Swordsman of Siena
(1962)
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Swordsman of Siena
(1962)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Stewart Granger | ... |
Thomas Stanswood
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| Sylva Koscina | ... |
Orietta Arconti
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| Christine Kaufmann | ... |
Serenella Arconti
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Riccardo Garrone | ... |
Don Carlos
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Alberto Lupo | ... |
Andrea Paresi
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Marina Berti | ... |
Countess of Osta
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Tullio Carminati | ... |
Father Giacomo
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Claudio Gora | ... |
Leoni
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Fanfulla |
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Giulio Marchetti | ... |
Carlos' servant
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Carlo Rizzo | ... |
Gino
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Ignazio Dolce | ... |
(as Ignazio Dolci)
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Fausto Tozzi | ... |
Hugo
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Tom Felleghy | ... |
Capitano spagnolo
(as Tom Felleghi)
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Antonio Ricci | ... |
Child
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A Spanish overlord controls 16th-century Tuscany. He plans to marry into a prominent Italian family and hires an Englishman to serve as bodyguard for his less-than-eager fiancee. The bodyguard finds his allegiance switching to the rebels who seek to overthrow the Spaniard, even as he finds himself drawn to the woman he's been hired to protect. Written by dinky-4 of Minneapolis
This fairly standard Italian swashbuckler is considerably enlivened by two factors: the presence of Stewart Granger, one of movie's great swordsmen who actually was a good swordsman -- only Basil Rathbone was better. The swordplay in this movie is very real -- although the casual moviegoer might not understand the seemingly motionless pointwork, it is very well shot.
The other high point of the movie is the horse race, the famous Pallio of Siena. Although the real Pallio is a bareback race, this version of it is shot very excitingly with some nice point of view shots and excellent stuntwork.
Although I viewed an excellent print, it was dubbed, and therefore a bit hard to judge most of the performances. The costumes are excellent and the result is a surprisingly good Italian potboiler.