El dedo en la llaga

¨Il Dito Nella Piaga¨ is a Pasta War movie about a reckless trio who when is attacked their regiment they unfortunately go behind enemy lines . An coward American lieutenant called Michael Sheppard (George Hilton) commands a group to carry out the death penalty , a firing squad , against two American prisoners : Cpl. Brian Haskins (Klaus Kinski) and Pvt. John Grayson (Ray Saunders) . When , suddenly , the Nazis appear , they defend strongly themselves and then run for their lives . Later on , the trio flees , being the only force standing between advancing German troops . They , then , arrive in a little Italian town and the trio becomes into ¨liberators¨ .

George Hilton as the inexperienced lieutenant Michael Sheppard assumes the character of commando leader in this ordinary wartime movie professionally directed by Tonino Ricci , dealing with a misfit bunch who accidentally become heroes when a little town was "freed" by the trio . This stirring film packs romantic scenes , frantic thrills , perilous adventures , relentless feats , and buck-loads of explosive action and violence . The noisy action is uniformly well-made , especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring final scenes in which the motley group is really besieged , attacked by the Nazi infantry along with the powerful Tiger tanks , including some spectacular shootouts and bombing . The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky relationship themselves , as well as the townsfolk , as Kinski falls for a beautiful young , Betsy Bell , while Ray Saunders befriends an orphan boy , Pagani . The final part is all action , as the brave trio wreak havoc and defend against a German heavily armored squadron . Apart from the values of team spirit , cudgeled by George Hilton into his misfit group , the film is full of feats , emotion , and thrills . Fainthearted but ingenious lieutenant Hilton is leader of the motley pack together thwart the German siege that surrounds the little town , an officer with only one thirst : to liberate the Italian town against the enemy Nazi . The Uruguay-born George Hilton was a Spaghetti first-star , such as ¨ Sartana no perdone¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨ , ¨Kitosch¨ , ¨They call me Alleluja¨ , ¨Ruthless four¨ , ¨Alleluja for Django¨ , and also played successful Giallio as ¨The strange vice of Mrs Wardh¨ , ¨The scorpion's tale¨, ¨All colors of the dark¨ , ¨My deal Killer¨ . He teams up , as co-protagonist , with the great Klaus Kinski who dominates this adventure war with his hysterical performance as a merciless soldier , he gives an overacting and puts faces and grimaces , as usual . Enjoyable as well as functional musical score by Riz Ortalani , adding an attractive but repetitive leitmotif . Adequate cinematography in Eastmancolor filmed by Sandro Mancori , a perfect remastering is extremely necessary .

The motion picture was well directed by Tonino Ricci , at his best . The recently deceased Tonino was an uneven filmmaker who began his career as an Second Unit Director or Assistant Director and writer, being his first film this "The Liberators" , or ¨Dedo En La Llaga¨, or original title "Il Dito Nella Piaga" . Ricci was a craftsman who directed all kinds genres , as Terror : ¨Panic¨ ; Giallo : "Cross Current" ; Western : "The Great Treasure Hunt" ,"Robin Hood, Arrows, Beans and Karate" , "Bad Kids of the West" ; Adventures : ¨Buck¨,¨Buck and the magic bracelet¨ , "White Fang to the Rescue" , ¨Robin Hood¨ , ¨Thor Il Conquistatore¨, "Raiders of the Magic Ivory" , ¨Bermudas : The cave of sharks¨ ; Action : ¨Rage¨, ¨Rush¨ , ¨Day of the sharks¨ , "Days of Hell" ; Sci-Fi : "Encounters in the Deep" and Mafia film : "The Big Family"

First film as director of Tonino Ricci (1927-2014). And, it's not bad. The same year, 1969, Klaus Kinski performed in "Five for Hell" (1969)5 per l'inferno (original title). In both films, Kinski is a villain, SS Colonel Hans Mueller in "Five for Hell", and American Corporal Brian Haskins/Norman Carr in "War Fever", the difference being that in "War Fever" he's doing some good deeds, killing many Germans and dying as a hero, while in "Five for Hell" it's just the opposite, he's just a mean and perverse man, killing americans. In both, he is the same special, unique, enormously talented, crazy, Klaus Kinski. Unfortunately, Riz Ortolani's music, great in many other films, this time is not. The film is also known with the title "Salt in the Wound".

This is a war-themed film, or rather, purportedly anti-war, different from what we're used to. Here, the purely war-related aspects-combat techniques, weaponry, uniforms-are quite neglected. Clearly, they didn't have an expert in the field, and probably didn't bother allocating a sufficient budget for this. Furthermore, it's a movie centered on psychological investigation. The setting, namely the advances of the 5th American army moving north through the Italian peninsula during WWII, is merely secondary and contributes nothing to the intended psychological exploration the director aimed to bring to the big screen.

There are numerous poorly executed or neglected details that detract from any potential strengths the film might have. The makeup, costumes, hairstyles all carry a '70s vibe that hardly makes everything else believable. Once again, perhaps these weren't the director's main focus, as they almost exclusively aimed to capitalize on a storyline that has its interesting points, but sadly, they haven't been wisely emphasized.

The actors, especially Kinski, moderately fulfill their roles, although these performances get lost in a visually flawed narrative full of imperfections and stylistic choices the director fails to control.

Technically speaking, all things related to warfare are of a very low standard, with visual stereotypes reminiscent of Spaghetti Westerns, and excessively expedient and erroneous narrative shortcuts. Weapons with infinite ammunition, soldiers from both sides dropping like flies under the enemy's endless gunfire, and a myriad of inaccuracies that undoubtedly provoke total rejection from fans of the genre towards the entire movie.

However, setting aside all these aspects, fundamentally, I believe it's a modest film that deserves more than just a passing grade since making a war-themed film when the real intent is a psychological investigation of characters-soldiers who each, in their way, carry their social, human, or racial condition-is no easy feat.

I was fortunate to find the Simitar VHS edition of THE LIBERATORS. While the box cover states a running time of 85 minutes, it is indeed 77 minutes, as other reviewers have noted.

I do not remember seeing any credits throughout other than THE END; in that sense IMDb proved helpful in supplying the basics.

GEORGE HILTON is a good deal more animated than he is in many of his other films (westerns and giallo are the genre I associate him with most). In uniform and clean shaven he very much looks the part of a recent West Point graduate given his first command during the Italian campaign.

A twist of fate leads him into being responsible for the execution of two fellow American GIs; their lives were thus be intertwined - the young lieutenant will come of age, and the two battle hardened veterans will achieve a state of grace through acts of sacrifice (culminating after the deaths of those who have grown close to them).

KLAUS KINSKI is eminently watchable, and thankfully the director saw fit not to rely on dialogue, but let the camera dwell on his ravaged features. His final scene is memorable, and alone worth the price of the video.

The third piece in the puzzle is a black American actor that I have never seen before; seeing as so many black jazz and blues musicians found Europe a haven it is understandable that black actors too might have chosen Europe as a new home. I found it interesting that the film is half over before he says anything.

The actress credited as BETSY DELL looked very familiar, and so I suspect this is actually a pseudonym. Can anyone tell me who she is?

The locations were such that I felt I was seeing a side of Italy that was totally unfamiliar to me.

A note on the music: it added a lot to the film.

The flavour of the film caught the anti-establishment movement of the times, and would be a nice contrast to John Wayne's THE GREEN BERETS, made about the same time if I remember correctly.

War truly is hell.

WAR FEVER (aka SALT IN THE WOUND) isn't a bad Italian WW2 movie but I'm not sure it's the masterpiece that other reviewers are making out. Sure it has a handful of good scenes in it but then so do lots of other films in this particular sub-genre, and it seemed quite ordinary to me for the most part.

The storyline is the most intriguing thing about it: it sees American soldiers Klaus Kinski and Ray Saunders both sentenced to death by firing squad, only to have their execution thwarted by a German attack. They escape into the countryside with a rookie soldier (spaghetti western actor George Hilton) and soon proceed to take part in various enterprises. When they reach a town they're treated as liberators by the townsfolk, but an impending German attack will soon test their mettle.

Tonino Ricci is largely mocked for his work as director for the most part but I've always found him an underrated talent. Certainly WAR FEVER is a fine looking movie in which the landscape is as much a character as the people in it. The various action sequences are all handled adroitly and the inevitable highlight comes with one of those scenes where Kinski goes absolutely crazy; it's a shame Hilton and Saunders didn't have the energy or talent to match him. But a classic? For me, WAR FEVER is a typical and ordinary Italian WW2 outing.