QT Six: WWII & '70s Italian Crime Films

Tuesday night was a real treat at QT Six, with two intruiging Italian WWII productions (though I would hardly call either an "epic", as advertised). First up was the fantastically fun Five for Hell from 1969 directed by Gianfranco Parolini (aka Frank Kramer), and starring John Garkok, Margaret Lee - and Klaus Kinski as a deliciously creepy Nazi. It's a crackerjack "men on a mission" flick, and I have no doubt we'll see its influence on Quentin's forthcoming Inglorious Bastards. Next up was Umberto Lenzi's 1979 WWII melodrama From Hell to Victory, which I thought was overly reliant on convenient plot coincidences, but still engaging (and it had a rather lovely, if entirely predicatable, ending). George Peppard and George Hamilton (as a wine-loving Frenchman, no less) lead a cast of six friends who are torn apart by the outbreak of World War II, only to unexpectedly reconnect over the years that follow.

Wednesday night was "Italian Crime Films of the '70s", and it was pretty kickass. First up was Antonio Margheriti's Death Rage from 1976, starring Yul Brynner as a hit man who takes one last contract - to kill the man who murdered his brother - only to unexpectedly fall in love with the beautiful Barbara Bouchet along the way. Next up was Duccio Tessari's No Way Out from 1973, starring Alain Delon as a hit man who wants to retire to live happily ever after with his family, but his bosses have other ideas. (This film actually reminded me quite a bit of Layer Cake, or vice-versa.) And I'm seriously kicking myself for not being able to stick around for the midnight film (Peter Collinson's The Sell-Out from 1976, starring Oliver Reed and Richard Widmark), but I just had/have way too much work to do. Dammit.

For more extensive QT Six coverage, I of course recommend AICN, but also Cinema Strikes Back, which has been doing a heck of a good job. (Check out their 25 Things I've Learned @ QT6.)