Perfect cast and a good story

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I though this was a very good film.Shot in the hippie and Deep Throat era of 1972.It's hippie in some of the styles.Which are not accurate.some of the scenes look very staged.The towns look like a quick set up.This was a low budget western for a Lee van Cleef vehicle.Clint Eastwood westerns had a bigger budget.The bad guy is played by a very Hippie Alberto Dentice as Philipp.He's been accused of murdering the crooked leader of a western town Saxon City, Patriarch Samuel Saxon ,played by Horst Frank,who does not say any word in this picture.He's only in a flash back,in black n white. Lee Van Cleef plays Sheriff Clayton, Who tries to help Phil,but he's stubborn.One of the crooked Saxon Brothers who was sheriff Eli,played by Marx Mazza had witness that Phil did not kill their daddy.It was the other Saxon Brother ,Adam, who saw it,but he's framing Phil cause his father owned a silver mind and the brothers are power hungry,the way the corporate acting film making and distribution business are.I am wondering if the Adam character, who looks like he has syphilis marks in his face, played by Klaus Grunberg,is he suppose to be a fop? Weakling and coward ? Or is his character suppose to suggest he's gay?this character wears white gloves.This character is pushed to marry a woman ,who's a daughter of a government official,Elizabeth,played by Dominique Darel,sounds like a french porn actress name.I just made a mistake,the actor who played the elder Saxon is not mentioned.It was his son Samuel,played by Horst Frank,that saw the father being murdered.Adam was the younger.Now you got your character in this film ,like the madam played by Elvira Cortese,who's bringing Anita to the whore house ,played by Alessandra Cardini.These saloon girls are happy hookers.They love their job .Isn't that typical of the 70's? The scene where the caretaker,another character ,who looks like a figure from Mathew Brady's photos ,in color, is at the whore house and has fallen in love with Anita and tries to propose to her.Her answer is ,"yes! as long as you give me another twenty five dollars".Then you have the European version of Gabby Hayes,as the stage coach driver,played by Jess Hahn,which you see later at the Happy hookers saloon having fun with a saloon girl.This was a real fun western.I got it as a part of a double feature spaghetti western on blu-ray at Wall mart for a very low price.04/18/13

Awesome spaghetti western, with a Lee Van Cleef who never ever looked coolers in his life and arguably the greatest theme song ever composed for a film (and that's something Quentin Tarantino probably agrees with as he also selected the song for the soundtrack of "Kill Bill"). Van Cleef plays former Sheriff Clayton, and obviously he's the type of gunslinger whose eyes are never really closed when he lies asleep with his hat over his face and who spots the hideout of every potential enemy without even lifting his head. Riding along with a traveling stagecoach, Clayton is on the trail of a young fugitive outlaw named Philippe Vermeer. Not for the $1.000 reward on his head, like all the other bounty hunters they encounter along the way, but to keep an eye on him as he's heading towards Saxon City to settle a personal vendetta. Saxon City is kept under the thumbs of the three rich and utterly corrupted Saxon brothers David, Eli and Adam (too bad none of them is named John…) and they falsely accused Philippe of killing their father at Jefferson train station. Although Philippe is innocent of that crime and wisely better stays away from Saxon City, he nevertheless insists on returning to find and get even with the murderer of his own father. Sheriff Clayton just happens to be the only person who can help him with that. "The Grand Duel" has everything you could possible seek in a western: outrageous shootouts, invincible heroes and psychopathic villains (especially Adam, the youngest Saxon, is oddly menacing), compelling sub plots, jaw-dropping moments of intensity, magnificent decors and breath-taking exterior locations and – as said already – an impeccable soundtrack. Director Giancarlo Santi might not be the most prominent name in the field of classic Italian westerns, but he obviously paid close attention to the films of the masters (like Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Sollima). Admittedly I'm being a bit too generous and biased here, but it's a brilliantly entertaining example of a sadly extinct cinematic genre.

It could be said that The Grand Dual is merely a vehicle for its lead star, and whoever said it wouldn't necessarily be wrong; but while this film doesn't feature a lot of originality, it's also true that Italian cinema was based on repeating itself, and the film definitely succeeds in providing an enjoyable slice of western action. The script was penned by Giallo supremo Ernesto Gastaldi (The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh, The Case of the Bloody Iris), and that's not surprising as there are shades of Giallo throughout, and the film works both as both as a violent action flick and an intriguing mystery film. The plot focuses on Sheriff Clayton as he becomes involved in the murder of a man so-called 'The Patriarch' through his association with the sly Philipp Wermeer. The film follows the pair as they make their way through bandits and bounty hunters and eventually end up in Saxon town, where the sons of the Patriarch live. They've fingered Wermeer as the murderer of their father, and naturally want him hanged; but there's a twist to the identity of the murderer.Lee Van Cleef made his name with Sergio Leone and the masterpiece westerns 'For a Few Dollars More' and, of course, 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'. This film is nowhere near the quality of those two, but Van Cleef does well in his 'man in black role', which is a variation on the common western 'loner' theme, which was made famous by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Django. Van Cleef's presence is felt throughout, and he continually makes every scene his own. As you might expect, the rest of the cast don't live up to the central star; but even so, The Grand Dual features a good ensemble cast, and Peter O'Brien does especially well in his central role. The film features a lot of shootouts and chases on horseback, which are always good to see; but at times, The Grand Dual puts too much focus on entertainment value and this can mean that the plot suffers. Even so, the story plays out well; and the final twist is a real standout, as even though it's pretty obvious throughout - Gastaldi manages to throw in a twist just before it, which makes the final twist come as a surprise. Overall, this film isn't one of the great Spaghetti westerns - but it's a good one and comes recommended.

There's a great DVD set put out by St. Clair Vision that offers nine films, appropriately titled "Spaghetti Westerns", and fairly oozing garlic oil and marinara. If you're only familiar with the Clint Eastwood 'Man With No Name' films, you'll be intrigued and entertained by the offerings here, among them "The Grand Duel". Lee Van Cleef stars doing what he does best, as a calm lawman on the outside with a seething vengeance on the inside. His character is a former marshal, but you're never really sure about that until he produces a star, and even then it's questionable.The only other Western I can think of that offers a homosexual character is "Little Big Man", and in that picture it was an Indian. Here, one of the Saxon Brothers is an overtly limp wristed, white suited desperado with a silk scarf for added effect. The fact that he's a ruthless gunman is almost beside the fact, his pock marked face is worthy of a seamy horror flick.The three Saxon Brothers are out to avenge the death of their father, and numerous flashback sequences that offer the darkened outline of the killer point to only one person, and yet when Sheriff Clayton (Van Cleef) reveals it was himself, it almost comes as a surprise. The Saxon's had fingered rival Philip Wermeer (Peter O'Brien) for the murder of the Patriarch; Wermeer's own father in turn had been murdered over his ownership of a silver claim. Early in the story, it appears that Clayton's quarry is Wermeer, until they team up following the apparent killing of Wermeer by bounty hunters - neat twist! If you're used to the Eastwood style of the genre, you might find the circus type acrobatics of "The Grand Duel" to be somewhat off base, but it seems to be standard fare in some of the other films on the collection I mentioned earlier. Here it's Philip who entertains with some improbable flying maneuvers, but it does make for highly innovative action sequences.Also pretty clever was the game of checkers at the Saxon City saloon. Played with glasses of whiskey, it seemed to me that the winner would be the guy who got drunk first; after all, you had to down your shot after jumping the opposition.I would swear I'd heard portions of the musical score in another film, it's so provocative you find yourself actually anticipating some it. There's a definite Ennio Marricone influence, though here it's provided by Sergio Bardotti and Luis Bacalov. Quite definitely another reason to tune in."The Grand Duel" is definitely one to sample, coming out near the end of the Eurowest cycle. Be prepared for marshals in business suits and the not so subtle portrayal of a gay bad guy, but also keep an eye out for the new patriarch David Saxon sporting the same dimple in the middle of his chin as the portrait of his father hanging on a wall. If that weren't enough, I'd say the bartender at the Saxon saloon was one gay caballero too!