“Duck You, Sucker!”

1971’s Duck, You Sucker! was the last Western directed by Sergio Leone. He almost didn’t helm it. Initially, Sam Peckinpah was hired to direct while Leone produced.  But the studios nixed the idea because of financial concerns (did Peckinpah want too much money, coming off the success of The Wild Bunch?).  So Leone took the job. In some ways, it was a Peckinpah kind of movie.  The death count in “Duck” was more than 150—even beyond the 145 bodies in “The Wild Bunch.”