Aujourd'hui ma peau, demain la tienne

"I Tre Che Sconvolsero Il West" (meaning "The Three Who Made the West Tremble") is an early work by director Enzo G. Castellari. It belonged to the handful of Italian westerns bought by East German television, accidentally, which is where I watched it for the first time in the early 1980s. Watching it again in 2014 was a nice rediscovery, as it is fast moving (as usual with Castellari's pictures) and great fun, although not blessed with a highly original script. Three bandits are trying to get their hands on 400,000 dollars from a bank robbery, cheating each other at every opportunity, losing the money, trying to recover it again, and so on. The cast is perfectly chosen with Antonio Sabato as a young thief, John Saxon in his only Italian western appearance, I think, plays a gambler, and Frank Wolff gets the best part as an actor turned bandit, appearing in various disguises from priest to general.

Spaghetti Western fun with Antonio Sabato and John Saxon

This early western comedy by cult director Enzo G. Castellari (*1938) was made in 1968 and was released in West German cinemas on April 3, 1970. After the worldwide success of CERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST (1968), the heyday of brutal and socially critical spaghetti westerns was over. Now came the parodic Western comedies, in which, in the style of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, a lot of steam was dished out and hot ears were given.

The film at hand lives from its three main actors, who, as born gallows birds, want to use all means possible to capture their stolen prey. The plot doesn't really matter, the main thing is that there are always fights, wild chases and quick jokes to be heard. The German-American actor Frank Wolff (1928-1971) plays a fake preacher who knows how to use explosives. The smart GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Antonio Sabato (1943-2021) plays a sleazy highwayman who also has to contend with his beautiful Rosario (Agata Flori). And GOLDEN GLOBE winner John Saxon (1936-2020) can be seen as a professional card gambler. No wonder these three rascals regularly get in each other's way. They only stick together, at least temporarily, against the Mexican bandit boss Garrito (Leo Anchoriz). Particular attention should be paid to the old married couple Casey (Antonio Vico and Josefina Serratosa), who are good for some laughs.

Of course, full of clichés, but fast-paced and entertaining! An early Castellari! Also known as: "The Three Who Shook the West".

Tuned in as John Saxon (maid to look older and Southern (neither convincingly) parkouring in and out of a set piece fight. To my knowledge, the first instance of parkour in a film.

Anyway, the humor is sufficient to leave on with nothing else to watch. The leads don't necessarily mesh as some better known pairings, but for some reason they needed three. Although never a true A lister, I think Saxon could have carried this one alone or with just one compadre.

Back to the humor- somewhere between slapstick and physical, they lay it on thick enough that the actors playing tongue in cheek actually works instead of being an annoyance. The sillier the humor you like, the higher you'll rate this movie.

One of the first spaghetti western comedies, it certainly has an enthusiastic cast, plenty of slapstick (some very impressive gymnastics, especially in the massive fight sequences), and an appropriately goofy tone. It does eventually outstay its welcome, and there are a surprising amount of brutal killings for what's supposed to be a comedy. Still better than a lot of the subsequent spaghetti western comedies to come.