After picking up his book on Jess Franco to read about La muerte silba un blues (1964-also review)I decided to pick up Stephen Thrower's other book on fellow auteur Lucio Fulci.Having heard about his Comedy era, (and finding no reviews anywhere for this title) I got set to see Fulci have a laugh at Sing Sing.
Note: Some spoilers in review.
The plot:
Sentenced to death via the gas chamber,Franco and his pal/fellow inmate Ciccio get a incredible streak of luck when the cyanide pills fail to start. Escaping during the attempt by the cops to get the pills to work, the duo run into gangster Attanasia,who takes advantage of the dim Franco and turns him into a highly popular boxer (whose opponents are secretly paid by Attanasia to lose the matches.) Reaching the world champion final, Attanasia begins planning with the current champ ways he can keep the belt and make big money, but challenger Franco has a knock-out plan all of his own.
View on the film:
The final feature in his black and white filming era, co-writer/(with Marcello Ciorciolini) directing auteur Lucio Fulci & cinematographer Bitto Albertini display a keen eye for landing the punchlines on reaction shots, which would later progress to the poke in eyes of Fulci's Horror era.
Not known for his comedic funny bone, Fulci hits the genuinely funny set-pieces with a welcomed macabre edge, breaking out in the opening gas chamber, (the real Sing Sing was infamous for the iffy electric chair nicknamed "Old Sparky.") and spreading to accidentally slugging mobsters in a sauna, leading to a hilarious slap-stick boxing match final.
Basing gangster Attanasia (played by a slippery Arturo Dominici) on real gangster (and former Sing-Sing prisoner) Albert Attanasia, the screenplay by Fulci and Ciorciolini wins round when putting Franco and Ciccio (a lively Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia) together with the brash mobster, who uses the stupidity of the duo to build a stack of cash.
From when they escape Sing-Sing, the writers struggle to pin the set-pieces together, as Franco's change from death row inmate to possible boxing champ takes place without little being given to build gags round the transition of Sing-Sing to the boxing ring.
