Don't Turn the Other Cheek (1974)

I love this movie so much

Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Taking part in the ICM Italian Challenge,I decided to check for films that I hope to watch, then sell. Nearing the end of a pile, I found a Spaghetti Western Video that I had picked up ages ago,which led to me turning the other cheek.View on the film:Bringing the influence of director Duccio Tessari's work with Sergio Leone in their adaptation of Lewis B. Patten's novel, the writers lean on Leone's landmark Spaghetti Westerns in the miss-matched friends relationship between Lozoya and Prince Dmitri,and a search for gold taking place against a Mexican Revolution backdrop. Whilst not shying away from their inspirations, the writers give the title its own refreshingly quirky edge, via farcical comedy of the map being on Lozoya's bottom, and Mary O'Donnell standing out from the usual ladies of the genre,by diving into the fighting.Backed by a Morricone-sounding score from Gianni Ferrio, director Duccio Tessari & cinematographer José F. Aguayo make the Spaghetti Western shoot-outs crackle with excitement,as the whip-pans rush to follow Dmitri and Lozoya's quest for gold. Holding them up to give info to rival outlaws, Tessari loads up on the tension with lingering close-ups catching the guys thinking up elaborate escape plans. Performing the theme song, Lynn Redgrave gives an energetic performance as O'Donnell,with Redgrave hitting the action scenes with a real relish. Appearing in only his second Spaghetti Western, Franco Nero gives a terrific performance as Prince Dmitri,whose swift exchanges with Eli Wallach's very good performance as Lozoya balances slippery comedy and crunchy shoot-outs,where both of them turn the other cheek.

This movie rarely crack me up. Director Duccio Tessari at least, gave it a try. Long Live Your Death AKA Don't Turn the Other Cheek! Originally titled Viva la muerte... tua! is a 1971 Italian spaghetti western comedy that mostly a send up to more "political" Spaghetti Westerns called Zapata Westerns. Zapata Westerns is the nickname given to a subgenre of "Spaghetti Westerns", dating largely from the mid-1960s to early 1970s, which were set in and around Mexico during the Mexico Revolution (1910 to 1920s), hints the name, Zapata, named after Mexican Revolution leader, Emiliano Zapata. The movie often dealt with overtly political themes of that era. Based on the novel titled "The killer from Yuma" by Lewis B. Patten, and screenplay written by Massimo De Rita and Juan De Orduña, the movie tells the story of a Russian con artist, Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky (Franco Nero) whom dress up as a priest, hears from a last confession about a village where a treasure is hidden. He seeks out a Mexican Bandit and mistaken war hero, Max Lozoya (Eli Wallach) who knows more about its precise location. The movie isn't anything new, as there has been a lot of treasure hunting Spaghetti Westerns over the years like 1966's Sergio Leone's masterpiece film, 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. If you replace the American Civil War with the Mexican Revolution, replace the great actor, Clint Eastwood with mediocre, Franco Nero who sounds like he imitates Peter Lorne throughout the film, replace Angel Eyes with pretty, but annoying young red head angel eyes, Lynn Redgrave, replace the amazing music from Ennio Morricone with lousy Elevator music from Gianni Ferrio, then you got this movie. Eli Wallach's Max Lozoya is just a mirror image of plain old, Tuco Ramirez. He just under another name. He adds nothing new to his performance. Even the bait and switch execution mirrors that of Tuco and Blondie. It really feels like rehash stuff. The movie does have some interesting things that were later use or help influence other works such as the priest disguise that came to be used in films like 1974's The Gun and the Pulpit, and 1975's God Guns. Another weird idea taken from this film is the map instructions tattooed on people's bottom; that was used in 1974's Blood Money. The movie is mostly a comedy, as most of its jokes were misses than hit. There were a few funny jokes that I happen to laugh at. Too bad, the movie took its concept way too serious at times, and the film got really dark. Lots of violent deaths, and women and children dying here. How are war atrocity, funny? The action is pretty over the top with examples of people shooting three opponents with only one bullet, people knocking out five opponents with one punch, and a soldier walking off with a toothache after being hit by a bullet. It's cheesy, but entertaining. The movie also has a lot of sub-plots that really goes nowhere. I don't even know, why the writers made Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky into a prince. It's hints at his past, with the Russian music playing in the watch, but it's never explain, why he left Russia, and became a con artist. Who knows, if he was really a prince? Another message that kinda get lost is the William Randolph Hearst type yellow journalism as shown by the Mary O' Donnell character. The movie goes have some faults. The movie could had benefited some better landscapes. Jose F. Aguayo's cinematography is average. The camera production are bad, with the camera zooming and out. I can do without the stop-motion beginning with Gisela Hahn. It was annoying as hell. I thought my DVD was skipping scenes. The movie is known for cutting scenes. For the U.S. theatrical release, the film was edited down to 93 minutes, cutting out nearly 17 minutes of footage. Try to find the DVD that contains the full uncut version containing 17 minutes of extra footage not seen in the U.S. theatrical version. Too bad, the uncut footage was never dubbed into English so this footage is presented on the DVD in Italian with English subtitles. The DVD also contains alternate title sequences that is better than the stop-motion, one. The movie might be hard to find, due to how rare it is. It doesn't help that the movie go under many titles. Star Eli Wallach came up with the title "Don't Turn the Other Cheek!" for the U.S. release as he did not like the Italian title. Overall: I can't recommend this movie, unless you liked lots of stupid spaghetti westerns. It's not the worst, but clearly not the best.

Bandit Eli Wallach and European con-man Franco Nero are in turn, set up, mistaken for, and masquerade as a flamboyant Mexican revolutionary and his military adviser, a Russian prince! The two know the partial whereabouts of a stashed fortune, but find it hard to get away from radical Irish journalist Lynn Redgrave long enough to go look for it.A typical, quirky Italian political western, Don't Turn The Other Cheek isn't as good as Sergio Corbucci's Companeros (also with Nero) or the fantastic (and non-comedic) A Bullet For The General starring A Fistful Of Dollars Gian Maria Volante.It's still a lot of fun though, with loads of action. Wallach and Nero have great comedic chemistry and should have been in more pictures together. On the other hand, with the exception of a few key scenes, Redgrave doesn't really have much to do.One other familiar face is Nero's Django nemesis Eduardo Fajardo playing the film's number one heavy.

This movie shares a lot of elements with other Euro-westerns. Those who are very familiar with the genre will recognize similarities to films such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Mercenary, Fistful of Dynamite, The Stranger and the Gunfighter, and other spaghetti westerns. Recognizing these common themes is part of the fun of watching this movie.The story is full of spaghetti western clichés presented in a fun, tongue-in-cheek manner, yet it still delivers in the violence and action departments as well. We even get to see some of Franco Nero's trademark machine gun wielding slaughter.The music score is very good. It matches the tone of the film, seems right for a slightly off-beat Euro-western, and definitely works in this movie.The movie boasts a phenomenal cast with Franco Nero, Eli Wallach, Lynn Redgrave, and Eduardo Fajardo. It would be hard to make a bad spaghetti western with those four playing the main characters, but I do have to say that although this movie was good, I think it could have been better. The acting and direction just seem a little bit sloppy. I suspect that either they were having so much fun making it that they were too relaxed to take their work seriously, or that they just didn't care all that much about the film. I prefer to think that it's the first reason. The US release (which is the version that I saw) also seems to have been edited way too much, probably to make the film shorter. My guess is that the movie is much better in its complete form.At any rate, I highly recommend this movie to those like me who have seen and liked lots of spaghetti westerns. To them it will be a fun movie. Others might not get very much out of this film.