Ace High (1968)

A recently-escaped bandit forms an unlikely alliance with two bounty hunters and an acrobat to get revenge against the people who framed him.

Director:

Giuseppe Colizzi

Writer:

Giuseppe Colizzi (screenplay)

Stars:

Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Eli Wallach

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eli Wallach	...	Cacopoulos
Terence Hill	...	Cat Stevens
Brock Peters	...	Thomas
Kevin McCarthy	...	Drake (as Kevin Mc Carthy)
Bud Spencer	...	Hutch Bessy
Livio Lorenzon	...	Paco Rosa
Steffen Zacharias	...	Harold (as Stephen Zacharias)
Tiffany Hoyveld	...	Thomas' Wife
Armando Bandini	...	Bank Cashier
Remo Capitani	...	Cangaceiro
Federico Boido	...	Drake's blond henchman (as Rick Boyd)
Isa Foster	...	Cacopoulos' Woman
Bruno Corazzari	...	Charlie
Dante Cleri	...	Bankier, playing cards with Cacopoulos
Antonietta Fiorito	...	(as Antonietta Fiorito C.S.C.)

Storyline

After Cacopoulos (Eli Wallach) saves himself from being hanged on a false charge, he robs Cat Stevens (Terrence Hill) and Hutch Bessy (Bud Spencer) and steals their horses. This results in Stevens and Bessy becoming unwilling allies in Cacopoulus' revenge against the people who framed him.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | 19th century | bar shootout | cowboys and outlaws | gunfight | 

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Taglines:

The smile that kills...

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for western violence

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

3 September 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ace High

Filming Locations:

Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cronocinematografica S.p.a., San Marco

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The second teaming of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.

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Goofs

When Hutch lifts the hat off of a corpse, the corpse's actor is clearly breathing.

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Quotes

Drake: Now, Maurice. I beg of you to make an exception in this case. After all... the color of a man's skin is sometimes nothing compared to, well, a specimen like this. A lice-infected jailbird, who walks in -where he obviously doesn't belong - and takes over as if he owns the place. Am I right... Cacopoulos? Or, whatever the hell it is you call yourself now? Am I right? Is that a man... a *real* man? Hm?
Cacopoulos: [close to tears] But... but you were once my friend!
Drake: You hear that, Maurice? You tell me if it's ...

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Connections

Edited into Spaghetti Western Trailer Show (2007)

User Reviews

Has all the trademarks and weaknesses of the genre and may not suffice for the casual viewer

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.