Amigos - Die (B)Engel lassen grüßen

Mario Adorf hunts down con-man Giuliano Gemma, who swindled him out of six-hundred dollars worth of gold, only to partner up with him for a series of crooked money-making schemes and a few encounters with a psychotic gunman from Gemma's past.

This lightly comedic western is likable enough, though a little too loosely plotted. After awhile, one begins to wonder what exactly is the the point of all the duo's hijinks. However, the climax is definitely worth hanging around for.

The entire film hangs solely on the charisma of it's two stars, who don't disappoint. The score by Ennio Morricone is pretty good too.

Ah, such beautiful music!

This film opens with a classic sequence. A stagecoach is attacked by a gang, with all the passengers brutally massacred. Cue Morricone's haunting soundtrack as the camera focuses on the dead, and in particular the face of a blonde girl. A hand brushes the dust from her face,and the camera pans up to show the sorrowful face of Billy (Giuliano Gemma). A truly moving scene, but made particularly so because of Morricone's music.

In a way, this opening sequence is quite out of place with the remainder of the movie. The rest is a light-hearted affair, based around the partnership of Billy and Larry (Mario Adorf). Billy is a smart, world-wise man, whilst Larry is not gifted with the greatest amount of intelligence. This is a perfect foil for Billy, who is a convincing conman and successful in getting the better out of his gullible partner throughout the film (including robbing him of his entire life savings).

The action really hots up when the character of Roger Pratt (Federico Boido) is introduced properly (until this stage, he is purely the face of the gang leader from the opening ambush). He is a brutal man, tracking down Billy on behalf of his father Samual Pratt (Anthony Dawson). The second half of the movie concentrates on this pursuit, with Samual also arriving on the scene and proving to be as barbaric as his short-fused offspring.

Director Giulio Petroni (of "Death Rides a Horse" fame) adopts a similar style to the one used in his later Milian cast "Life is Tough, Right Providence?". It shares its episodic structure, and "clever man/thick man" partnership. Anyone that has read my other reviews will probably have noticed that I do not generally like the more light-hearted westerns. However, I did very much enjoy most of this particular film (the same could not be said of "Providence" incidentally).

Gemma does not look as comfortable with the more comedic role as he does to that of an angel-faced gunman. But he still looks and acts the part - as likable in this film as ever. Adorf meanwhile is suitably oafish (in a role that would have been perfect for Bud Spencer), as Boido and Dawson are villainous.

A particular highlight of the film is a superb scene as Billy cons his way into the house of a beautiful Widow (played by the frankly gorgeous Magda Konopka). Another very beautiful Spaghetti Western actress, part sorrowful and part sexually teasing.

As my review closes, I must dwell further on that opening sequence. The background to this massacre is never fully explained - perhaps those killed have been unfortunate acquaintances of Billy, and suitably punished by the Pratt gang. I don't know. And, in its serious nature, it perhaps feels like a scene that doesn't really belong in this film. But... if you watch it for no other reason, then watch it for this powerful prologue (even close your eyes just to hear Morricone's score). I am also quite confident as you sit through the whole film that you will find other scenes that you will enjoy.

A coach full of innocent people is attacked and everyone murdered. A psychotic gunman is hunting for a man called Billy. When leaves the area, a stranger arrives and gently brushes dirt off the face of a dead girl. Silently, he begins to bury them. Another stranger turns up and together the bury the corpses to the haunting, melancholic tune of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack. What follows is a...comedy?

This is the most bi-polar Western I've ever seen. Morricone's soundtrack is heart wrenching and beautiful. The gunfights are violent. Women are beaten and tortured, and yet, in between all this, there's slapstick and one liners. Mood swings?

One stranger is Giuliano Gemma and he's the guy on the run from the psycho. The other guy is Mario Adorf and he's a miner with a bit of gold but not a lot of brains. Gemma is at first out to con Adorf which does over and over again, but then Adorf is so kind and big hearted the two of them just bond. However, there's still that crazy guy and is family to worry about.

It's kind of a road movie as the two characters head for Adorf's ranch and encounter various characters, like the fake Mermaid lady or the bank robbers. None of it should work but it all kind of does anyway as the man behind the camera is the guy who made Death Rides A Horse. Kind of weird to take though as people are still gunned down brutally ala a Spaghetti Western from 1968, but has huge bar fights and punch ups like a 1972 Spaghetti Western.

I was curious to watch it as I'd never seen Mario Adorf in a Spaghetti Western before. He does well as the slow miner guy. Gemma is the usual goofy charmer and a ladies man.

The most interesting thing about this odd spaghetti western is that you can see that it probably was an influence on the wildly successful comic spaghetti western "They Call Me Trinity" that came out two years later. Among other things, the two leads here have some of the trademarks Terence Hill and Bud Spencer sported in the later movie. However, Hill and Spencer's comedies didn't sport some scenes of harsh violence as this film does, which doesn't fit at all with the otherwise lighthearted spirit. Also, the comedy in this movie really isn't all that funny, being mostly simple-minded slapstick and silliness you will have seen in other comedies before. The script also suffers from the fact that there is hardly any plot - for the most part it's just a series of vignettes that have little to no consequence to what comes afterwards. And under the direction of Giulio Petroni, the movie unfolds at a really slow pace. There is some merit to be found here and there, particularly a fine musical score by the ever reliable Ennio Morricone, but as a whole the movie is a really tired and uninspired effort.

This film grows on you. It is a mixed bag but it's different enough to warrant a recommendation. In fact it's very rewatchable and tends to get better with each viewing because they're so much to enjoy here. From Boido's highly amusing performance as Roger Pratt, the son of the main bad guy, Boido is genuinely scary, a psychotic killer with a warped sense of humor, to Mario Adorf's pitch perfect portrayal of the basically good natured but not very smart sidekick.

Morricone's score is very good through especially the prologue where he sets up the main themes.

This is a film that's not afraid to show comedy and tragedy and that both can exist together, diverge, and unify in the end just like in real life. I find that very refreshing and I loved the mermaid girl! Even for italian westerns this is not your usual presentation.