Méfie-toi Ben, Charlie veut ta peau

Italiano westerns rock, even with jazzy piano /country western theme music (I like it!!)

I think E. May saw this film to borrow structural elements for Ishtar - - lol.

Viva Italia.

This movie is a comedy that is balanced with enough serious action to make it a solid Euro-western.

Giuliano Gemma is excellent as usual in this film. So is George Eastman and the rest of the cast. The movie is very well-made, and the story is very good. The first half of the film is mainly a comedy about a couple of small-time bandits that have a love-hate friendship. The comedy hits the mark for the most part, thanks to the excellent acting and the overall quality of the movie. During the second half, the action really heats up, and the story becomes more interesting.

The music score is also excellent.

For those like me who enjoy seeing weird characters in westerns, there is a sheriff who for no logical reason constantly talks about people picking their noses. It's idiotically bizarre, which is a good thing in a spaghetti western. I laughed harder at that than any other part of the movie.

This Euro-western is definitely one to see.

Ben and Charlie (Giuliano Gemma and George Eastman) are two bottom-feeding criminals and ex-partners, who no matter how much they hate and try to avoid one another, keep crossing paths. Before long they re-team and end up embarking on a crime spree, that despite their ineptitude, turns them into notorious outlaws and puts them in the path of many colorful and dangerous characters.

Very much a product of it's time (the early 70's), with it's rambling, character-driven narrative, it's a bit loose and episodic during it's first half. Once it gets going though, this free-spirited action-adventure is consistently amusing and a lot of fun, with Gemma and Eastman very appealing.

Production values are pretty good, as is the photography by Aristide Massacesi, better known as Joe D'Amato, director of several infamous sex and gore films, often starring Eastman.

Generally speaking the comedy spaghetti westerns of the 70's are not usually very good at all. So, this one was a bit of a surprise. Giuliano Gemma and George Eastman have great chemistry as a couple of small time crooks who are a disaster together but wind up as a constant hapless duo. The mix of comedy with typical spaghetti western action was balanced just right, and I did find myself actually chuckling a few times. Look out too for a cameo appearance from the delectable Marisa Mell as a woman from Gemma's past.

I saw this movie for the first time twenty years or so ago. In this time,I found it absolutely fantastic, extremely enjoyable, with a good plot (what is not common in a spaguetti western) and two very interesting characters superbly played by Gemma and Eastman. If you can find this movie (under its English title "Ben and Charlie) take it. It's really a good western movie, not just for addicts, I can guarantee. You'll find that even in the so under-estimated genre of the spaghetti western, there's some good moments that makes us wonder: maybe these times of bluffing, crazies westerns-movies, that made the fame of actors like Giulliano Gemma, Terence Hill and Bud Spencer are not so bad at all!