Man of the East

By 1972, director Enzo Barboni and star Terence Hill had already teamed up for movies over back to back years that audiences ate up, 1970's My Name is Trinity and 1971's Trinity is STILL My Name. His follow-up is an unofficial sequel to those two flicks, and it's a good one. Thanks to MGM's HD TV channel, I was able to find and watch a pristine version of 1972's Man of the East.

On his father's dying wish, Thomas Moore (Hill), an Englishman from Boston, travels west to visit land owned by his father. Thomas is a gentleman who rides bicycles rather than a horse, recites poetry, and plays the violin. In other words, he isn't exactly cut out for the wilds of the wild west. En route, his stagecoach is robbed by three bandits, but he manages to hide his money and make it to his father's cabin unscathed. Who's waiting? The bandits, Bull (Gregory Walcott), Monkey (Dominic Barto), and Holdy Joe (Harry Carey Jr.), are there too, but he doesn't realize who they are. There's a catch. The trio used to be in Tom's father's gang, and in his dying wish, asks the trio to look after his son and teach him how to be a man who can survive in the west. They've got their work cut out for them, especially when Tom shows interest in Candida (Yanti Somer), the daughter of the local powerful rancher.

Stars like Clint Eastwood, Franco Nero and Lee Van Cleef helped make spaghetti western heroes into a tough guy category of their own. Then there's Terence Hill (real name Mario Girotti), a spaghetti western star who typically starred in somewhat lighter toned films. The Trinity movies aren't full-on spoofs, but they're not as dark as most other genre entries. Hill is perfect as a believable hero who's very capable but a little goofy too. It isn't always that ultra-sinister, anti-hero gunslinger. Hill was an incredible physical presence, handling most of his own stunts -- riding, fighting -- but also selling the humor without overdoing it. An out of place easterner, his morning stretching routine is sublimely perfect, the three bandits looking on in amazed confusion. Watch it HERE. As an actor, Hill has an easygoing charm that makes him incredibly likable whenever he's on-screen. It seems like a little thing, but it goes a long way.

I recorded this spaghetti western not knowing exactly what to expect, but it's difficult to find so I had to jump at the chance. I wasn't expecting Three Men and an Easterner (that's a Three Men and a Baby reference for those who are confused). It's even got some touches of 3 Godfathers, starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Carey Jr (also starring here). What's more surprising? How effective the story is. Walcott's Bull is the bullish, freakishly strong one, Barto's Monkey the fast-talking, goofy fast draw, and Carey Jr.'s Holy Joe the bible-thumping preacher who condemns drinking, smoking, gambling and visiting hookers...while doing all of those things. Extremely close with Tom's father dating back to their Army days, the trio takes a genuine interest in his son, doing their best to make sure he doesn't get himself shot up. I loved the dynamic among the group, the three rough and ready bandits hovering around like guardian angels. Funny, surprising in its effectiveness in the drama department, it came as a pleasant surprise.

Playing the love interest searching for her own one and only true love, Somer is solid as Candida, the young women who falls for Thomas as he recites poetry to her on a train trip. Her father, Frank Olsen (Enzo Fiermonte), worries for his daughter's well-being and wants her to have nothing to do with the somewhat doofy Thomas. Riccardo Pizzuti plays Morton, Olsen's right hand man and chief henchman who is Thomas' main rival when it comes to young Candida.

It's been years since I've watched the Trinity movies, but I typically avoid comedic spaghetti westerns whenever possible. This one from director Barboni goes a long way to helping turn my opinion. It's funny, very funny. The laughs aren't always the obvious, stupid, spoof-life ones, but genuine ones that come from good dialogue and acting (Crazy, isn't it?). There's some sight gags, especially Bull cradling a little furball of a dog wherever he goes, or the bandit trio demanding a crowd of on-lookers freeze in place, the crowd obliging mid-stride. There's the previously mentioned morning stretch routine, but my favorite was probably Thomas' insistence on riding a bicycle instead of a horse. The visual of him pedaling into town with the mounted trio behind him is priceless. One other running bit really delivers nicely too. A bounty hunter duo (Salvatore Borghese and Bernard Farber) keeps getting closer to capturing Bull, but the immense bandit keeps tripping them up. The immaculately dressed bounty hunters are almost identical in appearance, duded up with long black jackets and vests. They even move alike, producing some truly funny moments.

I didn't love everything here in this comedic spaghetti western. I didn't love the budding romance between Thomas and Candida, their relationship slowing things down. At 125 minutes, 'East' is also a tad bit long in the tooth, meandering along the way at different times. Mostly though, I liked it a lot. It was filmed on location in Plitvice Lakes National Park in Yugoslavia, a refreshing -- and beautiful -- change of pace from the typical sun-scored deserts. I liked the musical score from the De Angelis brothers too, a mix of lighter and more serious tunes. There isn't much in the way of gunplay, but a big, brawling barroom fight packs a serious punch (did you catch my pun there?). A very pleasant surprise, I liked this one a lot.

Man of the East (1972): *** 1/2 /****    

The Unholy Four

Have you ever met someone with amnesia? Me neither, but if we were to listen to movies and TV shows (especially 1960s sitcoms), apparently everyone and their mother has had amnesia only to snap out of it in time to wrap things up nicely. There's the serious amnesia ventures -- the Bourne movies -- and the less than serious -- a Gilligan's Island episode comes to mind -- and then there's 1970's The Unholy Four, a spaghetti western with an amnesiac main character.

As a diversion to a robbery of a stagecoach packed with gold dust, a diversion is caused across the street at the State Mental Institution. In the fiery aftermath, Chuck Mool (Leonard Mann) escapes with three other inmates. The only problem? Chuck is an amnesiac and doesn't remember a single thing about his life prior to the three years he spent in the institution. His fellow fugitives join him in looking for some answers until they find a town where Chuck is recognized. The quartet is caught in the middle now of two warring factions, the Udos, led by psychotic Tommy (Lucio Rosato), and the Caldwells, led by very skilled gunman, Joe (Helmuth Schneider). Hopefully Chuck can find the info he needs before he catches a bullet.

A little bit of a change of pace from a lot of spaghetti westerns, 'Unholy' surprised me in a lot of ways. Learned the phrase from over at the Spaghetti Western Database, but this is from a sub-genre of spaghetti westerns dubbed Autumnal Spaghettis. Instead of the scorched desert, the stories take place in gloomy, gothic-looking forests. From first-time director Enzo Barboni, it is a good mix of action and story (too much convoluted story at some points) whereas so many spaghetti westerns went down one road exclusively. Even at just 88 minutes, the story can be a tad on the slow side as revelations come to light, but I was never bored and enjoyed it until the end. Oh, and the score from Riz Ortolani is ridiculously out of place, but dammit, it sure is catchy. Listen below in the trailer link.

This was my first introduction to Mann, the young star just one year removed from his debut in 1969's The Forgotten Pistolero. He's far from your typical spaghetti lead; a little on the small side, almost pretty with his eyeliner, and a voice that doesn't sound like it has hit puberty yet. The character's background is interesting enough though to overshadow any issues I had with him. The rest of the Unholy Four are bright spots including Woody (Woody Strode, good scriptwriting, huh?), a man with immense strength and an unexplained religious background, Hondo (George Eastman), a gambler and dead shot with a rifle, and Silver (Pietro Martellanza), Woody's best friend and an expert knife thrower. None of the three are given any development so we don't know how/why they ended up in the Institution, but however you cut it, it's four pretty cool characters.

What is somewhat different here is the departure the story takes in the second half as we learn about Chuck's past, forgotten life. He is actually a Caldwell, but the Udos find him first and tell him he's an Udo. Clever, huh? Now it's just a matter of time before they can have Chuck unknowingly kill his own father (Schneider). Rosato's name -- Tom Udo -- is the same as Richard Widmark's iconic character in Kiss of Death, odd choice there. Some other key players include Sheila (Ida Galli), Chuck's former love, Giuseppe Lauricella as the elder Udo, and Alain Naya as Alan, Chuck's revenge-seeking brother. Lots going on in that second half -- more drama than action -- with the whole Prodigal son angle, the amnesia, betrayals, backstabbings and even some incest undertones. It's got it all!

I enjoyed the whole movie, but the end especially doesn't disappoint. The opening diversionary jail break, an encounter between the Four and a gang of five bounty hunters, both are small-scale but expertly put together action scenes. The finale though is the best, Chuck and Co. putting it all together for good against a waiting army of gunmen in an empty street. Nothing spectacular overall, but a highly entertaining spaghetti western that isn't ever mentioned with the best. You can watch the entire movie HERE at Youtube.

The Unholy Four <---trailer (1970): ***/****