Tough Guys

Having previously been in Black Caesar and its sequel, Hell Up in Harlem, it's not too surprising to see Fred Williamson play the kind of role that's the opposite of his usual good guy. As such, he's not in the movie very long despite his name being one of the three above the title. The other two are Lino Ventura and Isaac Hayes, the latter making his film debut as well as contributing the music score not unlike what he did for the original Shaft. Ventura is a priest and Hayes is an ex-cop who's looking for the same people for different reasons. I'll just now say this was quite an exciting thriller taking place in the city of Chicago during the time I lived there as a child with my family. Unfortunately, the print I watched online was a second generation one looking nearly blurry throughout. Still, I recommend Three Tough Guys. P. S. I also like Paula Kelly in this.

He will forever be known to people my age as the man who wrote and sang "Shaft." To the younger generation, he is "Chef" from "Southpark." He is the man Isaac Hayes, and, in his first film, he is running with one of Europe's best character actors, Lino Ventura, as Father Charlie.

Their enemy is the great Fred Williamson (Black Caesar, From Dusk to Dawn), former football star and blaxploitation actor.

Add a lot of Italian actors and an Italian director who worked with Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, and you have the Italian version of a blaxploitation action flick.

Nothing to write home about, but some fun entertainment.

THREE TOUGH GUYS is a film with varied influences. Made with French and Italian funding, shot in America by an Italian crew and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, it's a movie that attempts to cash-in on two big genres of the time: the blaxploitation film and the gangster epic. Thus we get a buddy-buddy cop story in which a hard-fighting priest and a tough black ex-cop team up to battle some gangster types searching for missing loot. The guy directing this is Duccio Tessari, a guy who pumped out a few peplum and spaghetti western flicks among others during a long and varied career.

Despite – or maybe because of – the diverse influences, this film actually works as a fairly good thriller. It hasn't got much in it that's not been seen elsewhere, but the story moves along quickly and the various shoot-outs and fist-fights are well handled. It also boasts some interesting leads. I don't know who Lino Ventura is, but his hard-bitten priest character is definitely tough. Isaac Hayes, playing opposite him, is a giant of a man with the softest of voices, and contributes some decent music to the proceedings. The third of the tough guys is Fred Williamson, appearing as a little-seen villain in this. It's unusual seeing Williamson cast as a bad guy and I wish he'd been on screen more, but there's no knocking his presence. Character actors familiar from Italian cinema pop up, like William Berger and Jess Hahn.

There are a few car chases thrown in for good measure, along with some antagonistic cops and a fantastic interlude in which one of our heroes is very nearly fed into a furnace. The set-piece finale takes place at a run-down bowling alley, but not before plenty of people have been shot or beaten up. It may not win any awards for wit or originality, but THREE TOUGH GUYS is a perfectly serviceable entry in both the blaxploitation and crime genres.

It's probably due to the cheap and clumsy transfer to the Grindhouse Collection DVD, but the picture quality and lighting of this film are absolutely awful! I know this is supposed to be some type of "Blaxploitation" movie, but if I'm not mistaken, this term doesn't mean staring at a black screen the whole time! Several sequences, especially during the first half hour, you have completely no idea what to make of because you only see darkness and vague shadows moving around. And now that we're pointing out the abnormalities anyway, there's something seriously wrong with the title of "THREE Tough Guys". Three? Somebody bring on an abacus, because the correct title ought to be TWO tough guys. At least the soulful theme song got it right. It's not hard to guess why the producers opted to put the number three in the title, though. Fred Williamson receives top billing even though he barely has any screen time and he's also referred to as another one of the tough guys in spite of the fact he's not so tough (he beats women and shoots people in the back) and operating on the wrong side of the law. Williamson's name obviously just served to attract more viewers, as he just scored big Blaxploitation hits with "Black Caesar" and "Hammer", whereas the real tough black dude - Isaac Hayes - would only become a huge star shortly after the release of "Three Tough Guys", namely with his very own testosterone-packed blockbuster "Truck Turner". Say what you want about these Italian filmmakers, but they are great marketers! Anyway, onwards with the story, this opens with the cowardly murder of an insurance agent outside a nightclub. Apparently he was single-handedly investigating a million dollar bank heist and came a little too close to the truth. His closest friend – a tough ex-veteran turned priest – swears to catch whoever killed him and starts a nightly private investigation via sleazy bars and dark alleys filled with heavily armed thugs… on his bike, nonetheless! Father Charlie soon receives back-up from a former cop who has a score of his own to settle. It's no real secret that all traces eventually lead to Williamson, the über-villain for a change! "Three Tough Guys" is a neat hybrid between Italian exploitation and Baadassssssss Cinema, although not highly memorable and badly suffering from the lamentable production values. There are slightly too many tedious sequences to struggle through, but the on screen chemistry between Isaac Hayes and Lino Ventura feels surprisingly authentic and the script contains several funny parts. The amount of brutal violence and sleaze is quite a letdown, but Hayes' own soundtrack is very catchy and Duccio Tessari's ("The Bloodstained Butterfly", "Death Occurred Last Night") direction is fairly solid. So far, the Grindhouse Collection box-set is the only way to get your dirty little hands on this film, but I do hope a fully restored version will appear on DVD in the near future, as it deserves to be slightly more known.

Uomini Duri aka "Three Tough Guys" is an Italian made action film from 1974. Isaac Hayes stars as Lee, a framed Chicago ex-cop who teams up with Father Charlie played by Lino Ventura. Together they fight for answers and revenge in a million dollar bank heist. Fred Williamson in a rare villain role plays Snake. This is a very entertaining film. While set in Chicago and the mob playing second fiddle to the plot, the film is very Italian. It has the feel of an Italian poliziotti film with in your face action and seedy locales. There are many veterans of Italian action films including Jess Hahn and William Berger. Lino Ventura is great as Father Charlie, the priest who can fight and does not hesitate in resorting to violence. Hayes is very underrated as an actor and its a shame he appeared in only one other seventies blaxploitation film (Truck Turner). The chemistry between Ventura and Hayes is excellent, a joining of American and Italian styles. Fred Williamson is good as Snake but his role could have been much more. He appears far too briefly and is pretty much a supporting villain in this film. Isaac Hayes scored the movie as well and the music does not disappoint! The theme "Tough Guys", "Joe Bell", and "Run Fay Run" (used in Kill Bill 1) are highlights on the soundtrack. Lots of shootouts and action are abound in this film but I would have appreciated a great long car chase in this film. It would have rounded out the action perfectly! All in all though a terrific film. -Note, this film is extremely hard to find as it was never released on video or DVD, worth seeking out.