L'embrouille

James Coco is trying to get rid of a luxury ship he owns to get the insurance. But since his character is unable to pick up a phone like a normal person (a tiresome running gag) you just know his scheme is going to backfire in his face. Professional con man Charleston (Bud Spencer) and his trio of stupid English henchmen (amongst them are Catweazle himself and Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark) are planning to double cross him. You see, not only is big burly Spencer a master criminal, he's a master of disguise as well. If you can believe that you'll swallow anything. First the four of them swipe a priceless Gaugin from the home of a police inspector, naturally portrayed by Herbert Lom. Chief Inspector Dreyfus plays Faye Dunnaway to Spencers's Steve McQueen (he has to, as there are no interesting female parts in this picture) and after some talky scenes that break all the rules of perspective they more or less team up to get Coco and his boat (respectively). The ways they go about to do this are too far fetched to recount here. Most of the humour is so infantile that only a six year might chuckle at it and though I hate to admit it, James Coco's shtick with various telephones actually draws the most laughs. The camera work takes a turn for the worse when people start having discussions while driving around in cars. Obviously the filmmakers never heard of a steady cam. Oh yeah there is one slightly amusing gag involving footsie Morse code, but thats about it.

Most disappointing of all is the lack of fight scenes. This is a Bud Spencer flick after all. But the Big Bearded Lug prefers playing the piano (or at least pretends to) as he and his gang sing a whiny Whiskey song. After that, and for no good reason at all, he actually goes up on stage to do a little dance with chorus girls. This is what people mean when they say a musical number can bring an entire movie to a grinding halt. At last there is one extended slapstick fight in the Charleston theater featuring the gang beating up clowns and acrobats. Naturaly this romp is accompanied by a very silly and old fashioned song meant to invoke the roaring twenties (and failing to do so). But these clowns have absolutely nothing to do with anything else in the picture! Herbert Lom is waisted (refusing to do his trademark eye twitch), James Coco is seen wearing only swimming trunks several times (a crowd pleaser for sure) and Bud Spencer only joins in the fight for a couple of of his trademark smacks before he gets back to smoking cigars and signing documents. When I really started to loose interest, I began checking all the mirrors in the hotel room scenes (there are plenty) to see if none of the crew members or equipment were reflected. To my everlasting surprise, they were not.

2 out of 10

Entertaining and funny Italian film with the bouncing Spencer or Carlo Perdesoli as a con-man tries to pull a fast one on what appears to be an easy prey , but his "victim" scams him for five million dollars . A gangster named Joe Lo Monaco (James Coco) along with his lawyer are attempting to get rid of a luxury boat he owns to get the insurance . However , the band led by Mister Charleston (Bud Spencer who even dances an amusing musical number) , really a nice guy, and his trio of idiot Englishmen henchmen (Ronald Lacey and other unknown actors) are scheming a to double cross him . Furthermore , the four of them swipe a priceless Gaugin from the house of a police inspector Watkins (Herbert Lom , interpreting similarly to Pink Panther's Inspector Dreyfuss) . Then , there takes place a caper (similarly to ¨George Roy Hill's The Sting¨)in which swindler Joe Lo Monaco and his gang are deceived . Fun comedy set on Londres , it's a vehicle for Bud Spencer , dealing with mobsters , robbing , reckonings , fight among bands and brawls between clowns and mobsters .

This is an enjoyable entertaining juvenile for Bud Spencer buffs , as he's delightful . It packs humor , fist-play , tongue-and-cheek and is quite amusing ; however , being inferior to other Spencer movies . This is an entertaining , engaging movie , though bears excessive dialog , it is crammed with lots of humor , fist-fights and overwhelming stunt-work when takes place the final fighting at a theater between clowns and botcher henchmen . Burly Bud Spencer is top-notch as a master criminal taking on a swindler played by James Coco , and as always he makes his own stunts with comic touches , as usual . This release has some cool and several hilarious moments , though the Terence Hill-Bud Spencer duo films are much better . The film isn't always good , sometimes is fresh and diverting and on a couple of memorable occasions is frankly delicious . The movie displays innumerable laughters , jokes and slapstick . Commercial musical score by the usual Guido and Maurizio De Angelis including catching leitmotif fitting perfectly in the mood of the movie . Bud Spencer is good as a professional con-man , also master of disguise , named Charleston , he is accompanied by a trio of idiot English underlings . Bud , the popular Latin movie actor who starred in innumerable spaghetti Westerns and action-packed potboilers during the 1960s and '70s, was born Carlo Pedersoli (1929) in Naples. He was the first Italian to swim the 100 meter freestyle and competed as a swimmer at the Olympic games . He appeared as a member of the Praetorian Guard in his first movie, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's epic "Quo Vadis" in 1951. He changed his screen name to "Bud Spencer" in 1967, as a homage to Spencer Tracy and to the American beer Budweiser. Spencer achieved his greatest hit in spaghetti Westerns lensed for a global audience. Teaming up with fellow Italian Terence Hill, the two made such international successes as I Quattro dell'Ave Maria (1968) and "They Call Me Trinity" , and ¨Trinity is still my name¨ . Their dual outings made both stars famous, particularly in Europe. In all, Spencer made 18 movies with Hill . Later on , he became a jet airplane and helicopter pilot after appearing in ¨Crazy plane¨ (1972) and owned an air transport company, Mistral Air, which he founded in 1984. However, he terminated his business interest in Mistral and entered the children's clothing industry. After 1983, Spencer's movie career slowed down, though he did have a big success in the early 1990s with the TV action-drama "Extralarge". A man of many talents, Bud wrote texts and plots for some of his films . He also has registered several royalties. .

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Marcello Fondato, following the Hill-Spencer ordinary trademarks . Fondato wrote several Spencer vehicles as ¨Bulldozer¨, ¨Aladino¨, ¨The Supersheriff¨, and ¨The sheriff and the extraterrestrial little boy¨ and directed to Hill and Spencer in a best vehicle titled ¨Altrimenti ci Arrabbiamo! ¨. If you love the Spencer's other movies, go for it, and if you've never seen one this is an acceptable start .

I seem to be only the second person to post on this film. It aired a few times on Phoenix television in the 1980s, and I found it to be quite entertaining. It is a rip-off of THE STING, to be sure, and if there is one problem, it is that the depicted scams are so complex it may take more than one viewing to completely decipher the plot (and yes, I took the time to do just that). Bud Spencer's fans have a head start on this film, but you don't have to be a fan to get into it. Charlston isn't a classic, but it is a pleasant way to kill 90 minutes, if you can find it. It seems to have done a vanishing act in America in recent years, which is too bad. A good film; a nice little film.

I am not sure why there is such animosity towards this film from the other reviewers! Charleston s a bit different from the usual Bud Spencer films: so what? The fight scene is a bit later than usual, but it's well worth the wait. Think of a mix between 'Odds and Evens', 'The Sting' and 'Pink Panther', with plenty of good slapstick: Spencer's co-protagonists Herbert Lom and James Coco are actually hilarious, especially Coco's running joke of the telephone getting tangled. Art direction is pretty good, especially at the end, with the big fight in the theatre and the elaborate choreographs. Perhaps it's a bit of an acquired taste, but needs to be watched again to be fully appreciated.