing however standard confusion to the plot. However it’s there to consider; to admire in passing, to lament its loss – as so incessantly falls to these of us who love C films.”
– Roger Greenspun, The New York Instances
“…A wonderfully respectable movie with a number of nice surprises…An affordable worldwide success, the movie has frequently been a spotlight for dialogue in reconciling [director] Montaldo’s standing as an auteur together with his normal lack of field workplace success. [Gena] Rowlands turns in an excellent efficiency as the girl who commits suicide quite than squeal, an everyday characteristic in Italian gangster movies.”
– The Overlook Movie Encyclopedia: The Gangster Movie, edited by Phil Hardy
“This low cost little Italian characteristic was made initially in 1968. Its lovers-on-the-run theme and death-by-machine-gun sequence give it greater than a hanging resemblance to Bonnie and Clyde (1967), which undoubtedly was no accident. This was the form of junk movie through which Cassavetes frequently appeared in an effort to finance his personal creative endeavors, similar to Faces (1968).”
– TV Information
“Boring however violent Las Vegas-set mobster story with some echoes of Bonnie and Clyde.”
– Halliwell’s Movie & Video Information
“Junk.”
– Leonard Maltin’s Film Information
Regarding the making of Machine Gun McCain, Cassavetes agreed to star in it after unsuccessfully purchasing round his Husbands (1970) mission in Hollywood. Although his earlier movie Faces (1968) had been a vital and industrial success, Cassavetes realized that each studio considered Husbands as a totally uncommercial endeavor. So as an alternative, he approached Bino Cicogna, head of Euro Worldwide, and the producer of Machine Gun McCain as a attainable investor.
Cicogna, who additionally produced Sergio Leone’s As soon as Upon a Time within the West (1968), was a tall, elegant trying man with a quiet demeanor, a facade that contrasted together with his usually suspect enterprise dealings. He ultimately would flee Europe and his collectors for the protection of Brazil however in 1968 he was fairly open to the concept of financing a movie by Cassavetes, particularly since Faces had carried out so effectively in Europe, making the younger director a trigger celebre.
In accordance with Marshall High quality’s biography, Unintended Genius: How John Cassavetes Invented American Unbiased Movie, “the chance to supply what appeared like a status movie with American stars, directed by a rising American filmmaker, seemed like a foot within the door to Hollywood legitimacy. Cicogna was solely too comfortable to commit his funding – to the tune of $1.5 million – and to cede all creative management to Cassavetes. The contract Cassavetes had labored out with Cicogna, Al Ruban recalled, “was completely in our favor. Contractually, that they had nothing to say.” Thus, due to Cicogna and Cassavetes’ involvement in Machine Gun McCain, Husbands turned a actuality.
Whereas Cassavetes and Peter Falk had been filming Machine Gun McCain, they might work on refining the Husbands screenplay with enter from Ben Gazzara who was solid because the third main character within the film’s central trio. On the time Gazzara was in Prague engaged on The Bridge at Remagen (1969) whereas Cassavetes and Falk had been in Rome for some location taking pictures for Machine Gun McCain. When Russian troops invaded Czechoslovakia – referred to as the “Prague Spring” – Cassavetes and Falk had been fearful about Gazzara’s security however their colleague averted any harmful conditions and was quickly reunited together with his buddies.
On account of Cassavetes’ involvement in Machine Gun McCain, his spouse, Gena Rowlands, was solid in a pivotal cameo position within the movie as Rosemary, a former lover of McCain who he turns to for assist when mafia hitmen pursue him. Of their transient scenes collectively, Cassavetes and Rowlands show the form of spontaneous, improvised appearing that was already a distinguishing characteristic of Cassavetes’ films.
Further Trivia on Machine Gun McCain:
The movie was an Italian manufacturing that was launched in Italy as Gli Intoccabili. It was the second Italian gangster movie made in 1968 that John Cassavetes appeared in. The primary one was Rome Like Chicago (Italian title: Roma come Chicago). His involvement in each movies was strictly for financial causes and he used his charges to assist finance his personal unbiased productions.
Machine Gun McCain marked the primary time John Cassavetes and Peter Falk labored collectively as actors in a film. Cassavetes would go on to direct him in 4 of his personal productions – Husbands [1970], A Girl Underneath the Affect [1974], Opening Night time [1977], Huge Bother [1986]- and co-star with him in Husbands, the TV film Columbo: Etude in Black [1972], Mikey and Nicky [1976] and Opening Night time [1977].
The tagline for the movie was “Even the Mafia calls him Mister!”
Britt Ekland divorced her first husband actor Peter Sellers the identical 12 months she starred in Machine Gun McCain. She had simply accomplished The Bobo reverse Sellers in 1967 and would observe this gangster drama with the comedy The Night time They Raided Minsky’s (1968).
Peter Falk was no stranger to Italian movie productions and had beforehand appeared in two World Conflict II epics filmed in Europe, 1965’s Italiani brava gente (shot within the Ukraine and launched within the U.S. as Assault and Retreat) and Anzio (1968), which was shot in and round Naples.
Along with directing Machine Gun McCain, Giuliano Montaldo was additionally a revered actor and screenwriter. Amongst his appearing credit are The Doll That Took the City (1956) with Virna Lisi and Elio Petri’s The Murderer (1961) with Marcello Mastroianni. The sword-and-sandal epic Duel of the Champions (1961), Il Giorno Prima (English title: Management, 1987), a claustrophobic fallout shelter thriller, and the monetary drama The Entrepreneur (2011), his remaining movie and a multi-award winner at movie festivals, are just some examples of his numerous screenwriting abilities.
Montaldo’s different directorial efforts included a number of films with a World Conflict II setting similar to Dio e con noi (1969), Gli Occhiali d’oro (1987), and L’Agnese va a morire (1976). Montaldo might be finest identified at the moment for the trendy crime caper Grand Slam (1967) with Edward G. Robinson, Janet Leigh and Klaus Kinski!, his critically lauded biopic Sacco & Vanzetti (1971), which was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the cult movie curio Circuito Chiuso (English title: Closed Circuit, 1978), which is stirring up new curiosity within the director’s profession, due to a Blu-ray launch from Severin Movies.
Producer Bino Cicogna misplaced some huge cash on his movie offers and ultimately relocated to Brazil to flee his collectors. He was later murdered there – a stabbing sufferer. His final characteristic movie manufacturing was I Cannibali (1970), directed by Liliana Cavani and starring Britt Ekland.
The music rating of Machine Gun McCain is by Ennio Morricone and is one in all his finest. The brooding theme track, “The Ballad of Hank McCain,” has been recorded by different musicians, together with John Zorn in his tribute to Morricone, The Huge Gundown.
Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan makes one in all her first display screen appearances in Machine Gun McCain as Peter Falk’s mistress. She would go on to look in a number of acclaimed European movies similar to Luchino Visconti’s The Damned (1969) and Vittorio De Sica’s A Transient Trip (1973). Giallo followers identified her from such influential style entries as A Lizard in a Girl’s Pores and skin (1971) and Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972), each directed by Lucio Fulci.
For those who’re a fan of Italian exploitation movies, you’ll acknowledge Luigi Pistilli as Peter Falk’s henchman and Claudio Biava as one of many hoods McCain kills. Though Pistilli was an acclaimed theatre actor and in addition appeared in status movies similar to Francesco Rosi’s Illustrious Corpses (1976), he extra usually appeared in giallos, spaghetti westerns and crime thrillers. Dying Rides a Horse (1967), The Candy Physique of Deborah (1968), Mario Bava’s Twitch of the Dying Nerve (1971, aka A Bay of Blood), Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Solely I Have the Key (1972) and Tragic Ceremony (1972) are amongst his many credit. Claudio Biava has been equally lively in Italian style movies, primarily spaghetti westerns and spy thrillers similar to Django Kills Softly (1967), Ramon the Mexican (1966) and The Spy Loves Flowers (1966).
Cinematographer Erico Menczer started as an assistant cameraman, working for such internationally famend administrators as Michelangelo Antonioni, Mario Monicelli, and Federico Fellini. On his personal, he lensed such memorable giallos as The Cat o’ 9 Tails (1971) for Dario Argento and The Useless Are Alive (1972) for Armando Crispino.
Machine Gun McCain was first issued on DVD by Blue Underground within the English-language model and later upgraded to a HD switch to Blu-ray in March 2010. The one further options are the U.S. and Italian trailers and an informative interview with director Montaldo.
Different hyperlinks of curiosity:
https://variety.com/2023/film/global/giuliano-montaldo-dead-sacco-and-vanzetti-1235714714/
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/john-gena-dynamite-screen
https://www.theactorswork.com/2012/12/remembering-john-cassavetes.html
https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/20_Italian_Crime_Cinema_Classics