Drive-in Theatre: Trinity Is Still My Name

This engaging Spaghetti Western romp represents the career peak for the unlikely comedy team of Terence Hill (Mario Girotti) and Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli). The blonde, handsome Hill and the dark, burly Spencer first appeared together in the 1966 Western God Forgives, I Don't (aka Blood River), which mixed comedy with violence. That formula spawned a moderately-successful trilogy starring Hill as a shady character called Cat Stevens (no relation to the singer!).  

In 1970, writer-director Enzo Barboni toned down the violence, shifted the emphasis to physical comedy, and renamed the Hill and Spencer characters for his Spaghetti Western spoof They Call Me Trinity (My Name Is Trinity). The result was a European smash that demanded an immediate sequel.  Two years later, Barboni, Hill, and Spencer combined talents again to produce the spirited follow-up Trinity Is Still My Name. It replicated the first film's success overseas, but generated only moderate business in the United States, where interest in the Spaghetti Western genre was waning. Still, it drew enough moviegoers to justify a re-release in which the two Trinity pictures were paired as a double-feature.

Bambino and Trinity (lounging
in his saddle).

Trinity Is Still My Name improves on the original film by wasting less time on plot.  As in the Marx Brothers' best comedies, the storyline serves as a framework for the comic bits. There's nothing humorous in the central plot about crooked businessmen who use a mission as a "trading post" for laundering stolen goods. Instead, the film's humor is derived from the relationship between the two principal characters and their nonconformist attitudes toward life in the Wild West.

Hill plays Trinity, a lazy, dirty, small-time outlaw sporting a bounty of only $50.  He rides around in torn clothes and bare feet, lounging on a litter pulled by his horse or leaning back in a chair mounted on his saddle. He's an embarrassment to his older brother, Bambino (Spencer), who's trying to make an honest living as a horse thief. However, the boys' father convinces Bambino to take on Trinity as a partner.

It's hard to see Hill's "Paul Newman"
eyes in this photo.

In traditional comedy terms, Spencer plays the straight man in this "odd couple" comedy team. His character initially appears to be the one with the brains (Bambino certainly thinks he is). However, we soon learn he's no match for the quick-witted  Trinity, who subtly ignores his befuddled brother's plans. It's an interesting twist for the funny man to also be the smart one. In such an arrangement, there's the potential for the straight man to become expendable. Yet, Spencer makes the gruff Bambino likeable, in part because he seeks a simple life of crime, even though he's not very good at it.

The film's funniest scene sends the two brothers into a posh restaurant to spend some of their poker winnings on a good meal. Writer-director Barboni sets up the sequence by showing us an earlier "family dinner" in which Trinity, Bambino, and their parents fight over food as they chomp, grunt, and guzzle like a bunch of pigs. Hence, we know what's in store for the snobbish restaurant patrons as soon as the two brothers enter the high-class establishment. This scene, like most of the comic routines, relies very little on dialogue--an approach which probably contributed to the film's success when dubbed into other languages.

At almost two hours in length, Trinity Is Still My Name runs out of inspiration with a half-hour to go (amazingly, the original Italian cut runs seven minutes longer). Still, it ends on an upbeat note with a zany climax in which Trinity and Bambino play football with a bag of gold as a dozen bad guys chase after them.

Bud Spencer.

Hill and Spencer followed up the Trinity films with less-popular contemporary comedies such as All the Way, Boys! (1973) and Watch Out, We're Mad (1974). The 1974 Western My Name Is Nobody paired Hill with Henry Fonda in an entertaining yarn about a retiring gunfighter. Three years later, Hill took a shot at stardom in the U.S., teaming up with Gene Hackman for the Foreign Legion film March or Die and with Valerie Perrine in the comedy Mr. Billion. Both films flopped miserably and the blue-eyed Terence Hill returned to Italian comedies. Spencer has enjoyed a solid career as a supporting actor in such films as The Five Man Army.  He even played the lead in the contemporary Italian films Charleston and Flatfoot (aka The Knock Out Cop).

A Taste of Spaghetti...Westerns

The long dusters. The dirty towns. Extreme close-ups. Lengthy stares. Dubbed dialogue. And, of course, the Morricone music. I love a good Spaghetti Western! Here are my top 10 films in this popular genre from the 1960s and 1970s.

Bronson as Harmonica.

1. Once Upon a Time in the West - I never cared for the slang term "horse opera," but "operatic" definitely describes what I consider to be Sergio Leone's masterpiece. This sprawling saga of a dying West boasts interlocking stories, some marvelous set pieces, a terrific Ennio Morricone score (with unique themes for each of the four leads), and memorable characters (which both support and defy Western film stereotypes). My favorite parts are the opening (it's a long wait but I love the payoff) and the almost over-the-top showdown between Charles Bronson's mysterious Harmonica and Henry Fonda's vile villain Frank.

Lee Van Cleef.

2. For a Few Dollars More - My favorite of the Leone-Eastwood collaborations is almost a rehearsal for Once Upon a Time in the West. In the latter film, Charles Bronson wears a harmonica around his neck--and we learn why in the flashblack that explains his need for revenge against Henry Fonda's character. In For a Few Dollars More, Lee Van Cleef carries a watch that serves the same purpose. Eastwood's sarcastic humor and Van Cleef's steely resolve make them a great pair.

It's hard to see Hill's "Paul Newman"
blue eyes in this photo.

3. Trinity Is Still My Name - The sequel to They Call Me Trinity is funnier than the original, with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer back as the West's most unlikely--and filthiest--brothers. Hill became a big European star, but his success never translated in the U.S. (though he tried in movies like March or Die with Gene Hackman). His oddball humor works very well in the Trinity Westerns, especially playing against the gruff, burly Spencer. Hill (real name Mario Girotti) and Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli) appeared as a team in numerous films, including other Spaghetti Westerns and contemporary action comedies.

There are five...count 'em!

4. The Five Man Army - I'll admit upfront that I'm a sucker for movies where someone assembles a team to accomplish a mission (e.g. The Adventures of Robin Hood, TheMagnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen). So, here we have Peter Graves--who knows something about impossible missions--assembling a team of specialists to rob a moving train. Horror film maestro Dario Argento co-wrote it (he and Bertolucci also worked on Once Upon a Time) and Morricone contributed yet another memorable score. Plus, where else can you find James Daly and Bud Spencer in the same film?

5. Red Sun - OK, it may not technically be a Spaghetti Western, since it was made in Spain with an international cast. Also, I confess there's not much of a plot (a valuable Japanese sword is stolen and everyone goes after it). But Charles Bronson and Tohiro Mifune make a fine odd couple, Alain Delon does his patented good/bad guy, and Ursula Andress...well, she's just there. Still, it's surprisingly entertaining and holds up well.

6. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Most Spaghetti Western buffs probably list this in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot. I might have, too, until I watched it recently. Certainly, the cast is excellent (especially Eli Wallach) and Morricone's score is his most famous. Many critics highlight how the plot plays out against an elaborate backdrop of the Civil War. Actually, that's the part I don't like; it lengthens the film for me and detracts somewhat from the interplay between the three stars. Still, many of the battle scenes are impressive. And, yes, I know I'll take some heat for placing a classic at No. 6...

Franco Nero as Django. Note the
crosses in the background.

7. Django - The plot recalls A Fistful of Dollars (see #10), with a mysterious stranger coming between two warring factions in a small town--but the similarities end there. Religious images abound, starting with the film's protagonist dragging a coffin through the mud and ending with Django, both hands crushed, trying to balance his pistol on a cross as he awaits a graveyard showdown with a band of bad guys. It's an uneven, violent picture (banned in some countries), but the climax may be surpassed only by Once Upon a Time among Spaghetti Westerns. 

8. My Name is Nobody - Another unlikely Leone teaming: this time between Henry Fonda as a veteran gunslinger and Terrence Hill as an up-and-coming one. (Techincally, Leone did not make this film, but his influence is all over it and some sources claim he directed some scenes). More an essay on celebrity than a Western, it benefits from an offbeat sense of humor.

9. Sabata - Van Cleef made other Spaghetti Westerns (including Death Rides a Horse, which I haven't seen), but this one probably confirmed him as Eastwood's successor as a solo star. It also helped popularize the "trick weaponry" used in other Westerns (e.g., Sabata carries a pistol that fires from the handle).

10. A Fistful of Dollars - Obviously, it's my least favorite of the Leon-Eastwood films, even though it was inspired by Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Still, it's historically significant and the final shootout is a classic.