Watching the great Giallo All the Colours of the Dark last night,I started to look for another Italian flick to see as a double bill. Knowing her for teen Comedy-Drama and Gialli,I was intrigued to find a Comedy co-starring Catherine Spaak,which led to me going to the races.
The plot:
Putting their last handfuls of cash on a horse race," Mandrake' and 'Er Pomata', find their bet to come dead last,and for their last bit of money to be lost. Along with Mandrake now being unable to satisfy his girlfriend Gabriella,the guys find gangsters wanting them to re- pay all the cash they have borrowed. Only knowing gambling at horse racing, the duo decide to cover their debts,by doing more gambling at the races.
View on the film:
Whilst the boys get to have most of the fun in the movie, Catherine Spaak is still able to sparkle as Gabriella,thanks to Spaak giving Gabriella a feisty edge which strikes at the mishaps of the trio. Causing each other to fail at the races, Gigi Proietti and Enrico Montesano each give very funny performances as 'Mandrake' and 'Er Pomata',with Montesano giving Pomata a fake humble earthiness,and Proietti covering the money losing Mandrake with a rich layer of arrogance.
Losing all their money at the races,the screenplay by co- writer/(with Alfredo Giannetti/Massimo Patrizi and Enrico Vanzina) director "Steno" sends Pomata and Mandrake on the tracks of loose- linked Comedy set-pieces based in them finding ways to fund their habit,from Pomata uses his grandmother to get the gangsters off his back for debt,and Mandrake using his fake businessman swagger to get cash in hand. Whilst the set-pieces are stretched a bit too long,the writers do well at keeping the comedy antics rolling by increasingly pushing the duo in a corner. Backed by a chirpy music score by Franco Bixio/Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera, director Steno and cinematographer Emilio Loffredo keep the atmosphere fast-paced with whip-pans following Mandrake and Pomata's money making tricks at the races.
The plot:
Putting their last handfuls of cash on a horse race," Mandrake' and 'Er Pomata', find their bet to come dead last,and for their last bit of money to be lost. Along with Mandrake now being unable to satisfy his girlfriend Gabriella,the guys find gangsters wanting them to re- pay all the cash they have borrowed. Only knowing gambling at horse racing, the duo decide to cover their debts,by doing more gambling at the races.
View on the film:
Whilst the boys get to have most of the fun in the movie, Catherine Spaak is still able to sparkle as Gabriella,thanks to Spaak giving Gabriella a feisty edge which strikes at the mishaps of the trio. Causing each other to fail at the races, Gigi Proietti and Enrico Montesano each give very funny performances as 'Mandrake' and 'Er Pomata',with Montesano giving Pomata a fake humble earthiness,and Proietti covering the money losing Mandrake with a rich layer of arrogance.
Losing all their money at the races,the screenplay by co- writer/(with Alfredo Giannetti/Massimo Patrizi and Enrico Vanzina) director "Steno" sends Pomata and Mandrake on the tracks of loose- linked Comedy set-pieces based in them finding ways to fund their habit,from Pomata uses his grandmother to get the gangsters off his back for debt,and Mandrake using his fake businessman swagger to get cash in hand. Whilst the set-pieces are stretched a bit too long,the writers do well at keeping the comedy antics rolling by increasingly pushing the duo in a corner. Backed by a chirpy music score by Franco Bixio/Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera, director Steno and cinematographer Emilio Loffredo keep the atmosphere fast-paced with whip-pans following Mandrake and Pomata's money making tricks at the races.