The merciless
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The merciless |
| Original title | Fools' parade |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1971 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Andrew V. McLaglen |
| script | James Lee Barrett |
| production | Andrew V. McLaglen |
| music | Henry Vars |
| camera | Harry Stradling Jr. |
| cut |
David Bretherton , Robert L. Simpson |
| occupation | |
| |
The Merciless (Original Title: Fools' Parade ) is a 1971 comedy directed by Andrew V. McLaglen with James Stewart , George Kennedy , Kurt Russell and Strother Martin . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb .
action
The year is 1935. In the town of Glory, killer Mattie Appleyard, bank robber Lee Cottrill and young Johnny Jesus are released from West Virginia State Prison. Appleyard receives a check for $ 25,452.32. That sum had amassed 40 years of prison labor and was an enormous sum at the time of the Great Depression . The prison guard Captain "Doc" Council accompanies them to the train station to make sure that they really leave town. After the train departs, Appleyard notices that the check can only be cashed at Glory's local bank. So he has to go back to town.
Council, who together with the banker Homer Grindstaff want to prevent Appleyard from cashing the check, drives with his two accomplices Steve Mystic and Junior Kilfong to another station where the train will stop. There they plan to kill Appleyard. After the remorseful, privy conductor Willis Hubbard has warned the three sacked prisoners, they plan to thwart the plan. At the meeting, the uninvolved shopkeeper Roy K. Sizemore is shot by Kilfong. Council then kills him and accuses Appleyard of the act. However, he escapes and takes the store owner's supply of dynamite with him.
When the Council informed banker Grindstaff of the events the next day, Appleyard entered the bank with a dynamite vest and a suitcase labeled "60 more pounds". Appleyard is threatening to blow them all up, destroying half of the city, if the banker doesn't cash his check. He grudges his teeth and agrees. Appleyard and his two friends, who had accompanied him to Glory, split up at first, but agree on a meeting point. While Cottrill later waits for the other two at the meeting point, he is invited by the seedy prostitute Cleo to her houseboat for a whiskey. There he meets Chanty, a sixteen-year-old who is supposed to work for Cleo. Cleo is hoping to get $ 100 with her from the client who wants to take her virginity from Chanty.
Appleyard and Johnny appear shortly afterwards, pursued by Council and a bloodhound. The three friends manage to escape in a rowboat, but leave the suitcase with the dynamite with Cleo. Johnny is scared for Chanty, so they turn back when Council disappears. Before Council left, he told Cleo about Appleyard's money. When Appleyard tries to take Chanty away, Cleo forces him at gunpoint to give her the suitcase in which she suspects the money. Appleyard hands her the suitcase and when they have left with Chanty, Cleo tries to open the locked suitcase, which ends fatally.
The fugitives are later discovered by Council in a freight wagon. The train they had chosen to flee only went to a siding. Again the guilty train conductor Willis Hubbard helps them to escape. However, he is too scared to tell the police what he knows about Council. Council, Mystic and Kilfong pursue them to an abandoned house. Since Council has now decided not to want to share the booty any more, he shoots his two accomplices. Appleyard is wounded when Council shoots at a window in the house. Johnny throws a stick of the remaining dynamite at Council, but the bloodhound retrieves the stick back to Johnny. Appleyard reacts in time and can throw the dynamite at Council again, killing him.
The men are arrested and Appleyard's money is confiscated, but Hubbard pulls himself up to tell the truth. Eventually the banker Grindstaff is arrested, Appleyard gets his money back, and they are rehabilitated.
production
The film was shot entirely in Marshall County, West Virginia. Moundsville , the location where most of the scenes were filmed. is the birthplace of Davis Grubb, the author of the novel. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Moundsville Station, which was demolished in 1980, were used for the railroad scenes.
criticism
"With a little irony and sentimentality, suspense entertainment that has some socially critical approaches to show."
Web links
- The Merciless in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Merciless. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed November 13, 2018 .