First of all, PLEASE STOP YELLING AT ME. The last three titles -
Oklahoma!, Duck, You Sucker!, and
Support Your Local Sheriff! - all end in exclamation points. Calm the Fu*k down. I see you. Don’t be so desperate.
Jeebus.
Director Sergio Leone enters the countdown at #90 with
Duck, You Sucker, which was at various times also marketed as
A Fistful of Dynamite and
Once Upon a Time…The Revolution to link them with his first four international hits. It is not a sequel to any of the others.
Duck, You Sucker did not enjoy the same kind of reviews or attention as his previous entries, though its reputation has grown over the decades, including placing here. Leone would only complete one other film in his career, the epic
Once Upon a Time in America which was released thirteen years later.
DYS is more specifically part of a subgenre, the Zapata Western, which take place during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Rod Steiger stars as Juan Miranda, a smalltime bandit who against his will becomes a “great, grand, glorious hero of the revolution” thanks to the prodding and trickery of James Coburn’s John Mallory, an Irish ex-pat and explosives expert hiding out in Mexico after some of the troubles back home. It features all of Leone’s trademark flourishes and excitement including another fantastic score by Ennio Morricone, with plenty of fun interplay between Steiger and Coburn.
While
Duck, You Sucker! has some good, honest laughs among the explosions and bullets,
Support Your Local Sheriff! is an all out comedy, a spoof of the genre starring Jim Garner as a capable but reluctant hero, a variation of his iconic turn as Bret
”Maverick” (1957-1962) on television. His good looks and effortless, exasperated charm aid him well as he contends with the looneys and heavies thrown in his path. Most especially highlighted in his interactions with Jack Elam’s town drunk turned deputy Jake, Bruce Dern’s local bully Joe Danby, and Walter Brennan as his vengeful Pa Danby. Not as crude nor impactful as Mel Brooks’
Blazing Saddles that would be released five years later, but darn nearly as many laughs. It’s like a Bugs Bunny cartoon come to life.
Dark Valley, Duck, You Sucker!, Oklahoma!, and
Support Your Local Sheriff! all finished with 41 points each.
Dark Valley and
Oklahoma! were on three ballots a piece while
Duck, You Sucker! and
Support Your Local Sheriff! were on five ballots. By virtue of the tie breaks that moved them ahead in the countdown.
Duck’s highest of its five votes was a thirteenth placer while somebody had
Local Sheriff as their sixth overall pick, making it the king of the 41s.