Machine Gun McCain

Machine Gun McCain is a 1969 English-language Italian crime film directed by Giuliano Montaldo and starring John Cassavetes, Britt Ekland, Peter Falk, Gabriele Ferzetti, and Florinda Bolkan. Cassavetes' spouse and regular collaborator Gena Rowlands appears in a supporting role. The film is based on the Ovid Demaris novel Candyleg, adapted by Montaldo, Mino Roli, and American playwright Israel Horovitz. It premiered at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. Plot Charlie Adamo, the Mafia's recently promoted operations chief on the West Coast of the United States, attempts to muscle in on the newly constructed Royal Casino-Hotel in Las Vegas, demanding its manager Abe Stilberman sell him a 20% stake in the enterprise. When Stilberman refuses, Adamo arranges for convicted bank robber Hank McCain to be released from prison by his son Jack, who poses a plan to rob the casino without telling him of Adamo's involvement. McCain is interested, but he is wary of his son's obvious naivete and suspects more is happening than he's being told. Nonetheless, McCain begins casing the Royal, picking up and marrying an eager young woman named Irene along the way. Unbeknownst to Adamo, the Royal is owned by the Mafia. His superior, Don Francesco, demands he cease any attempt to buy a stake, and Adamo orders the heist called off immediately. However, McCain is determined to see it through and ignores his son's calls. Eventually, he agrees to meet him in a remote warehouse, where he points out that Jack's two cohorts (working for Adamo) plan to kill them both. McCain manages to kill them instead, but not before his son dies in the crossfire. McCain carries out his plan, setting off time bombs throughout the casino, detonating a second explosion outside town to distract authorities, and disguising himself as a firefighter to rob the safe while the building is evacuated. The plan goes off without a hitch, but Don Francesco learns of Adamo's involvement through the machinations of his wife. He tortures McCain and Irene's identities out of Adamo before having him killed.