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The Mercenary (film)

January 01, 1970

The Mercenary (Italian: Il mercenario), known in the UK as A Professional Gun, is a 1968 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci. The film stars Franco Nero, Jack Palance, Tony Musante, Eduardo Fajardo and Giovanna Ralli, and features a musical score by Ennio Morricone, taking inspiration from his work in Guns for San Sebastian, and Bruno Nicolai.

The Mercenary
Directed bySergio Corbucci
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced byAlberto Grimaldi[1]
Starring
CinematographyAlejandro Ulloa[1]
Edited byEugenio Alabiso[1]
Music by
Production
companies
  • PEA
  • Produzioni Associate Delphos
  • Profilms 21[1]
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • 20 December 1968 (1968-12-20) (Italy)
Countries
Box office₤1.101 billion ITL (Italy)[2]

Plot edit

On the northern side of the Mexico–United States border, Sergei "Polack" Kowalski, a well-groomed, greedy mercenary, attends a circus performance where he recognizes the show's lead rodeo clown as Paco Roman. During the performance, Kowalski reminisces on how he and Paco fought together as revolutionaries against the Mexican Government.

Prior to the start of their partnership, Paco, a peon working in a silver mine owned by Elias Garcia, rebels against his boss and humiliates him and his two brothers, including Colonel Alfonso Garcia. He is soon captured, but saved from execution by his friends. Meanwhile, Kowalski makes a deal with Elias and his brother to take their silver safely across the border. Curly, Kowalski's flamboyant American rival, sees the three men talking and tracks down the brothers to find out what they hired Kowalski for, after which Curly kills the two.

When Kowalski arrives at the mine to meet the Garcias, he meets Paco and his revolutionaries instead. Colonel Garcia's troops arrive to attack them, and Kowalski agrees to help Paco fight them for money. With the help of Kowalski and his Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun, the revolutionaries drive Colonel Garcia's forces away. Kowalski then leaves, but he is soon ambushed by Curly. Paco's group arrives and kills Curly's men. Although Curly swears revenge, they let him go after stripping him of his clothes. Paco then hires Kowalski to teach him how to lead a revolution.

The revolutionaries travel from town to town robbing money, guns and horses from the army. They also release a prisoner named Columba, who joins the group. Columba at first resents Paco's violent methods and his over-reliance on Kowalski, but both soon begin to respect each other. After Paco stays in one town to protect the people, despite Kowalski telling him that they can not match the army sent to capture them, Kowalski leaves the group again. Paco's group admits defeat and returns to Kowalski. Kowalski doubles his fee, but he and Paco make another deal. After the revolutionaries take over a town by defeating a whole regiment, Paco, realizing the unfairness of the financial burden Kowalski has placed on him and Columba, imprisons Kowalski, confiscates his money, and marries Columba. When Colonel Garcia's army, along with Curly, attack them, Paco realizes he can not manage the situation on his own and decides to set Kowalski free, but finds himself locked up while Kowalski escapes. Columba frees Paco, and the two escape before Curly can find them.

In the present, Kowalski notes that it has been six months since Paco betrayed him. After the performance ends, Curly and his men capture Paco. Kowalski shoots Curly's men and gives him and Paco both a rifle and a bullet, so that the two can have a fair duel. After Paco kills Curly, Kowalski takes him prisoner and heads to the headquarters of the 51st Regiment to collect the reward offered for his head. Columba, witnessing Kowalski's capture of her husband, rides to the 51st's headquarters with two members of Paco's troupe and meets with Colonel Garcia, pretending to betray Paco by telling him where the two are.

When the army troops find the pair, Kowalski also finds himself arrested as there is now an even bigger reward for his head. The two are then sentenced to death by firing squad. However, Columba executes her plan, and holds Garcia at gunpoint while the circus performers create a diversion. Using two machine guns, Paco and Kowalski kill most of Garcia's troops, and they escape with Columba and the performers. The group splits up; Columba and the performers leave to spread the word of Paco's return to Mexico, Paco prepares to lie low before reuniting with Columba, and Kowalski, who has been given a share of his own reward money, prepares to leave Mexico. Kowalski suggests to Paco that they should team up as a mercenary pair, but Paco assures him that his "dream" is in Mexico. As the two friends part ways, Colonel Garcia and four soldiers prepare to ambush and kill Paco. Kowalski cuts them all down with his rifle from a nearby hillside. Before leaving, he yells, "Good luck, Paco! Keep dreaming, but with your eyes open!"

Cast edit

Production edit

In 1968, Franco Solinas and Giorgio Arlorio wrote The Mercenary.[3] Initially, the film was going to be directed by Gillo Pontecorvo.[3]

Release edit

The Mercenary was released in December 1968.[4] The film was released in the United Kingdom in 1970 as A Professional Gun and in the United States as The Mercenary.[3][4]

References edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hughes 2004, p. 205.
  2. ^ Fisher, Austin (2014). Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western: Politics, Violence and Popular Italian Cinema. I.B.Tauris. p. 220.
  3. ^ a b c Hughes 2004, p. 206.
  4. ^ a b Hughes 2004, p. 213.

Sources edit

External links edit

January 01, 1970
mercenary, film, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, mercenary, film, news, newspapers, books, scholar, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Mercenary film news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this message The Mercenary Italian Il mercenario known in the UK as A Professional Gun is a 1968 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci The film stars Franco Nero Jack Palance Tony Musante Eduardo Fajardo and Giovanna Ralli and features a musical score by Ennio Morricone taking inspiration from his work in Guns for San Sebastian and Bruno Nicolai The MercenaryDirected bySergio CorbucciScreenplay byLuciano Vincenzoni Sergio Spina Adriano Bolzoni Sergio Corbucci 1 Story byFranco Solinas Giorgio Arlorio 1 Produced byAlberto Grimaldi 1 StarringFranco Nero Tony Musante Jack Palance Giovanna RalliCinematographyAlejandro Ulloa 1 Edited byEugenio Alabiso 1 Music byEnnio Morricone Bruno Nicolai 1 ProductioncompaniesPEA Produzioni Associate Delphos Profilms 21 1 Distributed byUnited ArtistsRelease date20 December 1968 1968 12 20 Italy CountriesItaly Spain 1 Box office 1 101 billion ITL Italy 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Release 5 References 5 1 Footnotes 5 2 Sources 6 External linksPlot editOn the northern side of the Mexico United States border Sergei Polack Kowalski a well groomed greedy mercenary attends a circus performance where he recognizes the show s lead rodeo clown as Paco Roman During the performance Kowalski reminisces on how he and Paco fought together as revolutionaries against the Mexican Government Prior to the start of their partnership Paco a peon working in a silver mine owned by Elias Garcia rebels against his boss and humiliates him and his two brothers including Colonel Alfonso Garcia He is soon captured but saved from execution by his friends Meanwhile Kowalski makes a deal with Elias and his brother to take their silver safely across the border Curly Kowalski s flamboyant American rival sees the three men talking and tracks down the brothers to find out what they hired Kowalski for after which Curly kills the two When Kowalski arrives at the mine to meet the Garcias he meets Paco and his revolutionaries instead Colonel Garcia s troops arrive to attack them and Kowalski agrees to help Paco fight them for money With the help of Kowalski and his Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun the revolutionaries drive Colonel Garcia s forces away Kowalski then leaves but he is soon ambushed by Curly Paco s group arrives and kills Curly s men Although Curly swears revenge they let him go after stripping him of his clothes Paco then hires Kowalski to teach him how to lead a revolution The revolutionaries travel from town to town robbing money guns and horses from the army They also release a prisoner named Columba who joins the group Columba at first resents Paco s violent methods and his over reliance on Kowalski but both soon begin to respect each other After Paco stays in one town to protect the people despite Kowalski telling him that they can not match the army sent to capture them Kowalski leaves the group again Paco s group admits defeat and returns to Kowalski Kowalski doubles his fee but he and Paco make another deal After the revolutionaries take over a town by defeating a whole regiment Paco realizing the unfairness of the financial burden Kowalski has placed on him and Columba imprisons Kowalski confiscates his money and marries Columba When Colonel Garcia s army along with Curly attack them Paco realizes he can not manage the situation on his own and decides to set Kowalski free but finds himself locked up while Kowalski escapes Columba frees Paco and the two escape before Curly can find them In the present Kowalski notes that it has been six months since Paco betrayed him After the performance ends Curly and his men capture Paco Kowalski shoots Curly s men and gives him and Paco both a rifle and a bullet so that the two can have a fair duel After Paco kills Curly Kowalski takes him prisoner and heads to the headquarters of the 51st Regiment to collect the reward offered for his head Columba witnessing Kowalski s capture of her husband rides to the 51st s headquarters with two members of Paco s troupe and meets with Colonel Garcia pretending to betray Paco by telling him where the two are When the army troops find the pair Kowalski also finds himself arrested as there is now an even bigger reward for his head The two are then sentenced to death by firing squad However Columba executes her plan and holds Garcia at gunpoint while the circus performers create a diversion Using two machine guns Paco and Kowalski kill most of Garcia s troops and they escape with Columba and the performers The group splits up Columba and the performers leave to spread the word of Paco s return to Mexico Paco prepares to lie low before reuniting with Columba and Kowalski who has been given a share of his own reward money prepares to leave Mexico Kowalski suggests to Paco that they should team up as a mercenary pair but Paco assures him that his dream is in Mexico As the two friends part ways Colonel Garcia and four soldiers prepare to ambush and kill Paco Kowalski cuts them all down with his rifle from a nearby hillside Before leaving he yells Good luck Paco Keep dreaming but with your eyes open Cast editFranco Nero as Sergei Polack Kowalski Tony Musante as Paco Roman Jack Palance as Ricciolo Curly Giovanna Ralli as Columba Eduardo Fajardo as Alfonso Garcia Franco Giacobini as Pepote Alvaro de Luna as Ramon Raf Baldassarre as Mateo Joe Kamel as Sebastian Franco Ressel as Studs Ugo Adinolfi Jose Maria Aguinaco as Ramirez Simon Arriaga as Simon Jose Canalejas as Lerkin Juan Cazalilla as Mayor Remo De Angelis as Hudo Alejandro de Enciso as Juan Tito Garcia as Garcia s Cousin Joyce Gordon as Columba voice Bernie Grant as Garcia s Brother voice A Jimenez Castellanos Guillermo Mendez as Captain Enrique Navarro as Notary Francisco Nieto as Antonio Angel Ortiz as Mexican 3 Julio Pena Milo Quesada as Marco Herman Reynoso as Curly s 2nd Man Jose Riesgo as Garcia s Brother Lorenzo Robledo as Officer Vicente Roca as Elias Garcia Fernando Villena as Sergeant Jose I Zaldua as Innkeeper Angel Alvarez as NotaryProduction editIn 1968 Franco Solinas and Giorgio Arlorio wrote The Mercenary 3 Initially the film was going to be directed by Gillo Pontecorvo 3 Release editThe Mercenary was released in December 1968 4 The film was released in the United Kingdom in 1970 as A Professional Gun and in the United States as The Mercenary 3 4 References editFootnotes edit a b c d e f g h Hughes 2004 p 205 Fisher Austin 2014 Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western Politics Violence and Popular Italian Cinema I B Tauris p 220 a b c Hughes 2004 p 206 a b Hughes 2004 p 213 Sources edit Hughes Howard 2004 Once Upon a Time in the Italian West I B Tauris ISBN 1 85043 430 1 External links editThe Mercenary at IMDb nbsp The Mercenary at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Mercenary film amp oldid 1141785446, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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