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The Weekend Murders

Original title: Concerto per pistola solista
  • 1970
  • R
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
649
YOUR RATING
The Weekend Murders (1970)
Dark ComedyParodyComedyCrimeMysteryThriller

A family goes to a British estate to hear the reading of a will and while there they are murdered one by one.A family goes to a British estate to hear the reading of a will and while there they are murdered one by one.A family goes to a British estate to hear the reading of a will and while there they are murdered one by one.

  • Director
    • Michele Lupo
  • Writers
    • Fabio Pittorru
    • Massimo Felisatti
    • Sergio Donati
  • Stars
    • Anna Moffo
    • Lance Percival
    • Ida Galli
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    649
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Michele Lupo
    • Writers
      • Fabio Pittorru
      • Massimo Felisatti
      • Sergio Donati
    • Stars
      • Anna Moffo
      • Lance Percival
      • Ida Galli
    • 16User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos49

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    Top cast16

    Edit
    Anna Moffo
    Anna Moffo
    • Barbara Ward
    Lance Percival
    • Inspector Grey
    Ida Galli
    Ida Galli
    • Isabelle Carter
    • (as Eveline Stewart)
    Peter Baldwin
    Peter Baldwin
    • Anthony Carter
    Giacomo Rossi Stuart
    Giacomo Rossi Stuart
    • Ted Collins
    Christopher Chittell
    Christopher Chittell
    • Georgie Kemple
    Marisa Fabbri
    Marisa Fabbri
    • Aunt Gladys Kemple
    Beryl Cunningham
    Beryl Cunningham
    • Pauline Collins
    Quinto Parmeggiani
    • Lawrence Carter
    Orchidea De Santis
    Orchidea De Santis
    • Evelyn - The Maid
    Robert Hundar
    Robert Hundar
    • Arthur - The Valet
    Franco Borelli
    • Tom - The Stranger
    Ballard Berkeley
    Ballard Berkeley
    • Peter - The Butler
    Gastone Moschin
    Gastone Moschin
    • Sergeant Aloysius Thorpe
    Richard Caldicot
    Richard Caldicot
    • Mr. Thornton - The Lawyer
    Harry Hutchinson
    • Harry - The Gardener
    • Director
      • Michele Lupo
    • Writers
      • Fabio Pittorru
      • Massimo Felisatti
      • Sergio Donati
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews16

    6.1649
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    Featured reviews

    RodrigAndrisan

    Waste of time!

    A film with annoying characters, the most annoying being the Scotland Yard inspector who comes to solve the mystery of the murders. Then, annoying is the young man who stages murders before the actual murders. Then, annoying is the mother of the young man who stages murders. Then, the rest of the characters. Seeing the names of Michele Lupo and Gastone Moschin, who worked together to make the excellent "Seven Times Seven" Original title: Sette volte sette (1969), I hoped that I would see a comedy at least as successful. I was sorely mistaken, this production is a total cretinous nonsense. The glaring mistake: after the Scotland Yard inspector together with the policeman played by Gastone Moschin completely demolish the door behind which one of the victims had just "committed suicide", the door is intact. With the exception of Gastone Moschin, an excellent actor in many other films, here having a stupid, ridiculous role, Michele Lupo used 14th-rate actors. It's not a comedy, it's a poorly written drama around an inheritance. Another mistake, at the beginning of the film, the policeman played by Gastone Moschin, an Italian actor, says "Good Morning Padre" to the priest, instead of "Good Morning Father", the action is somewhere in England, with English characters (padre means priest in Italian, it also means father), but the director and almost all the other actors are Italian... The only one who has written another real, honest, sincere review is "wmschoell". Zero stars from me, exactly as it deserves.
    7The_Void

    Largelly successful Agatha Christie spoof Giallo

    Weekend Murders is one of the more hard to find Giallo films, and I find that rather surprising as the English countryside setting as well as the mystery plot that spoofs Agatha Christie stories means that it's actually one of the more accessible films of the genre. Despite the fact that Weekend Murders is an Italian production, director Michele Lupo has done a great job of creating a distinctly British atmosphere, and this could easily have been a British film were it not for the poor dubbing. Michele Lupo has a great sense of humour and he succeeds several times in lampooning the tradition that the film is spoofing, and Weekend Murders is a very funny film throughout. We open on a golf course where a leisurely game is interrupted by the discovery of a hand sticking out of a sandpit. It soon becomes obvious that the butler didn't do it because, contrary to the norm, he is the first to go! We soon move on to the first real plot building scene, which takes form in a will reading to the members of a wealthy estate. Aside from getting a few laughs, we are also given the knowledge that the owner of the estate's favourite daughter is to inherit everything, much to the dismay of the rest of the house.

    Most of the humour in the film comes from the seemingly inept local policeman played by Gastone Moschin. His character soon hooks up with the self proclaimed ace Scotland Yard Superintendent Grey (Lance Percival), and their double act forms the backbone of the movie. The two pair up well actually, and their exchanges work because the two characters are so different. Unfortunately, the rest of the support cast isn't so memorable; and while none of them put in particularly bad performances - there isn't a real standout either. The film also has a few plot problems, as the focus isn't always on the mystery and the exchanges between the members of the house are often redundant and not relevant to the central theme. The mystery itself is rather bare, and although clever at the conclusion - the plot is not the labyrinth that I have come to expect from Giallo's. After spoofing just about every mystery cliché in existence, it is fitting that the common revealing scene at the end is also lampooned by Lupo, and while the identity of the murderer is actually rather obvious; at least the reasons behind it make some sort of sense. Worth tracking down!
    Dethcharm

    "Please Forgive Me, I'm A Little Overwrought!"... "Explain Yourself, Sonny Jim!"...

    THE WEEKEND MURDERS gets underway as a body is discovered buried in a sand trap at a posh, private golf club. The police reveal that it is the latest in a series of murders.

    A flashback introduces us to the Carter family, gathered at the vast Carter estate for the reading of their dearly departed relative, Sir Henry Carter's will. Of course, the inheritance isn't distributed in a manner that pleases everyone. Well, okay, it pleases no one, except for an inept, flower-loving policeman, Sergeant Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin), and Sir Henry's Niece, Barbara Worth (Anna Moffo). The rest of the family is bitter to say the least, and it's not long before the bodies start popping up all over the grounds!

    With greed, jealousy, and treachery in the air, a mansion full of suspects, and a pair of bungling coppers on the case, this movie is enjoyable on several levels. Part "old dark house" mystery, part giallo, and all comedy, this movie manages to parody its subject matter while still respecting it.

    Co-stars Ida Galli as Isabelle Carter, and Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Ted Collins.

    On a personal note: I didn't figure it all out until the very end. I like that in a movie!...
    6freemanist

    Hey, there.......do you fancy being in the movie?

    If anyone out there has this on DVD give it a close look from the start. Why? Well, my Dad is in it!!!!! The stately home scenes were part shot at Somerleyton Hall, not far from where we live. Anyway, when my Dad and his brother, simply riding by and puzzled by a crowd, stopped the car to see what all the commotion was about, a back-combed sycophant suddenly appeared, carrying a clipboard and asked if they could spare a few moments to fill a couple of subsidiary roles.

    Hey presto, the old man became the young dark haired stretcher bearing ambulance man and his brother became a taxi driver (although his scene was cut). They were given exceptional 24 hour equity memberships (the actors union) and were dismissively paid about £10 each for their trouble - not bad for 1970!!! They were also told that the working title of the film was "Weekend Murders" but it might have some kind of Italian title upon release.

    Their abiding memory was of Lance Percival (English comedian & actor on the fringe of the "carry on" team, popular 1960's/1970's) being locked in the portable toilet by one of the sound crew.

    There you go - a bit of movie trivia for you.
    8Bezenby

    Quirky, beautiful, giallo

    A success in just about every aspect, The Weekend Murders is a good old Giallo with a healthy does of humour thrown for good measure. Nice!

    It's one of those 'reading of the will' type set-ups too, with a family converging on an English manor to find out if they are going to get any of the loot. Relatives of the deceased Earl are daughter Ida Galli, niece Barbara (or something), Nephew Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and a few other that I'll stop naming because I got bored. Of note is the crazed Georgie, who keeps pranking the group by pretending to be murdered, dresses up in full Giallo uniform (black gloves etc), and keeps hallucinating his mother.

    Gastone Moschin is the local seemingly bungling policeman who, in attendance at the reading of the will, learns that all the money has been left to the Earl's niece. This leaves the rest of the family furious, and when the fake killings stop and the real ones start, it's up to Gastone to get to the bottom of the problem. Only thing is, he's got a detective from Scotland Yard with him who doesn't think Gastone is up to the job. Oh, and when the butler is found dead, someone quips "At least they can't say the butler did it!"

    It's mostly played for laughs, so don't expect gore and sex, but everything else is so well done and presented the whole thing was a delight to watch. Gastone Moschin, most famous for being The Black Hand in the Godfather Two, is brilliant here as the cop who comes across as harmless and clumsy, but who turns out to be smarter than all those supposedly in the Upper Classes who look down on him. The expression he wears on his face the entire time is priceless. The whole look of the film is a stand-out too, with inventive camera angles and a slightly psychedelic vibe to everything.

    It also has a bit of social commentary thrown in too - Just see the scene where Giacomo Rossi Stuart reveals his new wife is black. Michele Lupo was a talented man, no doubt.

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    Bill Pullman, John Candy, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga, and Lorene Yarnell Jansson in Spaceballs (1987)
    Parody
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    Comedy
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
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    Mystery
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    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Francesco de Mari's score under the introductory credits is virtually identical--orchestrations, chord progressions, measure for measure, rhythmic figures--everything except melodic line, to Tchaikovsky's famous 1st piano concerto, the opening chords of which reverberate throughout the film score, reflecting the translation of the Italian title "Concerto for Solo Pistol".
    • Goofs
      The tagline says the butler was the first body found. Wrong. Previously a body had already been found in the sandpit at the golf course.
    • Quotes

      Aunt Gladys Kemple: Little Miss Florence Nightingale had it all figured out, she did! The sneaky bitch!

      Georgie Kemple: [shocked at his mummy's outburst] Mummy!

      Aunt Gladys Kemple: Drop Dead!

    • Crazy credits
      Francesco de Mari's score under the introductory credits is virtually identical--orchestrations, chord progressions, measure for measure, rhythmic figures--everything except melodic line, to Tchaikovsky's famous 1st piano concerto, the opening chords of which reverberate throughout the film score.
    • Alternate versions
      A censored version was created by MGM for American and international markets, removing zooms and close-ups of bloody content as well some as sexual interplay and dialogue. Only the original Italian version was uncensored.
    • Connections
      Featured in Eurotika!: So Sweet, So Perverse (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Concerto No. 1
      Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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    FAQ13

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 15, 1970 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Ubojstva na vikendu
    • Filming locations
      • Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, England, UK(location)
    • Production company
      • Jupiter Generale Cinematografica
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 38m(98 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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