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Due Marines e un Generale
War Italian Style
Two Marines and a General / Guerra a la Italiana / Ein General und noch zwei Trottel
Italy 1965
produced by Fulvio Lucisano for Italian International Film
directed by Luici Scattini
starring Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia, Buster Keaton, Fred Clark, Martha Hyer, Franco Ressel, Tommaso Alvieri, Barbara Loy, Alessandro Sperli, Aldredo Adami, Ennio Antonelli, Renato Chiantoni, Willi Colombini, Consalvo Dell'Arti, Ignazio Dolce, Gustavo Gragano, Franco Freisteiner, Gianni Manera, Luciano Pigozzi, Angelo Santi
written by Castellano e Pipolo (= Franco Castellano, Giuseppe Moccia), additional dialogue by Vittorio Vighi, music by Piero Umiliani
Franchi & Ingrassia, Hitler
review by Mike Haberfelner
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World War II: Joe (Ciccio Ingrassia) and Frank (Franco Franchi) are
possibly the most incompetent marines of the US-army - and yet by mere
accident, they have defeated famed General von Kassler's (Buster Keaton)
troops in Africa. General von Kassler might be a brilliant strategist,
but he's actually a dreamer who has decided not to speak at all, and time
and again he shows his disrespect for Hitler while he loves playing the
piano (he has been a pianist before the war), which is why SS Colonel
Jaeger (Franco Ressel) wants him removed. But then again, von Kassler
doesn't show too much respect to Jaeger or the SS as a whole, either.
Presently, von Kassel is stationed in Anzio to guard the German
supercannon that's supposed to keep the Allied Forces from Italy's coasts.
As fate has it, Joe and Frank accidently volunteer for a mission to put
the super cannon out of commission, even if they have no idea where the
blasted thing may be - if it exists at all. But somehow, they manage to
accidently kidnap von Kassler, turn him into a laughing stock in front of
the entire German army and captive of the SS, then Frank dresses up as
Hitler and they manage to command the Germans to blow up the supercannon.
However, they are captured and, as they are quickly sentenced to be
executed, they have their last meal with von Kassler - when the American
attack, and the airstrike somehow breaks Joe and Frank and von Kassler
free, and with von Kassler as captive, our heroes make it behind American
lines - but since he of all the Germans has never wronged them, they set
him free ... Definitely one of the better Franchi &
Ingrassia films, as while the film's terribly episodic in
narrative, it does not stretch the duo's humour beyond becoming annoying
or moronic, does show heart in all the right spots without becoming sugary
sweet, and the hommages to (better) World War II comedies like The
Great Dictator and To Be or Not To Be are well-set and executed
at least. And while the film on the surface may seem to make an ass out of
Buster Keaton, it actually shows great respect to his style of comedy, and
his scenes are well-executed and quite funny. Plus, he is actually given a
character to play rather than being a running gag like in some of his
American movies from the era, when he was rarely more than a footnote. Well,
I won't exaggerate here, it's no masterpiece, but Buster Keaton fans will
at least not be disappointed, and again, it's one of the better Franchi
& Ingrassia films, so you've almost certainly laughed less
than with this one.
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