I due evasi di Sing Sing (Italian for "The two escapees from Sing Sing") is a 1964 black-and-white Italian film directed by Lucio Fulci starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.[1] The film is the first of three comedies with the duo by the same director, with I due pericoli pubblici and 00-2 agenti segretissimi, to be released in 1964.
In Sing Sing, cousins Franco and Ciccio Bacalone are about to be executed and are trying in vain to avoid the bitter fate that awaits them. The two are dragged into a room where two chairs initially mistaken for electric ones are placed, but in reality they only serve to tie the prisoners to prevent their escape. The cousins realize only after being tied up, that they will be executed with a cyanide pill placed under Franco's chair. Franco prevents the pill to diffuse its content. After he saves his life, Franco writes his memoirs and tells how he and Ciccio ended up in prison.
The flashback scenes show the two Italian immigrants (who arrived in the US as children) find work in a Turkish bath frequented by people linked to the underworld, including Attanasia, one of the most powerful bosses in New York, and Jarchin Enriquez known as the Scarred man. At this point the two cousins are involved in a firefight between the two rival gangs who, through their involuntary complicity, save their lives and that of Attanasia, who invites them to his villa to repay their debt.
Arrived in Attanasia's palace, the two realize the wealth and incredible power the latter has.The cousins naively ignore that Attanasia is a boss of the underworld and agree to work for him, Franco as a boxer and Ciccio as his cousin's "second".
Franco and Ciccio are unexpectedly entangled in the affairs of the boss, who manages to immerse himself in the world of boxing and comes into conflict with Lemmy Tristan, his enemy. Attanasia decides to fix all the matches to facilitate the cousins' journey to fight for the world title, while Tristan's attempt to kill Franco fails.
The two leaders reach an agreement; kill Franco in the last world title fight and split the betting loot. In the meantime, Franco and Ciccio learn of Attanasia's plans and try to escape, but are stopped by the latter's henchmen and forced to have to dispute the match with Frederick Jones, Tristan's trusted boxer. Thanks to a series of tragicomic events, the two cousins still manage to make fun of Jones, winning the world title and earning the hatred of Attanasia, who will find himself in a firefight with Tristan, the latter convinced he has been deceived. When the police arrive, the only two survivors are Franco and Ciccio who ask to speak only in the presence of a lawyer.
Accused of the massacre, the two will be sentenced to 99 years to be served in Sing Sing prison. Unfortunately for them, they end up in the cell where the Scarred man is kept, who ended up in prison because of them. Franco and Ciccio are forced to help him digging a tunnel to escape from prison. The first attempt fails and after a month of isolation, they still manage to escape thanks to the complicity of the nitroglycerin used by The Scarred man.
The two cousins seek help from Tony and Joe, Attanasia's henchmen, who took over command after his death, but will find themselves in the midst of yet another firefight and will be accused again and taken to prison. Franco and Ciccio, now resigned to their fate, will be informed by the director that Tony Agnello, before dying, had confessed their innocence, but the two, convinced of a bluff and for fear of being executed a second time, will refuse to open the cell, barricading themselves for 19 long years, before refusing a second time the freedom granted by the new director.
Cast
Dominici with two female characters (still from the film)
The film was written by Marcello Ciorciolini and Fulci himself. It is one of the 13 films directed by the latter that star the Sicilian comic duo of Franco and Ciccio,[2][3] 3 being released in 1964, including I due evasi di Sing Sing.
The film was the first real role for Lino Banfi (he had made a brief credited appearance in another film by Fulci in 1960).[4]
Release
The film was distributed in Italy by Panta in 1964. It was later released in West Germany and then France, in 1967.[5]
Soundtrack
I due evasi di Sing Sing later gained indirect fame thanks to its soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, which was commercially released as such only decades later.[6][7] The score incorporates elements of jazz and bossa nova.[8]
Reception
An Italian contemporary review finds the film "lacking rhythm and at times boring."[9]
Related Research Articles
Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works, Morricone is widely considered one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of all time. He has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and the Polar Music Prize in 2010.
Domenico Modugno was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. He is considered the first Italian cantautore.
Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including comedies and spaghetti Westerns, he garnered an international cult following for his giallo and horror films.
Francesco Benenato, known as Franco Franchi, was an Italian actor, comedian and singer.
Francesco "Ciccio" Ingrassia was an Italian actor, comedian and film director.
The Nastro d'Argento is a film award assigned each year, since 1946, by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics.
002 operazione Luna is a 1965 science fiction comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film stars Franco and Ciccio, Mónica Randall and Linda Sini. The film's Spanish print released in 1968 was titled Dos cosmonautas a la fuerza and ran only 76 minutes.
Lino Banfi is an Italian film actor and presenter. Since 1960 he has appeared in more than 100 films.
How We Got into Trouble with the Army is a black-and-white 1965 Italian comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci starring Franco and Ciccio. The title could also be translated as How We Got the Army in Trouble. This film was also known as I Due Marmittoni.
Margaret Lee is a British actress who was a popular leading lady in Italian films in the 1960s and 1970s. She is the mother of production manager/producer Roberto Malerba and production manager/producer Damian Anderson.
The Two Parachutists is a black-and-white 1965 Italian war comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci, starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. The film is a French-Spanish-Italian production.
Franco and Ciccio were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theatre field, and ended with Franchi's death in 1992. The two made their cinema debuts in 1960 with the film Appuntamento a Ischia. They remained active until 1984 when their last film together, Kaos, was shot, although there were some interruptions in 1973 and from 1975 to 1980.
Enio Girolami, sometimes credited as Thomas Moore, was an Italian film and television actor.
Pino Rucher was an Italian guitarist active in orchestral settings and in film soundtracks.
Sedotti e bidonati is a 1964 comedy film written and directed by Giorgio Bianchi and starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.
The Two Crusaders is a 1968 comedy film directed by Giuseppe Orlandini, co-written by horror icon Lucio Fulci and starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.
Mimmo Poli was an Italian film character actor.
I due pericoli pubblici is a 1964 black-and-white Italian comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.
00-2 agenti segretissimi, distributed in English as Oh! Those Most Secret Agents!, is a 1964 Italian film directed by Lucio Fulci starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. The film is the third of three comedies with the duo by the same director, with I due evasi di Sing Sing and I due pericoli pubblici, to be released in 1964, 00-2 agenti segretissimi being the only colour film of the three.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
