''Machine Gun McCain'' ( it, Gli intoccabili, lit, "The Untouchables") is a 1969 English-language Italian

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Giuliano Montaldo Giuliano Montaldo (born 22 February 1930) is an Italian film director. Biography While he was still a young student, Montaldo was recruited by the director Carlo Lizzani for the role of leading actor in the film ''Achtung! Banditi!'' (1951). ...

and starring

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They Raided ...

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series ''Columbo'' (1968–1978, 1989–2003), for which he ...

Gabriele Ferzetti Gabriele Ferzetti (born Pasquale Ferzetti; 17 March 1925 – 2 December 2015) was an Italian actor with more than 160 credits across film, television, and stage. His career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. Ferzetti's first leading role ...

, and

Florinda Bolkan Florinda Bolkan (born Florinda Soares Bulcão; 15 February 1941) is a retired Brazilian actress and model. Biography She was born in Uruburetama and lived in Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro until she moved to Italy. A former flight inspector fo ...

. Cassavetes' spouse and regular collaborator,

Gena Rowlands Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations ...

, appears in a supporting role. The film is based on the

Ovid Demaris Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

novel ''Candyleg'', adapted by Montaldo, Mino Roli, and American playwright

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

. It premiered at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

Plot

Charlie Adamo, the

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

's newly-promoted

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

operations chief, attempts to muscle in on the newly-constructed Royal Casino-Hotel in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, demanding its manager Abe Stilberman sell him a 20% stake in the enterprise. When Stilberman refuses, Adamo arranges for convicted

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...

Hank McCain to be released from prison by his son Jack, who poses a plan to rob the casino without telling him of Adamo's involvement. McCain is interested, but is weary of his son's obvious naivete and suspects more is happening than he's being told. Nonetheless, McCain begins casing the Royal, picking up and marrying an eager young woman named Irene along the way. Unbeknownst to Adamo, the Royal is owned by the Mafia. His superior, Don Francesco, demands he cease any attempt to buy a stake, and Adamo orders the heist called off immediately. However, McCain is determined to see it through and ignores his son's calls. Eventually, he agrees to meet him in a remote

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

, where he points out that Jack's two cohorts (working for Adamo) plan to kill them both. McCain manages to kill them instead, but not before his son dies in the crossfire. McCain carries out his plan, setting off time bombs throughout the casino, detonating a second explosion outside town to distract authorities, and disguising himself as a

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

to rob the safe while the building is evacuated. The plan goes off without a hitch, but Don Francesco learns of Adamo's involvement through the machinations of his wife. He tortures McCain and Irene's identities out of Adamo before having him killed. McCain and Irene are now on the run, with the Mafia distributing the two's photograph among their network of informants. With nowhere left to turn, McCain goes to his old lover and partner-in-crime Rosemary Scott. She arranges their safe passage out of the country, but is found out and captured by Francesco's men. She kills herself before she can be tortured for information. Irene is spotted by an informant and captured. Francesco's men take her to McCain's awaiting boat, where they kill her. Enraged, McCain blindly fires at his assailants, but is unceremoniously shot and killed. His and Irene's bodies are quietly disposed of.

Cast

Production

stated that both ''Machine Gun McCain'' and his previous film, ''

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

'', were purely commercial projects made to establish himself in the film industry before making what he wanted to make. Montaldo stated that

likewise only took the title role to finance his own films. The film was the first collaboration between Cassavetes and

, preceding their more well-known pairings in ''Husbands'' and ''A Woman Under the Influence''. Two other regulars of Cassavetes' ensemble,

and

Val Avery Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a So ...

, also appeared in the film.

Filming

Filming took place on-location in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The interiors were filmed at De Paolis and Dear Studios in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Future

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning producer

Gray Frederickson Gray Frederickson (July 21, 1937 – November 20, 2022) was an American film producer. Frequent collaborators and history Frederickson was a long-time producer for Francis Ford Coppola and worked out of a studio alongside Greg Mellott out of O ...

served as the film's U.S. production manager.

Reception

In a contemporary review, the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' described the film as "executed with minimal flair, and thudding rather heavily on the moralist/social documentary side of the fence" and that "apart from an over-use of the

Techniscope Techniscope or 2-perf is a 35 mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1960. The Techniscope format uses a two film-perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame usu ...

zoom lens, there's no style to speak of." In a contemporary review of the

Blue Underground Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. It was originally formed as a shell company to oversee 'making of' documentaries during founder ...

Blu-ray, Tom Charity described the film as "haphazardly scripted" but noted that it is "Cassavetes' participation alongside his soon-to be regular collaborator Falk and his wife Gena Rowlands that piques our curiosity" and that "Adroitly mixing stylish Roman interiors with colourful location work, fast-paced and featuring a ridiculously snappy Ennio Morricone dirge, 'The Ballad of Hank McCain', ... adds up to an attractive footnote to Cassavetes' career".

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Machine Gun Mccain 1969 films Italian heist films Italian thriller films English-language Italian films Films directed by Giuliano Montaldo Films based on American novels Films set in California Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films set in San Francisco Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Rome Films shot in San Francisco Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films about the American Mafia 1960s crime thriller films 1960s crime films 1960s Italian films 1960s English-language films