Le mercenaire

This costume adventure never quite gets off the ground, perhaps because its plot is so predictable. However, Stewart Granger gives the proceedings a touch of class and he seems to relish delivering lines of dialog which have some bite and wit to them. Particularly good are his scenes with leading lady, Sylva Koscina. The "action" scenes include sword fights, a racking, a whipping, and a horse race, but they're never more than routine. Sets and costumes aren't quite of "A" level but are better than one usually finds in "B" productions. One scene almost recreates a Vermeer painting.

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.

An English swordsman for hire is employed by a Spanish Governor ruling an insurgent Italian province. He becomes the bodyguard of the future duchess and is soon embroiled in court intrigue and the growing rebellion.

This film marked the beginning of Stewart Grangers career expatriation to Europe after his estrangement with the powers that be in Hollywood. In this context, it's not a bad costumer and recalls shades of his former success with Scaramouche. In fact, the film has some surprisingly energetic action scenes - most notably - some well staged sword fights where Granger aptly shows his swordplay skills and a grueling horse race at the end of the film.

The story and plot are standard fair for this type of movie but are handled well and given a lift by Grangers charming delivery. The pace is brisk, the widescreen photography is nice and the Italian cast comes off pretty well led by Sylva Koscino as the fiery duchess. In fact, the film succeeds on many levels emulating a good Hollywood costumer with one exception, the music. It's atrocious. The movie screams for the fiery score of a Korngold or a Max Steiner but is instead left with fluff. It doesn't kill the movie but it hurts.

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.

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.