Gone with the Pope (2010) ** (out of 4) Wiseguy Paul (Duke Mitchell) agrees to kill seven people so that his friends can live a better life with the money once they're released from prison. Once out, Paul and his friends take a cruise around the world when he gets an idea to kidnap the Pope and request a dollar from every Catholic in the world for his return.GONE WITH THE POPE was produced, written and directed by Mitchell but the film was never complete and after Mitchell's death in 1981, the film pretty much remained unseen until the folks at Grindhouse Releasing discovered a print and took the next fifteen years trying to piece it together. It's clear that there's stuff missing but I'm not sure if this is due to a few reels being missing or the fact that it seems Mitchell was just filming stuff for the sake of filming and in the end none of it added up to much. This film is no where near as entertaining as MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE but fans of the (now) cult filmmaker will still want to check it out.If you're expecting the over-the-top craziness of MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE then you're probably going to be disappointed. This movie here is pretty laid back in its approach and there's really nothing too crazy outside the entire kidnapping of the Pope storyline. Even that there is somewhat deceptive considering that plot point only takes about thirty-minutes worth of running time if that. There are a few Mafia hits throughout the picture that contain some blood but nothing too graphic. There's some bizarre humor scattered throughout aimed at women, which is certainly something you'd only see from a movie in the 1970s. This includes a black woman who gets some racist jokes thrown her way and then there's a really bizarre sequence dealing with an obese woman.The film certainly isn't what you'd call well-made but there's no doubt Mitchell had something that is..... Well, I'm not sure what it is but there's no doubt that his two films as writer-director have given him some fame that sadly he never saw in his lifetime. GONE WITH THE POPE is going to be hated by most people and you know who you are. Fans of cult movies will find some mild entertainment here thanks mainly to Mitchell. Even his performance as his plays this tough guy is charming to say the least. This certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's got a certain Mitchell charm. Not to mention, the actor manages to turn in a good performance and especially during a more dramatic moment where he breaks down speaking with the Pope.

This 'movie' takes 40 minutes to get to the premise; this is the moment Paul tells his mates that they are going to kidnap the Pope.The scene showing a Las Vegas act pretending to pick his nose, then smear the product down a mike stand is drawn out, and totally unnecessary. A momentary redeeming feature is the guitar skills of the woman in the 'band' who plays a great solo in a scene minutes before - I think Duke Mitchell was wanting to showcase Las Vegas nightlife. Largely he fails. The scene, in Italy, of getting the obese young woman back to the hotel room is pitiful with respect to movie-making, and derogatory towards people with weight control issues.Shame on you, Mt Vic Flicks for showing it, although the bloke selling tickets commented on 'B-grade genre'. The premise sounded exciting though - a comedy about gangsters who kidnap the Pope, then demand $1 from every Catholic in the world. Funny in 3 or 4 places from its poor line delivery, mostly. I remain sickened by the amount of shootings (and a drawn-out slo-mo beating).And the blunt ending is near bewildering as the situation the character finds himself in. Pathetic overall.

Inspired by THE GODFATHER, director, writer, and actor Duke Mitchell tried his own hand at a gangster film, and in 1978, his violent THE EXECUTIONER was released (the film is more commonly known as MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE). The low-budget Video Gems label released THE EXECUTIONER on VHS in the mid-80s, while a double-disc DVD came out a few years ago and sold out of its limited edition. Hence, few people can actually say they've seen this film. Flash forward to 2009: The always-seeking-for-another-classic psychos at Grindhouse Releasing manage to get in touch with (the late) Duke Mitchell's family and are granted access to his archives. Among the goodies was a never-released sequel (of sorts) to MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE, titled GONE WITH THE POPE. Currently on a 35mm-print tour of the U.S.A., I attended a midnight screening in NYC with a few buddies, and needless to say, the entire audience seemed to love this lost underground mobster movie. When life-long criminal Paulie (played by Mitchell) gets out of prison (the film claims he did 15, then later 20 years, so take your pick), he goes to Vegas (I'm assuming they shot most of these scenes without permission) and manages to take out 7 guys (who I'm assuming were part of a rival family…the audio in the theater was ridiculously low for some reason) and then spends one last night with his wife before going on a lengthy trip to Rome. With 3 members of his crew, Paulie sets out (on his wife's yacht) on a 48-day cruise from California to Italy, mapping their course with nothing more than an atlas and an ancient piece of nautical equipment (which we see him use once). While having espresso at a bistro in Rome, Paulie explains why they're here: They're going to kidnap the pope, then charge a dollar from every Catholic in the world as ransom (when his buddy tells him, "But what about all the Chinese?", Paulie agrees to drop the fee to 50 cents). But before doing their task, Paulie tries to get one of his prison-partners laid (and brings an obese woman back to their hotel room in one of the most disturbing—and hilarious—scenes I've ever seen). After dressing as priests and abducting his holiness, the men keep the pontiff on their yacht as their ransom message goes out. During this time, The pope manages to talk sense into the whole crew, except for Paulie, who tells the pope he thinks the Catholic church is a scam, citing reasons such as all their not doing enough to help all the poor children in the world and the Catholic church's silence over the slaughter of 6 million Jews during World War 2 (hey—even Vito Corelone didn't get this deep!). Paulie agrees to let the pope go back to Rome with his two friends, but swears that if he doesn't take care of them, he'll kill 100 priests "as revenge for the Jews!" (Folks---the quotability of this movie is endless). Paulie manages to get back to America where he finds one of his best friends has been whacked. He takes out those responsible, then keeps his promise to the pope of lighting a candle on Christmas Eve. The film ends where a couple of supernatural occurrences go down as Paulie keeps his promise in a local church, and Paulie runs out in terror—leaving the audience to debate if Paulie has seen the light or has been rejected by the church. GONE WITH THE POPE is a lost, "authentic" grindhouse film. It's a fine example of everything we, the lovers of trash cinema, love about trash cinema: the plot is all over the place, there's enough bad acting to rival anything H.G. Lewis or Ed Wood has done, it's chock full of horrible 70s staples (polyester suits, bad make-up on the ladies, an acid-rock soundtrack, plenty of super-politically incorrect dialogue which, again, had the audience in hysterics). I'm now on a mission to find the first film, MAFIA MASSACRE STYLE (which one article I read said is a stand-alone film and not a prequel to GONE WITH THE POPE). Duke Mitchell has only left behind these two Godfather-esquire films, and although I've only seen the second one, he has managed to muscle his way into my exploitation film hall of fame. This sucker's PRICELESS.

I got a chance to view this film on 35mm in Rochester New York with my brother. Bob did a Q&A after the screening to explain how he acquired the film and the editing process. I love gone with the pope. It is very funny, a little bit of violence, very charming and I must say one of best undiscovered films out there. Highly recommend checking it out on 35mm - heads up to Grind house with the 35mm film print. Very clean print and crisp audio. I've seen many of the grind house releases on 35mm and Gone with the Pope is absolutely the best, considering the sources grind house had to work with. If you are a fan of 70'S grind house/mobster type of movies then def check this out on its road show tour on 35mm film.