EVERY MAN IS MY ENEMY

Aka Qualcuno ha tradito (I), Requiem pour une canaille (Fr)
1967
Italy/France
Francesco Thellung for Tiki Film (Rome), Greenwich Film (Paris)
Director : Frank Shannon [Franco Prosperi]
Story : F. [Franco] Prosperi
Script : Franco Prosperi, Giorgio Simonelli
Script collaborators : Dario Argento, Raimondo del Balzo
Music : Piero Morgan [Piero Pierotti]
Cinematography : Sante Achilli {Eastmancolor}
Editor : Ruggero Mastroianni
Art director : Dario Micheli
Original running time : 90 mins
Italian takings : 165.000.000 lire
Exteriors shot in Marseilles
Cast : Robert Webber (Tony Costa), Elsa Martinelli (Irene), Jean Servais (Jean), Marina Berti (Anne), Franco Giornelli (Coco Hermann), Pierre Zimmer (Blondel), William Bosh [Ennio Balbo] (the Professor), Emilio Messina (Willy), Umberto Raho (Gabriel), Giovanni Scratuglia, Pierre Marty

This film is available from Moviesunlimited

What is it about mannequins? They seem to appear with quite alarming frequency throughout European Cinema from the fifties onwards. Off the top of my head, some examples would include Succubus (Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden, 68), Spasmo (74), Castle of the Creeping Flesh (Im Schloß der blutigen Begierde, 68) and virtually any Bava movie you can think of (Hatchet for a Honeymoon (Il Rosso segno della follia, 70), Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l'assassino, 64), Lisa and the Devil (Lisa e il diavolo, 73) etc etc). You can have any old piece of shit, put in a scene with some mannequins littering up a room and immediately you have something worth remembering. Fortunately this particular item is in fact a fabulous and thoroughly entertaining piece of archetypal sixties thrillerdom, so the fact that it does contain a great sequence starring hundreds of the aforementioned plastic figurines only adds to the enjoyment.

Tony Koster (Robert Webber) is a professional American safecracker who usually works with his accomplice, Jimmy. An old friend in Marseilles, Jean (Jean Servais), who wants them to take part in a multimillion-pound jewel robbery, has contacted them. However, before they can leave Miami, Jimmy is gunned down by the police after being informed upon. Allowing his grief to pass quickly - and taking a few moments out to kill the squealer - Tony makes his way to Europe.

There he hooks up with the other members of Jean's gang, amongst whom tensions are already running high - mainly due to the fact that the disagreeable Herman (Franco Giornelli) is shagging the boss's wife. However, the plan seems to be going well, and he has soon found further distraction in the form of both the voluptuous Irene (Elsa Martinelli) and an old war buddy, Gabriel (Umberto Raho), who he meets again for the first time in nearly twenty years (and who seems to represent what he would have become had he stayed on the right side of the law).

Unfortunately it seems that once again someone has been chattering to the authorities, and their illicit activities come to nothing when the robbery ends in a gun battle. The assorted hoods disperse throughout the city, with Tony convinced that Herman is their betrayer and Herman convinced that it is Tony. Both men are determined to have their revenge, and both are so caught up in their obsessions that they never stop to think that it could have been someone else who talked.

In many ways it is entirely possible to ignore the above synopsis. Most of the running time is taken up with the actual planning of the heist (and with that bizarre fetishisation of objects - guns, cars, safecracking equipment - familiar from both the Spaghetti Western and the Giallo). It's only really in the last half-hour that both the action and the mystery kick in. This is mainly because Every Man is one of those bizarre 'existential' thrillers that were so much the rage at the time. People continually walk or drive around, to the accompaniment of a dissonant jazz soundtrack, looking pensive and occasionally taking the time to say something obtuse - nice. Furthermore, there are more flashbacks going through this than a near death experience. At times it does give you the feeling that the whole enterprise is simply designed to showcase some nice camerawork and cool tunes, but it's all moody enough to hold the attention.

Robert Webber and Franco Prosperi made The Professional Killer (Tecnica di un omicidio, 66) a year earlier, which is also well worth a look. Despite extremely different plots both films share a similar ambience, and the earlier title additionally boasts a large role for a youthful looking Franco Nero. In fact, Webber - famous from such titles as The Dirty Dozen (67) and 12 Angry Men (57) - was no stranger to Italian cinema. Other appearances include Hit Squad (Squadra Antifurto, 77) and Death Steps in the Dark (Passi di morte perduti nel buio, 77). He's extremely effective here, with a stocky coolness that suits the part well, and has some able support from a range of Euro-stalwarts.

Reviewed by Matt Blake