Kirpianuscus one of films of my childhood. maybe, the most fascinating, because all was new, strange, bizarre, cruel out of words and... confuse. after decades, the perspective was different. but not profound different. because , after its end, the questions are about a bizarre,silly ,full of clichés, superficial, confuse film, guided by good intentions, with an impressive cast, a not so bad story , excellent premises but who remains only one of commercial films from the many others , predictable, with few good scenes, but nothing more. and this seems be its only sin.

Leofwine_draca THE SALAMANDER is one of those films with a gob-smacking cast and wealth of talent both in front of and behind the scenes. It's based on a classic thriller novel by Morris West and adapted by TWILIGHT ZONE creator Rod Serling; it's directed by an experienced film editor, Peter Zinner, who ensures that his editing here is crisp and perfect, and it has both British and American backing, although it's an Italian film, shot in Italy with an Italian supporting cast. But what of the main cast! Remember those glory days of disaster films in the '70s, where an all-star cast was a guarantee of big audiences? Where the film poster could hardly manage to fit all those Hollywood names in? Well, that's what we have here, although THE SALAMANDER eventually succumbs to the same fate as those other movies: there are so many players and familiar faces that only a few of them get a substantial role and the rest are just window dressing.Heading the cast is Franco Nero, playing a crusading investigator. His appearance immediately puts this film in line with the popular '70s polizia, or crime, flicks that packed out Italian cinemas in that decade. There's a requisite number of decently-done car chases and short action sequences, but this isn't really an action film, it's more of a mystery. It's the static nature of the plot that works against it and stops it from being fully entertaining. Essentially, the film has Nero questioning one character after another in a series of long-winded interviews, only to bring everyone together at the climax to reveal the villain(s). It's like something out of an Agatha Christie novel, and despite efforts from the film-makers to throw in MARATHON MAN-style torture scenes and assassins bumping off key players, it's a completely linear movie. Saying that I still enjoyed it, thanks to the great camera-work and performances.Supporting the ever-great Nero is Martin Balsam, here teaming up with the star again after CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN. These two actors make for a great double act and they shine whenever they're on screen together – it just seems so natural. Glamour is brought to the proceedings by Claudia Cardinale and Anita Strindberg, although these two accomplished actresses barely get a look in – the main glamour girl is Sybil Danning, playing Nero's love interest. For once Danning doesn't go nude for the role, which ends up being one of her best in terms of acting. The main cast heavyweight is Anthony Quinn, and he acts everyone off the screen in a great role. Elsewhere we get villains essayed by Christopher Lee – who can do this kind of thing in his sleep – and Eli Wallach, who still seems too likable to be believable in his role. There are cameos for Paul Smith, typecast as a torturer, and Cleavon Little, who shows up to fire off a machine gun and then goes again! Italian regulars like John Steiner and Renzo Palmer help flesh out minor parts. THE SALAMANDER is far from great, but if you like the look of the cast and you enjoy beautiful scenery, you'll have a ball like I did.

MARIO GAUCI Peter Zinner won an Oscar for editing THE DEER HUNTER (1978); for his only directorial effort, he chose this adaptation of the Morris West best-seller which was shown on local TV back in the day (actually, that is how I first heard of it). He did manage to assemble an impressive all-star cast: Franco Nero plays the hero carabiniere in a throwback to some of the political thrillers he had made in his native country – such as DAY OF THE OWL (1968), in which he co-starred with Claudia Cardinale, and CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN (1971), also featuring Martin Balsam; both actors also appear here, the latter as Nero's closest collaborator who eventually falls in the line of duty. Anthony Quinn is the titular figure (a wealthy industrialist and ex-legendary WWII partisan), Sybil Danning the mistress of a dead army officer (whose apparent suicide sets events in motion) but also serving as Nero's unconvincing love interest, Eli Wallach the General leading a proposed coup d'etat, Christopher Lee as Nero's superior (actually a prince[!] who is unsurprisingly inextricably related with the Government takeover plot – interestingly, his on-screen wife was played by Lee's own real-life spouse in an infrequent appearance), Cleavon Little as a Black American ex-colleague of Nero's (whom the latter calls upon when he is in a fix) and Paul Smith (as a sadistic "surgeon"). There are, however, also a number of Euro-Cult regulars: John Steiner in the role of Wallach's aide as well as lover of his neglected wife Cardinale, Renzo Palmer, Marino Mase' – unenviably playing a corpse! – and Nello Pazzafini. While tolerable as entertainment (though there is less action than I had anticipated) and featuring a decent score by the great Ennio Morricone, the film is ultimately too superficial and uneven to make a ripple in the circles it professes to denounce; nevertheless, the clever climax is surprisingly (but effectively) handled in the style of the "Thin Man" movies! Besides, one particular scene nearly turns this into a camp classic i.e. when the hero, caught and about to be tortured by Smith, attacks the latter clad only in a harness along his waist (which gives unwarranted prominence to Nero's groin while leaving his buttocks completely exposed!) but ends up slammed against the wall hanging upside-down instead!!

dinky-4 The ingredients are here for a passable political-thriller but the approach used to tell the story is numbingly routine. Investigator Franco Nero pursues his case simply through a series of interviews, thus allowing the movie to present its roster of marquee-names -- Christopher Lee, Eli Wallach, Claudia Cardinale, etc. -- in a succession of talky, static scenes that lack interest and vitality. (Though these interviews provide an opportunity to show off a series of impressively furnished and decorated rooms.) And then, when it comes time for Nero to present his solution to the case, he does so by showing to a group of people a movie which simply re-caps information gleaned from his interviews!Attempts to liven up the proceedings with spurts of action merely serve to emphasize the overall dullness of the movie. For example, when Nero falls into the clutches of a villain known as "the Surgeon" who is determined to torture information from him, we only see Nero -- stripped to a jockstrap and strapped to a chair -- being given an injection with a hypodermic needle. Surely this is one of the most boring forms of torture ever shown on the screen.