Reviews & Ratings for
Ace High More at IMDbPro »I quattro dell'Ave Maria (original title)

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15 reviews in total

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12 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
A great comedy/western, 28 September 2003
Author: chris (christophaskell@hotmail.com) from Premiere Video (Dallas, Tx)

The second, and in my opinion the best in the Cat Stevens/Hutch Bessy trilogy, ‘Ace High' has enough fun for everyone to come out and play. Everything from the heist to the violence was done in a light-hearted way, and without a hint of pretension. Eli Wallach joins the party for this film and, as a testament to the quality of actors involved, does not steal every scene he is in. He is par for the course, however, which means he does an outstanding job in a supporting role. Director Colizzi went on to direct a few more films, but overall had a short-lived career, which is unfortunate because he tells a great story, and doesn't shy away from adding humor in awkward places, or generally being a little unconventional. If you're a fan of spaghetti westerns you'll understand a lot of the humor herein, but even for the casual viewer there's plenty to keep you entertained. Rating: 26/40

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11 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
wonderful movie, 24 May 2004

Author: 42zaphod from Prague, CZ

I was completely amazed by this fantastic movie. I am not sure why - it isn't any much funny, the plot is unnecessarily complicated, there are few unnecessarily long scenes ... but still, the characters, the atmosphere, and the great musical score almost made me cry in the last scene where our three heroes are leaving together. All the actors do great work - from Spencer/Hill duo and Wallach himself to the black boxer champion, who gets beaten by Bud Spencer for $50. Another funny scene is where Wallach talks about his Greek ancestors, and thus makes his guards sleep. Or, when he breaks the bank in the casino. The movie is definitely worth seeing, and it does not disappoint even when watched more times. Nice!

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Has all the trademarks and weaknesses of the genre and may not suffice for the casual viewer, 4 August 2006
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

When he escapes the noose, criminal Cacopoulos flees the charges against him and, on his way, robs two banker robbers – Cat Stevens (no, a different one) and Hutch Bessy. Unwilling to kill the two men, Cacopoulos heads off with the money while Cat and Hutch begin the long walk out of the desert. Getting back to civilisation, they vow to track down Cacopoulos and get their money back. They start their search for him but meanwhile Cacopoulos is also bent on revenge on those that betrayed him – and plans to get Cat and Hutch to help, whether they know about it or not.

Screened under the main English title of Ace High, I recorded this film on late night TV hoping for a typical spaghetti western. While that is pretty much what I got, I must confess to being a bit put off by how silly it was at times. I know it was meant to be a comedy of sorts but it didn't sit very well with the spaghetti western genre because it made aspects of that feel like they had been badly done, as opposed to done for laughs. The plot is solid enough but the running time is too long for the material to sustain, making many scenes feel dragged out beyond their intended time. The action (as in movement generally) also suffers because of this perceived slow pace.

The cast are suitable for the genre, but this is not the same as being any good. Eli Wallach has fun in the central role and his performance is good value. I couldn't shake the feeling that Hill had borrowed his performance from many other actors but hadn't been sure how to make it work for him; he didn't really have the screen presence required to carry off the character. Spencer is better in terms of presence but his performance is a bit wanting. The support cast are all so-so, which works within the genre and as always much of the dialogue has that strange bad ADR/bad dubbing feel to it that I think is a prerequisite for the spaghetti genre.

Overall this is an enjoyable enough spaghetti western but if you only know the Eastwood, "Fist Full" or Leone spaghetti films then you'll probably come away thinking this is a low-rent version of those (which I suppose it is). With all the trademarks and weaknesses of the genre, this one will most likely please fans but probably not the casual viewer.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Delightful Romp, 3 March 2002

Author: ndrejaj1969 from Astoria, New York

A Leone pasta western without the pretentiousness. Easy going romp of crosses, double crosses, and triple crosses. Wallach is just fine and dandy reprising his Tuco role from GOOD, THE BAD... this time playing an ethnic Greek-Mexican bandit with a Yiddish accent (oy vey) manipulating ol' buddies Hill & Spencer into a scheme to get back at the people who left him out to dry years back. Along the way they pick up acrobat (!) Brock Peters who becomes crucial to their plan. Kevin McCarthy is the target of their wrath. The film concludes with a satisfying round-up. Colizzi directs with a sure hand, even allowing New York method actor Wallach to kvetch for several minutes at a time. No wonder he returned to Italy and Spain from time to time to make these films. No where else would a director allow his star to chew the scenery in such a way. The comedy is not broad or overpowering as most films in this sub-genre tend to be. The characters are uncharacteristically likeable, thanks to the cast. Great scene: revelutionaries mete out rough justice to a town's leaders. Later, our trio, with the help of some greedy peasants retake the town and mete out the same justice to the revolutionaries!!! I've never seen that done in a Euro-western.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Aces good, 13 May 2005

Author: westerner357 from U.S.

(aka: ACE HIGH)

Eli Wallach plays Cacopoulos, a generous bandit who gives away all he steals to those less off than he is. That is, until he steals $300,000 from bounty hunters Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy (Terence Hill and Bud Spencer) who then come trailing after him all over the southwest (or in this case, Almeria Spain) and want their money back.

When they catch up with him, Cacopoulos let's them in on his primary motive. To get back at three men who double-crossed him 15 years before, letting him get caught and sent to prison. He already killed one, and the other was killed in a Mexican shootout earlier in the film. That only leaves Drake (Kevin McCarthy) and since Cacopoulos had already gambled all Hill & Spencer's money away in Drake's gambling establishment, it's only natural that they help Cacopoulos out in getting their money back.

Reluctantly, Hill & Spencer agree and with the help of circus tightrope walker Thomas (Brock Peters), they stumble onto the fact that Drake's establishment has the roulette wheel fixed, with lookouts in the ceiling and a magnet in basement room under the roulette wheel itself. Needless to say, Drake will get his just reward for ripping the town off with his fixed gambling tables and Cacopoulos will get his revenge. I won't say how so you'll have to see for yourself.

The first half of this film is pretty standard, but the second half involving Drake is where the film really distinguishes itself, imo. It turns into a caper yarn. It also has it's funny moments but isn't as humorous as Hill & Spencer's later spaghetti western; THEY CALL ME TRINITY (1971). Btw, this is their second appearance together, the first being GOD FORGIVES, I DON'T from the year before.

The anamorphic Paramount DVD uses an excellent print although I think the widescreen is a bit too cropped on both top and bottom. Sound is also good with English subtitles (if necessary) and another excellent score by Bruno Nicolai.

If you like the genre with a little humor thrown in, then you might like this one. I did. Above average.

7 out of 10 -

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Eli is the ACE..., 26 June 1999

Author: Manco from Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Character actor Eli Wallach is the real treat here as he carries his Tuco role from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" over to "Ace High." This is a pre-Trinity pairing of Spencer, Hill and most of the fun and hilarity is carried on the able shoulders of Eli Wallach, who is more than up for the assignment. Wallach steals every scene he's in and this only means total enjoyment for the viewer. A must see for all western fans!

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Tough boys Hill and Spencer, 6 March 2007
Author: Petri Pelkonen (petri_pelkonen@hotmail.com) from Finland

The comical duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill are teamed with a likable crook played by Eli Wallach.Hill as Cat Stevens and Spencer as Hutch Bessy show the western people what they are made of.Wallach as Cacopoulos is fantastic with the stories about his grandfather.And another veteran actor Kevin McCarthy makes a great character as Cacopoulos' third enemy, the sniveling casino owner Drake.All these people work great together in Ace High from 1968.There are some great scenes in this western comedy.Bud boxing with the champion is brilliant.Guess who wins.The sequence in the end with the roulette table and the violin...beautiful, just beautiful.These movies bring me back to my childhood, back to the early 90's.Those were the days Bud Spencer and Terence Hill ruled the world.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
One of the better spaghetti westerns!!!, 13 March 2005

Author: Van Roberts (zardoz@bellsouth.net) from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Ace High" (1968) qualifies as one of the better hybrid action/comedy spaghetti westerns that followed in the wake of Sergio Leone's trend-setting bounty hunter movie "A Fistful of Dollars." Variously titled overseas as either "Revenge In El Paso" or "Four Gunmen of Ave Maria," this handsomely-produced, elaborately-staged, sun-drenched, shoot'em up shares something in common with the Lee Van Cleef oater "Death Rides A Horse" (1968) in that our lice-ridden hero (EIi Wallach) got double-crossed by his outlaw buddies and left behind for the law to catch while they made good their escape. A two-bit bandit of Greek heritage, Cacopoulos winds up serving fifteen years in prison. Once he gets out of prison, he is framed by crooked banker Harold ("Trinity" alumnus Steffen Zacharias in a dramatic role) for a murder that he didn't commit, and then sentenced to hang by the neck. Although this Giuseppe Colizzi written & directed effort contains about as many twists and turns as a diamond-back rattlesnake, the scripting is often haphazard but nevertheless entertaining. Our heroes participate briefly in the Mexican revolution, a favorite theme of late 1960s and early 1970s spaghetti westerns, which hikes the body count substantially. Italian western buffs who aren't familiar with this well choreographed dustraiser need to saddle up and watch the bare bones Paramount DVD with enhanced widescreen to see what other less well-known helmers were doing with the genre while Leone rode herd over sagebrushers.

For the record, blue-eyed Terence Hill plays Cat Stevens (like the folk singer but no relation to him) and Bud Spencer co-stars as Hutch, his beefy, barrel-chested sidekick who shuns a Stetson. They are an arresting pair to watch in their sweaty, greasy, western outfits, on horseback in the blinding sun prancing around mainly on the plains of Almeria, Andalucia, Spain, where veteran cinematographer Marcello ("Assignment Outer Space" & "The Stranger Returns") Masciocchi lensed this sprawling western in widescreen splendor. A clue to its filming location is the lopsided anvil-shaped mountain in the background that dominates the long scenes not only in "Ace High" but also "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" the way that the Paramount logo mountain stood out against the studio sets in the old "Bonanza" TV series. Another dead giveaway that this is a foreign western is the perfectly synchronized but too cool dubbing of Hill and Spencer. Their perfectly modulated dialogue foreshadows the dubbing on anime adventures of the 1990s. Some of the dialogue sounds like it was translated into the English by foreigners, because nobody would talk that way, but that's what makes Italian movies of any genre so much fun.

Actually, "Ace High" is the second entry in the only cinematic trilogy that Hill and Spencer starred in. Remember, they only did two "Trinity" movies together. "Ace High" picks up where Colizzi's "God Forgives, But I Don't" wrapped up with the explosive death of bandit Bill San Antonio (American expatriate Frank Wolff of "A Stranger In Town"). Our heroes trundle into town with a wagon load of gold, $300-thousand, and try to collect the bounty on Bill, though all they have of him is his boots and hat. When they cannot convince the law as to the authenticity of their claim, they traipse over to Harold's Bank and blackmail him into giving them an undisclosed fortune that Hutch at least plans to retire on and run a small ranch. Seems that the late Bill San Antonio and Harold were in co-hoots in stealing from the bank. Spaghetti westerns always had more plot than they needed. One of the neat touches that occur through "Ace High" is little bits and pieces like the dusty boot prints that Cat and Hutch leave when they saunter across Harold's blood red carpet in this upstairs office. Meanwhile, Harold springs Cacopoulos and hopes that he will kill Cat and Hutch. Caco does steal their newly acquired fortune, but not before he deals with the slippery as a rattlesnake Harold, one of the three men who set him afoot after a bank robbery. Anyway, Cat and Hutch chase Caco across the parched southwest and run across a traveling circus sideshow Thomas (Brock Peters) who performs high-wire (in this case—rope) acts. Eventually, all team up to rob a casino—think a lean, mean, "Ocean's Eleven" with only one casino. The music is pure spaghetti. "Ace High" is tops!

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
very delightful western comedy, 25 May 1999

Author: Frank-87 from Freiburg

fun, fun, fun; well made in every detail; fantastic score, beautiful photography, story with twists, lots of action, fun actors - having fun doing the movie and being fun to watch, this western comedy is a delight. By the way; I'm NOT exaggerating. One of the Hill/Spencer highlights.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Amusing and better than some, 6 July 2005

Author: forbesrobb from United Kingdom

Compared to the gratuitous bloodletting of a lot of this genre, this is quite a genteel effort. The plot wanders for most of its length and only (in my case) just holds the viewer's interest. At times it is very hard to get the point of the whole story. Wallach has spent the last 15 years in jail after being abandoned by his cohorts in a robbery. Out at last, he is looking for revenge. During this he steals money owed to Hill and Spencer. They chase him and get it back, he steals it again, they chase him etc.etc. The end of the movie is also bit flat and seems to peter out. However, it is amusing and has one major saving grace in Eli Wallach. Wallach is probably one of the world's best character actors. Hill and Spencer are wooden and this shows when pitted with an actor of Wallach's calibre.The guy is supposed to be a villain but you just can't help feeling sorry for him. The film is worth seeing for his performance alone. One to watch on a rainy afternoon,but would you want to watch it twice??

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