Don't Turn the Other Cheek!

This film begins in the early 20th century on the American side of the Rio Grande with a Mexican bandit named "Max Lozoya" (Eli Wallach) having been captured, tried and subsequently sentenced to hang the next morning. As it so happens, however, an Irish journalist named "Mary O'Donnell" (Lynn Redgrave) wants to start an uprising in Mexico so that she can get an exclusive story and bribes the local constable "Sheriff Randall" (Horst Jansen) to free a popular Mexican revolutionary named "El Salvador". What she doesn't know is that El Salvador has already been executed and since she doesn't know what he looks like the sheriff convinces "the Warden" (played by Jose Moreno) to allow Max Lozoya to escape in El Salvador's place. In the meantime, a Russian con artist named "Prince Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky" (Franco Nero) has learned that Max Lozoya has knowledge of some stolen treasure and masquerading as a priest is allowed entry to the prison to attend to Lozoya's final confession. It's during this time that Lozoya is allowed to escape and Dmitri, quite naturally, goes with him. But even though the sheriff has allowed Lozoya to escape that doesn't mean that he will be allowed to remain free-especially since there is a bounty on his head which the sheriff wants to collect. Not only that, but Mary also wants her revolution which only El Salvador can provide. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, even though it was supposed to be a parody of a number of other famous "Spaghetti Westerns", this was still a difficult film to watch due in large part to the meandering plot. Likewise, I didn't particularly like the rather preposterous action scenes which only served to lower my regard for the overall film as well. In any case, those who enjoy Spaghetti Westerns might like this film but having said that I didn't especially care for it that much and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

This movie shares a lot of elements with other Euro-westerns. Those who are very familiar with the genre will recognize similarities to films such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Mercenary, Fistful of Dynamite, The Stranger and the Gunfighter, and other spaghetti westerns. Recognizing these common themes is part of the fun of watching this movie.

The story is full of spaghetti western clichés presented in a fun, tongue-in-cheek manner, yet it still delivers in the violence and action departments as well. We even get to see some of Franco Nero's trademark machine gun wielding slaughter.

The music score is very good. It matches the tone of the film, seems right for a slightly off-beat Euro-western, and definitely works in this movie.

The movie boasts a phenomenal cast with Franco Nero, Eli Wallach, Lynn Redgrave, and Eduardo Fajardo. It would be hard to make a bad spaghetti western with those four playing the main characters, but I do have to say that although this movie was good, I think it could have been better. The acting and direction just seem a little bit sloppy. I suspect that either they were having so much fun making it that they were too relaxed to take their work seriously, or that they just didn't care all that much about the film. I prefer to think that it's the first reason. The US release (which is the version that I saw) also seems to have been edited way too much, probably to make the film shorter. My guess is that the movie is much better in its complete form.

At any rate, I highly recommend this movie to those like me who have seen and liked lots of spaghetti westerns. To them it will be a fun movie. Others might not get very much out of this film.

Bandit Eli Wallach and European con-man Franco Nero are in turn, set up, mistaken for, and masquerade as a flamboyant Mexican revolutionary and his military adviser, a Russian prince! The two know the partial whereabouts of a stashed fortune, but find it hard to get away from radical Irish journalist Lynn Redgrave long enough to go look for it.

A typical, quirky Italian political western, Don't Turn The Other Cheek isn't as good as Sergio Corbucci's Companeros (also with Nero) or the fantastic (and non-comedic) A Bullet For The General starring A Fistful Of Dollars Gian Maria Volante.

It's still a lot of fun though, with loads of action. Wallach and Nero have great comedic chemistry and should have been in more pictures together. On the other hand, with the exception of a few key scenes, Redgrave doesn't really have much to do.

One other familiar face is Nero's Django nemesis Eduardo Fajardo playing the film's number one heavy.

This one really needs a good DVD release. To my knowledge it's only available on an old VHS tape called DON'T TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, with animated asses (donkeys) wiggling their behinds, totally out of character with the film, which is an action filled Eurowestern by the director of the popular Ringo films, Duccio Tessari. Franco Nero plays another of his European adventurers, this time a Russian, who is seeking a lost treasure. Eli Wallach portrays another version of his popular "Tuco" character, this time once more a Mexican after playing the Greek version in ACE HIGH. Throw in Lynn Redgrave (slightly out of place in a spaghetti) as an Irish revolutionary and you have a film that is reminiscent of Sergio Corbucci's two popular political westerns THE MERCENARY (1968) and COMPANEROS (1970), both of which are superior to this. However there's a lot to be said for LONG LIVE YOUR DEATH, especially since it's so hard to find; you'll find the search worthwhile, and in the meantime let's hope Anchor Bay, Wild East, or Blue Underground release a definitive DVD version.

Long Live Your Death is a western comedy. This film tries to pin down the staples of the genre while being funny, and it has to be said that in doing so it pretty much misses both targets; but thankfully, Duccio Tessari's film is entertaining in it's own right and the central cast is just about talented enough to pull it through. The film takes obvious influence from the greatest of all Spaghetti Westerns; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and it could be said in fact that the film is basically a complete rip of the earlier film. The film takes place during the Mexican revolution. Mary O'Donnell, an Irish journalist, wants to inspire a revolt in Mexico and pays for a revolutionary to be released from prison; but unfortunately the man in question is already dead, so another Mexican is freed in his place. He escapes along with a Prince Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky, who has designs on finding some buried treasure. He teams up with the bandit and the two pursue the treasure; one knows the town where the gold is buried, the other knows the location.

It's the central pairing of Franco Nero and Eli Wallach that ensure the film works; neither one delivers their best performance, but the pair is constantly entertaining on screen together. They are joined by Lynn Redgrave (apparently Franco Nero's sister is law) and she dons an annoying Irish accent. Thankfully, her role in the film is rather short compared to the other two. The film does have a sense of humour, and at times it is rather funny (the location of the treasure maps, for example) but it's never overly funny, and I'd still call it more of a western than a comedy. Duccio Tessari (who also directed Giallo classic The Bloodstained Butterfly) packs his film with plenty of action and this does ensure that the film is entertaining. The film only runs for just over ninety minutes and it never gets boring enough to really start dragging, so that's a positive. It all boils down to a decent conclusion and overall, while I certainly wouldn't call Long Live Your Death a classic or a must see; it is at least worth a look.