The Red Carnation Gang conspire in one of the easiest scenes to dub in THE BLACK DUKE.
Japanese cassette soundtrack was in French, making it neces­ sary for Midnight’s Bill Knight to synchronize the image with dubtracks taken from the afore­ mentioned English sources. (There are exceptions: a pre- credits sequence of a couple be­ ing attacked on the beach, found nowhere else, is presented in French, sans subtitles.) Midnight Video considers this
tape to be their pièce de resis­ tance, and it is indeed a superior
job of video reconstruction. What baffles us is, Why this movie? It is dull and unsuspenseful, badly acted, and its reinstated gore scenes are more silly than upset­ ting, unable to top what our imagi­ nations concocted after reading those graphic descriptions in so many genre reference books. Still, it’s nice to know that ANTHRO- POPHAGUS is finally available in all its glory for those who want it. But three years!The time should have been lavished on a worthier grail. —TL__________________
THE BLACK DUKE
1963, N.P.Y. Video (Canada), OP, 104m 40s This talky and uneventful Italo-
Spanish costumer—original title: Il Duca Nero—finds Cameron Mitchell in fine form as the belea­ guered Cesare Borgia, who, by the start of the 16th century, had made myriad enemies in his un­ yielding quest to unite Italy. Of all his would-be killers, a mysterious figure named “The Red Carna­ tion” emerges as the mostly deadly and persistent, presiding over a group of hooded vigilantes who have hatched an elaborate assassination plot. Appealing to Borgia’s love of beautiful women, the plotters enlist the aid of Lady Ginevra (Grazia Maria Spina) to ingratiate herself into the Duke’s confidence and home, leaving her free to kill him with a poi­ soned drink at an opportune moment. Their plans hit a pre­ dictable snag when the noble­ woman falls for Borgia, despite
the fact that he was responsible for her father’s death. Director Giuseppe “Pino”
Mercanti brings little style or élan to the proceedings, and the film owes what little success it achieves to the screen pres­ ence of its American star (who dubbed his own voice). As with much of his other European work from this period, Mitchell embel­ lishes his performance with a degree of integrity that many other transplanted actors work­ ing on the continent during this time never saw fit to muster. His raspy yet lyrical delivery helps the film through its many long pas­ sages of overly ripe dialogue, and the measured restraint he exer­ cises nicely offsets the gusto he summons during moments of high emotion. Alas, this dreadful tape makes
it difficult to appreciate anything on display here. The B&W source print has been run through a Telecine with no correction what­ soever; consequently, in many
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