E.B. Clucher
Lo Chiamavano Trinità

When I think of the latest disheartening performances of Terence Hill as Don Matteo, I feel melancholic. It's almost unbelievable to think that the priest from the TV series was none other than Trinity ("the right hand of the Devil") in his youth, a lazy character from the west as well as an infallible and lightning-fast gunslinger and a great dispenser of (fake) blows to the thugs in the two movies and of loud and hearty laughs to us viewers. The combination of him, the lazy trouble seeker of all kinds, and the gruff, yet deep down good-hearted, horse thief and fake sheriff Bud Spencer alias Bambino was irresistible.

It all begins with Trinity asleep on a sled (being pulled by his trusty horse) until he arrives at a hovel, where a cow on the roof is on full display. Inside, he finds, besides the food (the usual beans), a suspicious innkeeper ("if you can pay, I can give you a plate of beans"), two bounty killers, and a wounded Mexican, their prisoner. We witness a good meal (an entire pan of beans) and a good drink with an accompanying burp (note the striking disproportion between the large full bottle being emptied and the small glass being filled to the brim).

After satisfying his stomach's needs, Trinity satisfies his spirit's needs by taking out the two bounty killers and taking away the wounded Mexican who tells him his story ("Mi esposa estava al fiume, senor, a lavar, un gringo la aggredì e la voleva..."). Reaching a remote village, he finds his brother Bambino, who has abusively settled as sheriff while waiting for his accomplices Faina and il Timido to join him before heading to California to make some "good hits". Of course, Bambino has a few enemies around, and Trinity finds him engaged in a "duel" with three gunslingers who order him to release one of their friends, jailed for attempted rape on the judge's wife. The scene takes place under the amused gazes of Major Harriman and his henchmen, ready to bet on who will be the next sheriff, but to their bitter disappointment, it's the three gunslingers who are defeated.

After a clever demonstration of far-west surgery with the Mexican ending up cured of the wound but completely drunk, Bambino goes for a bath accompanied by old Jonathan, assigned to the care of the sheriff's office ("It’s been since the Pecos overflow that I haven’t seen so much filth..."). Trinity doesn't miss the chance to wander around the village causing trouble ("A devastated storage, two heads smashed like pumpkins under the sun, a castrated man, and one injured, all in two hours I left you alone! Two hours!!"). Bambino actually can't wait for his troublesome brother to leave town, but he understands from the start that it won't happen so easily. So, he engages him in the fight against Major Harriman and his gang ("of CHICKEN THIEVES"). The major, an influential corrupt man, wants to clear a large valley near the village from a peaceful community of Mormons who had settled there, to use it as a shelter for his horses.

Of course, Bambino, more than the peace and quiet of the Mormons, thinks about the major's horses, while Trinity thinks about the two most beautiful women of the group, Sara and Judith, who cajole him after seeing him in action defending one of them against two henchmen. The group of ragtag Mexican bandits led by Mescal, who occasionally cross the border for a soup and end up giving the poor Mormons a good beating, cannot be missing either. Too bad that one day Mescal tries to slap the wrong Mormon (Bambino) and gets a loud lesson in return.

Then Faina and il Timido also arrive to teach the reluctant Mormons how to defend themselves from the Major and his henchmen. After the first clumsy attempts, the operation succeeds and the final assault by the Major (who teamed up with Mescal in the meantime) and his gang ends in an inglorious defeat. Meanwhile, Trinity and Bambino manage, with a clever trick, to steal the Major's stallions. Once the stallions are brought into the large valley, the Mormons brand the horses with Trinity's complicity and unbeknownst to Bambino, who furiously argues with his brother before abandoning him and heading to California with his trusty Faina and Timido.

The film is bursting with absolutely deadly lines, I won't list them because we know them by heart, I’ll just say that two of the most notable are said, in my opinion, by the drunken Mexican after being "operated on" by Bambino: "You gringos are bastards! You want our women, and if one stabs you, you get offended!" the other is the dialogue following Bambino's reproach about the two hours he left him alone: "If you had seen the eyes of those girls... They looked like frightened fawns", and Bambino: "Uh, two frightened fawns! Maybe they were two tarts looking for clients!".

One of the first and most successful works of director Enzo Barboni, who signed under the pseudonym E.B. Clucher, featuring the legendary duo. Not everyone knows that the actor who was supposed to play Trinity was Franco Nero, but the actor was busy with the movie "Camelot", so another had to be chosen, and the choice fell on Terence Hill. A very fitting choice indeed!!