Duffy, el único

This is another flashy caper comedy starring James Coburn which, surprisingly, emerged to be much better than the last one I’d watched only a few days previously i.e. DEAD HEAT ON A MERRY-GO-ROUND (1966). Interestingly, all three male lead actors here are called James (Coburn, Mason and Fox) – recalling the three Roberts (Young, Mitchum and Ryan) of CROSSFIRE (1947)!; for the record, Coburn and Mason would appear together again in THE LAST OF SHEILA (1973) and CROSS OF IRON (1977).

Coburn plays the titular Irish “hipster” (read: rogue/adventurer) engaged by wealthy but ne’er-do-well layabout half-brothers Fox and John Alderton (bearing dopey look and obnoxious laugh) to rob their unloving father (Mason)’s fortune, while it’s being transported by ship. Our hero lives modestly if not exactly inconspicuously – given the artistic bric-a'-brac that clutters his house – in Tangiers, and he even seems very much into the Swinging scene (with resulting slangy dialogue, not to mention a reference to The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”!). Similarly, the Susannah York character – the only significant female to figure in the narrative – is liberated and carries on simultaneous affairs with both Fox and Coburn (at one point, she and Duffy debate whether such a woman is technically a “slut” or not!).

The film, therefore, promised to be a convoluted and pretentious bore (even more than the afore-mentioned DEAD HEAT in fact) but proved quite an engaging and enjoyable trifle – the belated robbery sequence itself is decently staged, with its trio of robbers donning ugly Halloween-type masks, and there’s an amusing supporting character in the porn-obsessed bank manager in Tangiers! The script (as always in similar outings from this cynical era, the denouement is twist-laden and heavily ironic) was co-written by the ill-fated Donald Cammell – who later that same year would re-team with Fox for the extraordinary PERFORMANCE which, however, didn’t go on general release until 1970; the whole, then, is slickly photographed by the distinguished Otto Heller and has a groovy soundtrack to match.

Robert Parrish – who started out as an actor, then changed track to editor, and finally graduated to director in Hollywood – was probably assigned to this following his stint on the notorious James Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE (1967); DUFFY is as yet unavailable on DVD – but I recently obtained a decent Widescreen DivX copy of it (probably sourced from VHS), which will do just fine.

I was born in Almería, Spain. Many movies were filmed there many time ago. "Duffy" was one of them. Many Spanish people made shorts roles in these movies. My grandfather, Manuel Hernández Asensio, was a waiter in "Duffy". He told me the story about his "adventure" in this movie. He worked in a bar en Almería, in his own bar, and the American people that were filming "Duffy" needed a guitar to use it in a scene. My grandfather had one hanged in a wall of his bar and he lent it to them. Then, the director offered him to make a role as a waiter in the movie, and my grandpa accepted. He didn't speak English, so he moved his mouth doing the necessary movements and after someone would speak over in English. He only did a scene in a restaurant and said one phrase. A curious story of this movie to remember.

And now he is in de crew of the movie in IMDb!! I'm very happy!! Thanks to every people in IMDb!!!

When "Duffy" was released, I was working in one of my father's theatres as the projectionist. As a projectionist I saw a lot of movies...over and over again. I can tell you that when you screen the same movie six to eight times a day for two, three, four weeks or more, most films soon lose their lustre. Not so with "Duffy". Of course I was just a kid then, and the sixties "counter-culture" was my adolescent fantasy. James Coburn, already extremely cool from "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape" was riding a wave of popularity from the campy "Flint" movies, but "Duffy" was a very cool and fun movie that I never tired of watching. It never took off as a hit and I've often wondered why. It was just as effective as other caper movies of the era, such as "Topkapi" or "Gambit". I think the reason it never took off was because 1968 was an eventful, tumultuous year, and "straight" America was frowning hard upon hippies and counter-culture. Too bad. I think the owner of this film would be surprised and well rewarded by releasing it to DVD.

This film features gorgeous photography on the Mediterranean and a plot that I never found predictable. It's very stylish and has cool music, including a great tune by soul singer Lou Rawls. James Coburn, James Fox and James Mason are all very good in it, as is the beautiful Susannah York. The plot involves the theft of money from a ship on the Mediterranean Sea. It's James Mason's sons that steal his money, and it's what follows that gives the film it's intrigue. Definitely worth watching.

Wondering if there were ever any copies (videos or DVDs) made of this movie. It's a small classic of a not very widely exploited genre (a certain hippie lifestyle which in the U.S. was captured in Easy Rider but which does not have many European counterparts -- though this film is much lighter and more comedic than Easy Rider). By the way, the beach club in the film was a specially constructed set, demolished after the filming was over. I know cause I was an extra in the scenes shot at that location. The location itself was a beautiful uninhabited spot on the coast about an hour's drive across mountains and desert terrain outside of Almeria, where the rocky, pockmarked cliffs dropped straight into the sea. If anyone could tell me whether it might be possible to obtain a copy of the film -- have searched all known sources without success -- would greatly appreciate it. James Coburn fans in particular would love this film which I think would be greatly enjoyed if run again on T.V. or released in video/DVD format.