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| Ace High | |
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I quattro dell'Ave Maria
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Italy 1968 - 126 Min. |
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Summary |
Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy exchange Bill San Antonio's gold for cash at bank director Herold. Herold, an accomplice to Bill San Antonio, then hires Cacopoulos, sentenced to death, to kill them. Cacopoulos, who has been in prison for 15 years, agrees to appear, but in reality he only thinks of revenge on his friends who betrayed him. The bank director Herold, one of his treacherous friends, first feels this revenge after he has previously told Cacopoulos the whereabouts of the other two traitors, Paco and Drake. On the way to Paco, who has left for Mexico, Cacopoulos attacks Cat and Hutch, takes their money, but doesn't kill them. Cat and Hutch then take up the pursuit. When they arrive in Mexico they learn that Paco has a lot of debts with Cacopoulos and the Greek convinces them to help him so that he can take revenge and the two get the money. After an argument with Paco's small army, in which Cat got help from Mexican mercenaries, Cacopoulos gets his revenge, but the mercenaries are now out for the money. With a trick they can escape the mercenaries, but the Greek leaves Hutch and Cat behind and runs away alone. After Cat and Hutch were able to lose the mercenaries, they take up the pursuit again. They know that Cacopoulos still has a score to settle with his former buddy Drake. Drake now runs a large casino where the guests are evicted by fraudulent means. When Cat and Hutch arrive, Cacopoulos has gambled away all the money. Cat and Hutch find out how the games are manipulated in the casino and decide to get Drake's money back the same way. Together with street artist Thomas and Cacopoulos, they make their way to the casino, where the big showdown with Drake and his men takes place.
"Ace High" is, apart from Hannibal, the second film of the duo Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. It and the direct sequel of the first movie God forgives - I don't The predecessor ends with Cat and Hutch riding away in a stagecoach with the gold of gangster Bill San Antonio. The new film begins on this stagecoach. Cat and Hutch stop in front of the bank of the corrupt bank director Herold.
Gangster Cacopoulos is the actual main character of the movie. It is played by the American actor Eli Wallach, who previously became famous for his roles in "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Although Wallach played more than 100 roles in Italy and the USA in the further course of his career, this remained the only collaboration with the duo Spencer/Hill. Wallach shot until he was very old. He died in 2014 at the age of 98 in New York.
The tightrope dancer Thomas, who completes the group of the heroes, is also portrayed by an American actor. For Brock Peters, too, it was the only performance at Bud Spencer's and Terence Hill's side, despite a long and busy career.
Another American star can be seen in the role of the head villain Drake. He is portrayed wonderfully evil by Kevin McCarthy, who already received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor in "Death of a Salesman" in 1952 and who could be seen in more than 200 productions during his career. He was also active in the film business until his death. He died in 2010 at the age of 96.
The German-born actor Steffen Zacharias can be seen in the role of Bank Director Herold. Zacharias is known to Spencer/Hill fans above all for his role of the old Jonathans in They call me Trinity. He could also be seen in The Five Man Army, Man of the East and Even Angels eat Beans.
Riccardo Pizzuti can be seen as a henchman of Drake in a short scene. For Pizzuti, who would later become one of the most prominent supporting actors in the Spencer/Hill universe, this was the first appearance at the side of the duo Spencer/Hill. Until 1990, 19 more gigs were to follow.
The director was one again Giuseppe Colizzi who also directed the predecessor. Now he is bringing the characteristics of his newly discovered duo Spencer/Hill to the foreground. For example, there is the duo's first joint brawl against a majority of opponents and in general the second movie comes along with a bit more humor than its predecessor.
In Italy the movie started on 31.10.1968 in the cinemas. Bud Spencer celebrated his 39th birthday on that day. German fans had to wait almost a whole year longer. Here the movie started on 3.10.1969.
Also "Ace High" was a success at the box office. One year later Colizzi sent Bud Spencer and Terence Hill into a third adventure and completed his Cat Stevens / Hutch Bessy trilogy in 1969 with Boot Hill.
The soundtrack of the film was written by Carlo Rustichelli, who also wrote the music to the predecessor "God forgives - I don't!" and to the sequel "Boot Hill". In Italy, Cinevox released a soundtrack LP in 1968, which today enjoys a high collector's value. In 1992 Cinevox also released a CD version in Italy, followed in 1997 by a release from the label Alhambra in Germany. In 2005, Digitmovies in Italy released a double CD with additional tracks.
The film was shot in and around Almería, Spain.
Runtimes:
German DVD (Second dubbing): 117:25 minutes
Italian DVD (General Video): 126:19 minutes
Hungarian DVD: 117:02 minutes
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Release Dates: |
31.10.1968 |
Italy |
Premiere |
9.966.497 Besucher |
03.10.1969 |
Germany |
Premiere |
1.150.000 Besucher |
05.11.1969 |
France |
Premiere |
1.676.235 Besucher |
01.12.1969 |
Spain |
Premiere |
1.254.658 Besucher |
13.02.1970 |
Finland |
Premiere |
166.204 Zuschauer |
13.01.1981 |
Germany |
Re-release |
Vier für ein Ave Maria; 150.000 Zuschauer |
23.11.1991 |
Hungary |
Television premiere |
MTV2 19:05 |
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Cast |
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Crew |
Music |
Bruno Nicolai (Diretta da), Carlo Rustichelli (Musica di)
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Writer |
Bino Cicogna, Giuseppe Colizzi (Soggetto e sceneggiatura)
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Director of Photography |
Marcello Masciocchi (Direttore della Fotografia), Antonio Schiavo Lena (Operatore), Giovanni Bonivento (Assistenti operatore (als Gianni Bonivento)), Claudio Tondi (Assistenti operatore), Antonio Serafini (Fotografo), Roberto Girometti (operatore (uncredited))
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Editor |
Marcello Malvestito (Montaggio), Franco Malvestito (Assistente montaggio)
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Action sequences staged by |
Ferdinando Poggi
| Continuity |
Renato Moretti (Segretario edizione)
| Sound |
Augusto Troiani (Fonico), Maurizio Troiani (Microfonista)
| Make up |
Massimo De Rossi (Truccatore)
| Hair stylist |
Anna Graziosi (Parrucchiera)
| Special effects |
Erasmo Bacciucchi (Effetti speciali), Eros Bacciucchi (Effetti speciali)
| Art Direction |
Gastone Carsetti (Scenografia)
| Dialogcoach |
Raffaele Mottola (als Ray Mottola; Dialogue coach)
| Production company |
Crono Cinematografica S.p.A. (Roma), San Marco S.p.A. (Roma)
| Assistant director |
Silvana Mangini Colizzi (Aiuto regista (als Silvana Colizzi)), Luigi Mangini (Aiuto regista)
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Producer |
Bino Cicogna (Prodotto da), Giuseppe Colizzi (Prodotto da), Maurizio Marvisi (Direttore di produzione), Sergio Nasca (Ispettori di produzione (c.s.c.)), Bruno Frascà (Ispettori di produzione), Maurizio Biasini (Segretario di produzione), Giuseppe Fioravanti (Amministratore)
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Director |
Giuseppe Colizzi (Regia)
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