The inspiration for the firing squad scene came from Francisco Goya , and in particular from his set of prints '' The Disasters of War '' . Leone showed the prints to director of photography Giuseppe Ruzzolini in order to get the lighting and color effects he wanted . The film is believed to have been influenced by Peckinpah 's '' The Wild Bunch '' , and it shares some plot elements with '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid '' , a western film also starring Coburn and released a year later . Leone biographer and film historian Sir Christopher Frayling noted that '' Duck , You Sucker ! '' was made in a period of Italian cinema where filmmakers were ‘ rethinking ’ their relationship with fascism and the Nazi occupation of Rome . He has identified numerous references to both World Wars in the film , such as Colonel Reza ’s commanding of an armored car resembling a Nazi tank commander , the massacre of Juan ’s family ( which bears similarities to the Ardeatine massacre of 1944 ) , and an execution victim resembling Benito Mussolini
Ardeatine massacre
Ardeatine massacre
Duck, You Sucker!