The Magnificent Two

The third and last of the Morecambe & Wise spin-off movies. It's better than THE INTELLIGENCE MEN but THAT RIVIERA TOUCH was the highlight of the trilogy. This one's solid enough, with an interesting revolutionary South American setting amid the usual mainstay plot of '50s and '60s British comedy, the mistaken identity. Some of the word gags are very funny, like "I'm going to siesta".

I'm your regularly dude from Japan, grown up with different parents from different countries; my Dad from England, my Mom from Japan.

My Dad has often ordered much British-related comedies, sitcoms, drama, skits, shows, etc., and Morcambe and Wise have been GOLD! I've been a fan of their's since seeing "That Rivera Tough" (1966), and wonderful underrated rom-com that just is all-round funny with it's great story-line, the two lead characters (of course played by Morcambe & Wise), the funny lines, the funny scenes, the serious lines, the serious scenes, the grand finale, and the pay off just work WELL together! I want to ask a favor from ANYONE to show this movie on the air on live TV, because it definitely deserves more attention! (Way funnier than "Dr. Strangelove," "Airplane!", or "Dumb and Dumber.")

And we also own a VHS called "The Best Years of Morcambe & Wise", which I've watched about 1,000 times now, and just love reciting all the hilarious lines, scenes, and jokes. (A lot of which you can see on YouTube). Comedy coming from these two men was just always FUN!

But The Magnificent Two... just didn't work. I mean, I saw this film just recently on YouTube, I didn't know Morcambe and Wise made more films after "That Rivera Touch", but I was surprised to find out anyway.

I usually don't like films about "Mexico" or "drugs" or "mafias" - and this film proves exactly that. The story I thought was dumb, the idea dumb, and the ending scene was all-round REALLY dumb. I got the idea why these women were to disturb these bad guys by stripping down to their underwear, but....... WHEN did the creative & innovative Morcambe and Wise turn into Benny Hill??? I never saw them use sexual innuendos on their shows, or skits. I mean, it was used a bit in "That Rivera Touch", but it wasn't out of nowhere, and it worked within the story.

I love Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise, but not "The Magnificent Two" - "That Rivera Touch" is a lot better. Check it out.

4/10

There are not many reviews about this film and 2 thirds of them are poor, one who calls it drivel !!

It is actually very funny, particularly the physical side of it, and the dialogue is good, its a bit of a cross between 'The Magnificent Seven' (where it gets its mocking title) and 'Carry On Cowboy', it does mock the former film, but not in a direct way, apart from the title, Eric & Ernie bounce off each other well and the other actors pick up the slack, its not the best film, and just as good as their previous 2, but certainly not rubbish like some are making bit out to be, its a daft comedy from 2 comedians, what do they want 'Schindler's List'?

So ignore the negative reviewers, take a look, if you like physical comedy, with a bit of good dialogue, this might be right up your street, and even if it doesn't get you in stitches, your time will not be wasted.

This was the last of the three films that television comedians Morecambe & Wise made for the Rank Organisation. I saw all three when they came out and thought at the time that this was the best of the three.. Looked at today, more than fifty years on, although I still find it enjoyable, it seems rather more problematic. It seems to be unsure which direction it is going in. On the one hand, with this basic story-line, you could make a much darker film, but that would require different leads, but if judged purely as a vehicle for Morecambe & Wise, then it seems unnecessarily violent. On a positive note, I did rather like the performance of Margit Saad as General Carla, the leader of the women's revolutionary army. In a film like this, it would be easy to make her a ridiculous figure, but in fact, she plays the part for the most part fairly straight in an under-stated manner which I found quite effective, although at times she seems to be in a different film to the two leads. In conclusion, I have seen much worse films starring TV comedians, eg Mr. Ten Per Cent starring Charlie Drake which came out at about the same time.. If you can cut this film some slack, then you may find things about this film that you can enjoy.

Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise are a couple of toy salesmen who get off the train in the capital of a Latin American country. There's a revolution going on. When the head of the rebellion is killed, it turns out that Morecombe is his exact double. He is co-opted by the revolution. When they win, everyone is ecstatic. But when Morecombe starts babbling about free everything for everyone when the teleprompter goes out, he becomes a thorn to the people behind the revolution, and General Virgilio Texeira arranges for his assassination.

It's the sort of plot that has been used dozens, if not hundreds of time. The problem with this telling is that neither Morecombe nor Wise is permitted to do anything remotely amusing. Even Cecil Parker, as the British ambassador, isn't particularly good. He seems more in poor health than anything. Neither does it ever seem particularly dramatic. It's a thorough-going disappointment.