Duffy le renard de Tanger

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 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.

Right from the beginning in swinging London this film epitomizes the coolness of the sixties. Excellent performances by James to the power 3: Coburn, Fox and Mason. Especially Coburn appears to be not acting at all in his tailor-made dropout role, he is just being his natural self. The atmosphere, the images, the music and the plot each contribute to the overwhelmingly positive feeling this picture leaves me with every time I see it. Why can't they make movies like this anymore (sigh, sob)? Another thing that strikes me about this film is that there is no other film (at least that I know of) which bears only the faintest resemblance to this flick. It stands out, on its own. Incredibly, it is available neither on video nor on DVD. Please help, Mr. Duffy-owner!

Having lived on 4 dollars a day and not known what the next day would bring me this film is ultra-cool for people who know how to float through places of hip outside U.S. shores. I loved it then and love it now. Plus Lou Rawls!! James Coburn and Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Paul Newman, Bruce Lee, Robert Redford, Tony Curtis and many more are the people to watch. Some reviews say it is fluff but this shows the ultra cool Coburn at his best. The cast is excellent and now with the world economy crashing a taste of Duffy and Bullitt and Enter The Dragon and The Hustler in theaters might be a welcome relief from terminator 20 and all the other junk out there corporations push on the public. These guys and gal are actually acting.

Universal bring back PJ with George Peppard and Gayle Hunnicut too. We need these 60's folks on the screen again. Release Duffy on DVD!

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.