Ride round this one
A good rule for Western
fans to live by, as they mosey on down the trail of life, is:
Never watch a
western with the word Trinity in the title.
At the end of the 60s, when
true spaghetti westerns (which actually had a very short shelf-life) were
already becoming tired, the ‘comedy’ westerns starring Carlo Pedersoli and
Mario Girotti (aka Bud Spencer and Terence Hill) gave them, rather
unfortunately, a new lease of life. They were big box office in Italy and
popular elsewhere too. Finnish fans thrilled to Dom kallar mig Trinity - djävulens högra hand (such a catchy title)
and Greek ones to Itan skliros kai ton
elegan Trinita. Lo chiamavono Trinità, De linker- en de
rechterhand van de duivel, Az ördög jobb és bal keze, sadly, they were dire in any
language.
They depended on ‘comic’
fistfights and cartoon quick-draw action. Hill wandered around the West (well,
Abruzzo anyway) in disgusting rags, eating disgustingly and never washing. This
was thought to be hilarious. Spencer was a better actor than a block of wood
would have been, but it was a close-run thing.
This one, which uses the
corniest ‘plot’ of all, the wicked rancher versus honest settlers (the settlers
are Mormons who have laughably false beards and buxom 1960s daughters in equal
measure) is no better or worse than the others. As the first of the seemingly endless
Trinity series, it is the most
‘interesting’ for a fan but that is very relative.
Slapstick will always be
popular in certain quarters but it will only work in Westerns in the hands of a
master – Buster Keaton, say, or Bob Hope. Two second-rate Italian actors and a
director called EB Clucher (Enzo Barboni) don’t come close. Not even in the same universe.
Usually these ‘Westerns’
had at least one washed-up or end-of-career American star trying to make a buck
but this one could only manage Farley Granger as the evil major in frock coat.
In case you are wondering who the hell Farley Granger was, he had very minor
character actor roles in B-movies and TV and was best known for, er, winning a
‘Daytime Emmy’ in 1977. Fame indeed.
Anyway, My Name Is
Trinity is total drivel and I advise you to ride well clear of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment