Hail, Mafia

If this film had been directed by Jean Pierre Melville, Criterion or someone else would have already have made a DVD special edition. It concerns two men, played by Henry Silva and Jack Klugman who travel to France to kill a man, a former gangster played by Eddie Constantine. They are sent to kill this man because they fear that he may testify and bring some underworld figures down. What happens on this journey is a story of fate, and some ironic twists.

While the beginning of the film starts out kind of chessie, (the shots of New York) so we are to get the feeling that the scenes with the actors were filmed in New York. When the two men get to France, that is when the film really takes off. It is almost like a road picture, as they travel from Paris to Marseille, two Americans, who don't speak French traveling in a strange land, Country much more foreign then, than it would be today.

Klugmans character has personal reasons why he wants to kill the character played by Constantine, while Silva, playing a guy called SHAFT, is only doing this job because it is his job. This film was based I believe on an American novel, and what is different here is that while usually in stories such as this the older man acts more the professional, while the younger is more carefree, HAIL MAFIA defies these conventions. Though Silva I believe is only 8 years younger than Klugman, he the younger man seems to live by codes, (he doesn't even smoke) and is the boss of the two, while Klugman seems to have the more easy going attitude, and not as careful. Their relationship is a very interesting on this road to a murder.

I think that this film paved the way for Silva to get starting roles in Europe, and while it did not do that for Klugman, the film should be famous for his line regarding 'what would make a man quit smoking, Which he would have to do some 30 years latter due to throat cancer. The photography on the French scenes is first rate, filmed by the famous cinematographer of the New Wave, Raoul Coutard. Their are some other interesting touches, such as when Constantine's girl friend (I think his wife at the time) looks at a picture of John F Kennedy, and when she offers him a glass of Orange Juice, he says yes but with some Scotch (Constantine had a drinking problem).

If this film were ever remade, and took place in the 21'st Century, one problem would be technology is a bit different than in 1965. I hope more people get to see this buried treasure.

An interesting French Eurocrime movie following the fortunes of Henry Silva and Jack Klugman playing a pair of mafia hitmen hunting for their latest target; the problem is that he's an old buddy of Klugman's. This reminded me of PULP FICTION in the way it depicts the friendship between the assassins and charts their meals and misadventures along the way, although it looks a lot different, shot in the French 'New Wave' style. The ending's a memorable one.

Writer-director-producer Raoul Levy hit a home run with this moody, intelligent, very-well acted crime film. On the surface, the plot seems simple--mafia soldiers Henry Silva and Jack Klugman are on an assignment to kill a former mafia guy played by Eddie Constantine. But the story--and most of the film--is really about the relationship between Henry Silva's and Jack Klugman's characters, and both give brilliant performances. I would never have thought of this pair of actors together, but as well as I know each of their works, I saw only the two characters, real people, not the actors. Eddie Constantine is not in the film all that much--it's Klugman and Silva's movie. Raoul Levy is probably best known here in the US as the producer of five Bridget Bardot films and of the underrated THE DEFECTOR, the last movie of Montgomery Clift. The washed-out monochrome photography by Raoul Coutard, the brilliant jazz score by Hubert Rostaing, and Levy's intelligent, literate script all come together in a powerful film that will pack an unexpected wallop for those expecting just another euro-crime film. No wonder Henry Silva's european career took off right after this film. The existential plot could easily have been from a spaghetti western or a samurai film, and anyone who has ever considered those genres (and the euro-crime film) as metaphors for life and society should find a copy of this film as soon as possible. For me, one of the five best European-made crime films of the 1960's, and I've seen hundreds of them.

Interesting jazz-fuelled crime film telling the tale of two hitman on their way to kill a fella in France. The man has to die because he could testify against a Mafioso who has been indicted, but one of the hitmen has a personal reason for whacking the guy too.

This hitman is played by Quincy MD himself, Jack Klugman (I had to look that up),whose sister was knocked up and left alone by the victim, but the other hitman is played by Henry Silva, and his character is a no nonsense, pragmatic individual who likes to play everything 'clean'. Both men travel through France, discussing the business they find themselves in, discovering France, and complaining about the food.

There's two separate sub-plots going on too, as we learn about the victim and his women troubles, and then there's guy sent to stop the hit as the Mafioso is released from prison and doesn't want linked to the forthcoming murder. I can quite happily report here that although this film lacks the car chases, chin-socking and violence of later Euro-crime films, the pay off is brilliant and the ending a classic.

The strong actors help, as Klugman comes across as the more humane of the too, while the young Silva has eyes that would melt cement. Look out for future Italian exploitation star Donald O'brien as a rather violent mob bosses secretary

Eddie is not the main actor in this film, although it is all about him. The mafia in New York sees him as a threat to their existence, and two professional killers are sent out to kill him off in the south of France, Marseilles and Camargue. The language here is English, Eddie is better and more at home in French films, and the two American killers are also not quite at ease in France, always denigratingly comparing it with California. The action is very slow to begin with, allowing the jazz music to dominate the greater part of the film, but eventually it towers into something of a very interesting drama, as the two killers are very different and there for very different motives, leading to arguments and some serious questioning. The audience is in for some interesting surprises.

The drama somewhat overshadows the interesting story, there is also the case of Eddie's lady, who can't understand Eddie's actions while he can't explain them to her, for reasons that will appear perhaps too late. It's a tense very noir drama, you have to wait for something to happen in this dark thriller, which actually is very plain, but it's the complications that make it interesting.