The Executioner of Venice (1963) User Reviews

Great epic plenty of action and adventure with glamorous gowns and luxurious sets from Venice

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 20 December 2013]

Exciting story of love and adventure , the complete romance and the historical events about the Venetian council of Dux . It is packed with derring-do , intrigue , a love story , action , drama and moving swordplay . This is a fast moving, colorful adventure which benefits from its Venetian setting . As an evil grand inquisitor called Rodrigo Zeno (Guy Madison) attempts to condemn his enemy, the main Doge of Venice named Giovanni Bembo (Feodor Chaliapin Jr.) and his son Sandrigo Bembo (Lex Barker) . The evil Inquisitor unites forces with a traitor called Michele Arcà (Alberto Farnese). Meanwhile , our hero Sandrigo attempts to marry his bride named Leonora Danin (Alessandra Panaro) . Leonora is a golden-haired beauty entangled in a web of treachery and intrigue . The picture was partially based on historical ¨Dux¨ derived from Latin dūx, "military leader" , sometimes translated as Duke . Doges were the chief magistrates and leaders of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the man selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city. The doge was not a duke in the modern sense, nor was a doge the equivalent of a hereditary duke. The "doge" was the senior-most elected official of Venice and Genoa; both cities were republics and elected doges .

This is an entertaining swashbuckling, full of action, thrills ,romance , double-crosses and of course , a lot of fence . It is something quite diverse from the ordinary adventure scenery : hardly open sea , different boats , the gondolieri , the spectacular designs palaces and bridges . It's Lex Barker against Guy Madison and a strange pirate posing as an executioner well played by Mario Petri . In this set in the end of middle ages , next to the Italian Rennaisance period. Lavish production by Octavio Poggi with excellent gowns , evocative sets , right cinematography and powerful score . Lots of court intrigue , treason, twists and turns . The picture contains rousing action, intrigue , romantic adventure , mayhem and a fine cast doing a fine job . Sympathetic performances by main star cast and enjoyable secondary cast , as the marvelous main actors are completed by stellar cast full of classical and veteran players as Mario Petri as Boia Guarnieri , Alberto Farnese as Michele Arcà, Giulio Marchetti as Bartolo , Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Doge Giovanni Bembo , Franco Fantasia as Pietro and Raf Baldassarre as Messere Grimani . Splendid color from 16mm by Sandro Mancori and imaginative as well as thrilling soundtrack by Carlo Rustichelli . Lush production design is well showed on the luxurious interiors and exteriors filmed on location in Venice .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Luigi Capuano . He was a good craftsman who directed all kind of genres , and especially adventure movie . Capuano directed Spaghetti Western such as "Il Magnifico Texano" , Peplum as ¨Revenge of Ursus¨ ,"Revenge of the Gladiators" , "Hercules and the Black Pirates" and of course Adventures such as "Zorro in the Court of Spain" , "Zorro, Rider of Vengeance" , ¨Zorro and three musketeers¨ ,"Tiger of the Seven Seas" , ¨leopard of Sarawak¨ , ¨Vengeance of Sandokan¨ , "Terror of the Red Mask" also starred by Lex Barker and "The Lion of St. Mark" also set in Venice and similar period .

Great to look at swashbuckler filmed in Venice

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 11 May 2008]

Costumed actioner set in the city and benefiting from being filmed in and around the canals. the plot has to do with intrigue concerning the titled character and the inquisition. Its a costumed swashbuckler of the sort they don't make any more and rarely did they ever look this good or have such a great sense of place. Its a shame that a good letterboxed version of this film doesn't seem to be out there since the pan and scan version I saw often had confrontations with invisible men (speaking characters have been chopped out of the frame). the cast headed, by Lex Barker and Guy Madison, is quite good, even when dubbed into English. Its a nice movie for a rainy afternoon, when you want to just sit and watch some adventures from a bygone time.

Blood of the Executioner

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 9 February 2023]

Set during the Grand Inquisition, this is actually quite an entertaining little bit of Peplum. The Doge of Venice (Feodor Chaliapin Jr) has a handsome young son "Sandrigo" (Lex Barker) who has managed to irritate the Inquisitor "Zeno" (Guy Madison). The latter decides to frame the former for treason, and now it falls to Barker to save both himself and his father, whilst still keeping hold of his lady love "Leonora" (Alessandra Panaro). Luigi Capuano has packed quite a lot into ninety minutes here. The production standards are actually quite high, there is bundles of intrigue and swordplay, a soupçon of romance and Madison plays well as the baddie. The plot is pretty processional, the ending is never in doubt - but this is still quite a watchable action adventure that looks good and flows well.

The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Weird

[lotekguy-1 · 5/10 · 24 January 2023]

This movie tries to buckle the swash of the type of action costume drama that Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster or Tyrone Power would headline for a Hollywood studio. For a product of the Spaghetti Western factories and their relatively limited budgets, the spectacle here is exceptional for sets, costumes and cast size. The big group clashes are well-staged, with clanging swords aplenty. And the whole thing comes in a tight 90-minute package, resisting the temptation to drag things out just because of how much they spent to create a lush Venice of yesteryear.

The bad is that Lex is a charisma-impaired hero compared to the aforementioned stars. He looks handsome and hunky enough, but his panache is pallid. Also, the script is about as paint-by-numbers as they come, including the seminal moment that turns the tide for the good guys. Don't watch this for a new experience. It can only satisfy as another bit of time spent in pleasantly familiar territory.

The weird - Anyone who grew up with Guy Madison as Wild Bill Hickock, or saw him as a hero in most of his other films will have some emotional whiplash watching him play this Machiavellian weasel. Even more unsettling in the English dubbed version is the wimpy, reedy voice used for him. Madison's voice was rich and resonant, making the dissonance even more distracting than the anti-type casting. If'n that don't bother you none, you might like this one more than I could.

Well-paced and fine-looking costume adventure yarn

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 9 July 2016]

Here's a costume adventure yarn that has a scenic setting, a rousing score, lots of plot intrigue, and plenty of swashbuckling action - all you could want really for an enjoyable movie viewing experience. The movie begins in the classic fashion with a woodcutting challenge where participants attempt to hack huge chunks out of logs with an axe. The man who makes the deepest incision is judged to be the winner. Well, it isn't surprising that former TARZAN actor Lex Barker manages to win the contest and to be praised by the public before running off to get married to his young beautiful bride. You can just about guess that something terrible is going to happen.

That "something terrible" sees Barker marched off to a dank prison where he resides for days while his father attempts to free him and the council of Venice hear the evidence. It turns out that the Grand Inquisitor (a dastardly fellow, played by Guy Madison) is working in cahoots with Boia Guarnieri, an evil pirate who also doubles as the lead figure, an impressively hulking black-masked Executioner who wields a gigantic axe and lots of screen presence. Barker escapes with the help of a traitor who realises that letting Barker escape is also a good excuse to get him killed, and sure enough a brutal battle takes place between hero and Executioner. Barker is struck and falls into the canal, but his body is never discovered...

You can probably guess the rest of the plot from here but that doesn't matter. Although THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE tells a familiar tale of good overcoming evil, good guys battling the odds and beating the bad, it does it in a fun, fast-paced way with lots to commend it. The authentic well-photographed Venice locations really add to the look of the film which has great production values, which also show in the costumes. The characters in the film are great fun, with lots of bearded traitors, clean-cut heroes, and colourful swarthy pirates dashing around and fighting each other. There's even a nunnery thrown in for good measure.

The music is of the powerful variety with lots of heavy drumbeats to give the film a solemn epic-sounding edge. The swashbuckling is interspersed well with the plot, with just the right balance between the two to keep the film both exciting and fairly complex. Of course, there are lots of stunts and agile actors leaping around and fencing so there's a lot to enjoy there. There's even a plot twist involving a father/son relationship which THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK would rip off twenty years later.

Lex Barker is cast as the good-looking hero but there's definitely something lacking in his character and performance. To be honest, he's a bit bland, and his 100% good and perfect character quickly becomes boring. However, Barker handles himself well in the action scenes and proves himself to be a more than athletic actor who can carry and use a sword. Alessandra Panaro is left in the sidelines as his doting lover/wife who tries to become a nun when she thinks her husband is dead! Meanwhile we have a good turn from Guy Madison as the gloating, evil villain who definitely looks the part. However, its left to Mario Petri (RAMPAGE OF EVIL) to steal all of his scenes as the pirate. Petri lends a strong screen presence to the film and proves himself to be a worthwhile actor, coincidentally also putting in the best acting performance! He also gets to play a complex, interesting character and is worth watching the film alone for. The stalwart Italian supporting cast all fit their parts well, with minor stock characters like the ageing king and the helpful blind man being particularly realistic. THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE is a well-paced and fine-looking costume adventure yarn which remains steadily exciting and should be sought out by fans as an above-average example of the genre.

Executioner of Venice

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 4 January 2024]

In Venice,during the Inquisition,Sandrigo Bembo,the son of the Doge Giovanni Bembo,is falsely accused of treason out of pure malice by the Grand Inquisitor Rodrigo Zeno.

The villain here is Guy Madison, who is really good as the villain. He schemes and schemes so he can get the fiancee of Lex Barker's character. Lex Barker is in good swashbuckling form, though most of the sword play comes in the last thirty minutes. The first hour mainly consists of court intrigue and schemes. It's a fairly standard Italian costumer but a good villain, swordplay, an interesting lost son and father twist as well as the great Venice locales makes this quite watchable.

Hangman, hold it a little while I think I see my brothers coming,

[ulicknormanowen · 6/10 · 25 May 2021]

Pleasant swashbuckler ,perfect for a Saturday-night-at-the-movies in Europa circa 1960; shot on wide screen with glittering colors and a good setting (Venice). It seems that the success of "il leone di San Marco" spawned this other Venetian adventure.

The screenplay is very simple, close to comic strips , but they went flat out : two nobles, the good,the son of a doge ,and the villain, the (young) great inquisitor , a love rivalry, treasons, a melodramatic secret -revealed halfway through- but Lex Barker is three years Mario Petri' s senior !-,virtuous heroine, an area known for its disreputable reputation ,but where inhabitants are nice and helpful and allies to the hero who wants a square deal for them (first scene with the fiancée). Best scene : Barker's fight with the executioner armed with an axe in the dark prison ;less good: the attack of the convent. Guy Madison, generally cast as the brave hero, is ill-at-ease as the baddie.

excellent Italian dubbed historical adventure with Lex Barker pitted against Guy Madison

[django-1 · 9/10 · 16 December 2003]

If you do not like low-budget, early 60s dubbed Italian costumed historical adventures, you won't like this one either. However, for fans of the genre, THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE is top-notch entertainment with nice Venetian settings, lots of court intrigue and duplicity, and two of the finest American expatriate actors in 60s eurocinema--Lex Barker as the hero, Sandrigo Bembo, adopted son of the Doge of Venice, and Guy Madison as the tracherous grand inquisitor, Rodrigo Zeno. Director Luigi Capuano specialized in this sort of adventure in the early 60s, working with Barker in 1960s TERROR OF THE RED MASK, and after this film, making four films with Guy Madison. Just prior to this one, he made two with Gordon Scott--MASK OF THE MUSKETEERS and LION OF ST. MARK--that I recommend to fans of the genre. No great analysis is needed of THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE. It's just a well-mounted but economical historical swashbuckler and the only European film where Barker and Madison are paired as equals. Regrettably, this copy is pan & scan, so some dramatic scenes between Madison and Barker feature Madison talking to an offscreen presence and the interesting set design is not as easy to appreciate as it should be, but until someone releases this in widescreen, it's worth searching out. The climax and ending are quite satisfying, the supporting cast is memorable (Mario Petri as the executioner whose story is quite complex, and Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as the aging, infirm, but sympathetic Doge of Venice), and it's great to see Madison as a pure manipulative villian with no redeeming values or tragic backstory. Barker looks great and must have been complimented that the role he is playing is that of a man at least a decade younger than Barker himself!

Love and death, romance, pirates, parties and intrigues galore in Venice 1654

[clanciai · 9/10 · 4 November 2022]

This is a great intrigue like from some of the great 19th century operas by the Italian masters, like Verdi and Ponchielli. The first scene introduces the two protagonists, father and son, without their knowing it, in a contest of force, where they have to axe a log, - who cuts the deepest is the winner. The father (Mario Petri) is the official executioner of Venice, a former pirate, and his son has been brought up by the doge (Feodor Chaliapin Jr!) as his own princely son, never suspecting his adoption. The crook of the play is the grand inquisitor (Guy Madison, slightly too handsome for the credibility of a grand inquisitor,) who is jealous of the doge's son who has won the heart of the beauty they both desire, Alessandra Panaro, and he finds out that he is actually the executioner's son. His intrigue amounts to the desired effect to have the executioner execute his own son to let the grand inquisitor acquire the bride, but you can't conceal the truth forever. An important supporting character is Giulio Marchetti as Sandrigo Bembo's (Lex Barker) blind mentor, who sees more than everyone else. To all this luxury of great action, dazzling adventure, flamboyant romanticism and all the magnificent beauty of Venice in a nutshell, is the splendid score by Carlo Rustichelli added, which aptly illustrates everything.