A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE

Variously known also as A Fistful Of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time in The Revolution Leone's epic political comedy was Leone's least success­ful film at the box office and one of his most under-rated works.

Set in 1913, Rod Steiger, a Method-trained actor like Eli Wallach who could ham it up when required, plays a Mexican outlaw of peasant stock who joins forces with John Mallory (James Coburn), an ex-IRA explosives expert, to rob a bank vault. He inadvertently becomes a popular hero of the Revolution when instead of liberat­ing a gold shipment, he frees hundreds of politi­cal prisoners. Coburn cuts an imposing figure riding a motorcycle and wearing a leather coat which houses his various pyrotechnical devices

As usual we are treated to a hauntingly evoca­tive music score by Morricone and Ruzzolini's camerawork accentuates fast zooms and ultra tight closeups.