O Espadachim de Siena

The English version was directed by Etienne Périer whose best work is a pacifist movie "le pont vers le soleil "(1960) .He made two costume dramas ,both taking place in Italy : "Rouge Venise" (1989) is the most ambitious, "la congiura dei dieci" aka "the swordsman of Siena " ,is a routine swashbuckler , a little tongue-in -chick,whose asset is the presence of Stewart Granger , who wields the sword (including a duel with ....Sylva Koscina )with gusto and ,as always ,displays plenty of go and humor ...In the prologue, he fools the duchess's escort with mischievousness; then he takes his bodyguard job seriously when he checks the room where Koscina sleeps ; humor becomes tinged with a certain sadism when the swordsman is tortured :" good things should not be hurried!".

As for the story ,there are actually ten secret people fighting the wicked duke's (and his brother's )tyranny ,and two beauties for the price of one :Koscina's sister is portrayed by gorgeous Christine Kaufmann. Entertaining ,with good use of wide screen .

The last sword-wielding swashbuckling adventure starring Stewart Granger that I am aware of, (two others that came before were "Scaramouche" and "The Prisoner of Zenda"). If you enjoyed the relatively recent "The Mask of Zorro" with Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins, you will not be disappointed with these classics. Granger was one of the few actors - besides Mel Ferrer and Basil Rathbone, possessing convincing fencing expertise. I have always preferred his movies to those of Errol Flynn. Captivating sword fights, handsome heroes and beautiful heroines, smart and humorous dialog without the vulgarities permeating the movies of the last few decades. Sylva Koscina was beautiful with an attitude. Christine Kaufmann was just eye-candy, possibly intended as a contrast to Koscina.

This fairly standard Italian swashbuckler is considerably enlivened by two factors: the presence of Stewart Granger, one of movie's great swordsmen who actually was a good swordsman -- only Basil Rathbone was better. The swordplay in this movie is very real -- although the casual moviegoer might not understand the seemingly motionless pointwork, it is very well shot.

The other high point of the movie is the horse race, the famous Pallio of Siena. Although the real Pallio is a bareback race, this version of it is shot very excitingly with some nice point of view shots and excellent stuntwork.

Although I viewed an excellent print, it was dubbed, and therefore a bit hard to judge most of the performances. The costumes are excellent and the result is a surprisingly good Italian potboiler.

Here it is--a G-rated movie for the family that is dashing, up-beat, and which provides positive role models for both men and women. The entire set, costuming, storyline, romance, intrigue, plot twist and fencing were spot on. Granger turns in another fine performance as in the Prisoner of Zenda and Scaramouche. And what a fine swordsman he was, with only Cornel Wilde, Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone being a convincing match. I am a European historian who spent several years there and who loves these kinds of productions. When the movie ended, with a final little plot twist, I just sat there in the easy chair smiling, or was it beaming! A jolly good show.

This one of the best of the genre. the swordplay is fantastic and the costumes excellent. the only fault i find is the dubbing. The plot is a bit thin but who cares. If you like swordplay the technical aspects of this film are hard to beat. The character that Granger plays is one that he seems to be at home with. The wit and banter between him and his co-star are funny and to the point. The film lacked only the final duel, between Granger and the villain. The end I felt was anti-climatic. However the beauty of Sylva Koscina more than makes up for the films shortcomings. In my opinion they could have come up with someone other than Christine Kaufman for the secondary female role.