Deux bidasses et le général

As a fan of World War II war films and as an Italian, I couldn't miss this comedic movie starring two sacred icons of Italian comedy and the great Buster Keaton. The film, with a low budget and B-movie status, manages to bring a good smile by ridiculing both sides of the conflict, leaving a pleasant taste. Obviously, it's not a masterpiece, and no one involved in the production intended it to be. Still, it has moments of pure hilarity and typical comic gags of comedy movies. The details are, of course, not meticulously attended to, with many errors in costumes and historical settings. However, these aspects cannot be considered as such in a film of this kind. Everything should be seen as mere props to set the stage for the narrative. One of the moments that caught my interest is when the actor Ciccio Ingrassia impersonates the figure of Hitler, a clear reference to the famous interpretation by the great Chaplin, only this time in a Sicilian-Italian version. Please don't look for anti-war motivations in these types of films, even though it may seem that way due to the ridicule of everything the war represents. Here, we simply have a work of pure entertainment.

1943: Two American soldiers (Franco and Ciccio) are captured on a mission to find the German general von Kassler (Buster Keaton!) who lets them escape with secret documents - fakes that are intended to fall into the enemies' hands and cause confusion. But by mistake, the two captives get away with the real plans and then get in the middle of the attack, trying to survive in various disguises. Franco has a great scene when he holds a nonsensical speech to the soldiers ("we can only win the war if we don't lose it"). But this comedy by the busy and popular Sicilian duo Franco and Ciccio stands out from the rest by its guest star. Subtle touches like Keaton playing chess or piano make a difference. The stoicism of the silent Keaton provides a great contrast for the aggression and loudness of Franco Ressel as the colonel. A recommendable little comedy.

This is a very likable movie, very much UNlike the American sibling "Sergeant Deadhead", which is awful. Although I agree with the opinions of theowinthrop's review, here and there he makes a statement that sounds as if he was watching a different movie. I did not see Keaton figure out how to "fill up the sink by turning on the shower stall"--to the contrary, Keaton never figures out a thing in this scene and simply runs off; I also saw no amphibious jeep-boat in the movie… I suppose theowinthrop saw this film a billion years ago and simply mis-remembers it; and this is too bad because these ideas are really quite good and I regret they are not in the film.

Despite such disappointments, and despite the nagging rumination about what a different movie it would have been if the producer had let Keaton co-write the script, this film has a lot going for it. It moves along fairly briskly (although it could still use a little editing), there are enough visual jokes and action sequences that it doesn't matter if you see it without English subtitles (although it will help if you can find a story breakdown before watching), and having Buster Keaton in it sure doesn't hurt! Although Franco and Ciccio are not really funny, they are fun to watch, and do keep things moving along. I give much credit to the director that Franco & Ciccio, and Keaton are in the film almost continuously, and Keaton seems to have gotten his way with a few gags and the entire washing-his-face routine. And as mentioned by the other reviewer, this movie does have the warmest send-off ever given to an aging comedy icon. The little epilogue is quite funny, too.