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We are in 1967, in the midst of the Cold War. The world is divided into two parts, and the outbreak of a third world war appears more and more a concrete risk and something dangerous, especially after both the United States and the USSR equipped their arsenals with nuclear weapons.
When an American bomber equipped with one of these atomic bombs crashes into the waters of the Mediterranean (an episode that actually occurred in 1966 off the coast of Palomares in Spain), off the coast of Sicily, Italy, the two powers immediately organize themselves to recover the bomb by activating their secret services.
Of course, besides the United States and the USSR, there are also other world powers interested in positioning themselves strongly on the international chessboard, such as England, which hopes with a daring move to recover the ground lost with the end of colonialism. Not to mention international criminal associations like the ruthless 'Spectrales' and a mysterious character who goes by the name of Doctor Yes.
In the midst of this international intrigue, practically what we can define as a total 'mess', but coordinated by the wise direction of the great Lucio Fulci (script by Roberto Gianviti, Sandro Continenza, Amedeo Sollazzio), are Franco and Ciccio who, like it or not, become the main protagonists of the story and literally find themselves with the agents of the major international secret services on their heels, as they believe the two are in possession of the device or at least the exact coordinates of the point where the plane crashed.
Initially, the two are rivals. Franco is indeed a 'sailor' and fisherman (so naive that, once abandoned by his crew, he steers the fishing boat to the African shores instead of returning home to Mazara del Vallo) who witnessed the plane's crash; Ciccio is in the pay of Spectrales as agent number 87, captures him, and interrogates him hoping to recover the bomb and advance his career in the criminal association which is led by the mysterious number 1 aka Pasqualino, son of Aunt Mariuccia, who has entrusted him with the task as a last chance of redemption; squeezed between the pressures of Spectrales and secret agents James Bomb, Modesty Bluff and Derek Flit, the two ultimately decide to join forces and, not knowing where the real bomb is, decide to crudely construct a fake bomb by disguising a gas cylinder.
In Egypt, where the entire film is set, Franco and Ciccio are tracked down by agents from the USA, USSR, and England, but they manage to always escape due to their ineptitude, until, enchanted by the incredible charm of the beautiful Cinzia (the gorgeous Julie Menard), they end up prisoners of Doctor Yes, a mad criminal scientist, who intends to sacrifice them to the goddess Ki after reviving the mummy of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar thanks to the energy derived from the nuclear device, but even his schemes are destined to fail.
'How We Stole the Atomic Bomb' is probably one of the most famous films shot by the duo (the title will be partially borrowed for the documentary dedicated to them by Ciprì and Maresco: 'How We Messed Up Italian Cinema') and in any case one of those with the most linear plot, although it is obviously absolutely surreal, as is traditional in their filmography and for other artists who came from the world of cabaret theater starting with Toto himself.
The director, after all, is Lucio Fulci, one of the great names of Italian cinema and one who will later be defined as a 'terrorist of genres' and who will direct the duo in several films, and here, as elsewhere, plays a chase with the celebrated pair on who should direct and who instead should follow. As always in Franco and Ciccio films, there's always doubt there was ever a real script. But at the same time, Fulci is no amateur and probably manages to achieve the best in the given situation.
Inspired by James Bond spy films, the movie moves with absolute ease from espionage to other genres, turning both spy stories and genres like mystery, horror cinema, and science fiction into a farce, and can be considered a 'must' of a certain Italian cinema of those years, which, unlike the cinema of the seventies and genres like sexy comedy, has never been subject to revisionism. Above all, needless to say, dominates the surreal comedy of one of the greatest pairs in the history of our cinema.
Moreover, even here, in an ensemble cast with internationally renowned actors like Adel Adham, practically one of the most famous North African actors, there is certainly no shortage of beautiful women. Starting with the fatal Julie Menard, Silvana Bacci, Eugenia Litrel... Practically the only one missing is Ursula Andress.
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