Terence Hill is Joe Thanks, a con man traveling the West, making a living off cleverness, gumption and his skill with a gun.
But he’s got a $300,000 payday in mind. That’s the amount of money Indian-hating Major Cabot (Patrick McGoohan) has squirreled away rather than using it to buy supplies for reservation Indians.
To get the money, he joins forces with old friends Steam Engine Bill (Robert Charlebois) and Lucy (Miou-Miou).
The former steals from churches. The latter finds herself drawn romantically to both of her female partners.
Their scheme involved disguising Steam Engine as a cavalry colonel to gain entrance to the fort the major commands. Lucy will pretend to be the colonel’s daughter.
The major, however, isn’t the least bit fooled by Steam Engine’s fake beard. Soon, they’re both behind bars and the major is promising to waste Lucy’s sweetness on the desert air.
Ah, but Joe Thanks has more tricks up his sleeve. And anyone greedy enough to steal from reservation Indians is sure to be tempted into a lapse of judgment by some well-place gold dust.
Terence Hill as Joe Thanks, up to another of his tricks in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Robert Charlebois as Steam Engine Bill, discussing plans with Joe Thanks in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Review:
The brilliant pre-credit opening was directed by Sergio Leone and establishes an excuse for Maj. Cabot to massacre more Indians.
But post-credits, the film changes tone from serious to slapstick. No Indians are ever massacred.
Instead, we get a razor-thin plot about an attempt to steal $300,000 wrapped around lots of Terence Hill gags.
Robert Charlebois plays the partner who won’t admit he’s part Indian, but flops on the ground to listen for approaching danger from time to time.
Miou-Miou is adorable as the woman torn between the two men, but her smile can’t salvage a film that grows tedious as it approaches and then passes the two-hour mark.
Surely, there are lots worse Spaghetti comedies out there. But considering that Leone produced and Hill starred in “My Name is Nobody,” you’d expect more from this film.
Miou-Miou as Lucy, the pretty partner in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Patrick McGoohan as Major Cabot, the cavalry commander with an unquenchable greed in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Directed by:
Damiano Damiani
Cast:
Terence Hill … Joe Thanks
Miou-Miou … Lucy
Robert Charlebois … Steam Engine Bill
Patrick McGoohan … Major Cabot
Raimund Harmstorf … Sgt. Milton
Piero Vida … Jelly Roll
Rik Battaglia … Captain
Mario Valgoi … Thomas Tradia
Mario Brega … Coach driver
Friedrich von Ledebur … Don Felipe, the priest
Jean Martin … Col. Pembroke
Klaus Kinski … Doc Foster
Clara Colosimo … Madam
Ferdinando Curulli … Madam’s husband
Benito Stefanelli … Mortimer
Renato Baldini … Sheriff
Also with: Furio Meniconi, Pietro Torrisi, Roy Bosler, Gerard Boucaron, Miriam Mahler, Carla Cassola, Vittorio Fanfoni, Armando Botton, Valerio Ruggeri, Karl Braun, Lina Franchi
Runtime: 126 min.
Music: Ennio Morricone
Song: “Glory, Glory, Glory” sung by Catherine Howe
aka:
Un genio, due compari, un pollo
Nobody’s the Greatest
A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot
Trinity Is Back Again
Raimund Harmstorf as Sgt. Milton, the major’s second in command in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Piero Vida as Jelly Roll, a rascal with wavering allegiances in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Memorable lines:
Jelly Roll, when trading post owner Tom suggested killing Indians and opening up their land for settlement: “Not everyone’s as good a Christian as you are, Tom. Nowadays, you got to have a practical excuse for killing Indians.”
Doc Foster: “This town’s one long Sunday afternoon.”
Doc Foster to Joe Thanks: “In a couple of minutes, you’re going to be one of the deadest men who ever lived.”
Joe Thanks: “They told me in town you were interested in protecting buzzards?”
Maj. Cabot: “I am. I am. I feed them the flesh of people who come into my office and bother me for their own amusement.”
Lucy: “I hope you won’t pick my petals.”
Maj. Cabot: “Precious petals must be plucked, not picked.”
Klaus Kinski as Doc Foster, the fast gun Joe Thanks challenges in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Benito Stefanelli as Mortimer, one of the major’s less savory allies in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Trivia:
In a review on the Spaghetti Western database, Simon Gelten reports that Leone came up with the idea and produced the film, but was so disappointed with the result that he removed his name from the credits.
Oh, and that idea came from the 1974 French film “Going Places” (Les valseuses), an action comedy with lots of sexual shenanigans that also starred Miou-Miou.
This was not a sequel to “My Name is Nobody,” though in some markets, there was a clear intent to make it seem so. The German title, for instance, translates to “Nobody’s the Greatest.”
Miou-Miou was born Sylvette Herry, but given her stage name (the sound made by a cat) by the French comedian Coluche, one of her early collaborators. She received a Best Actress Award in France for 1979’s “Memoirs of a French Whore” and was still active making films in the 2010s.
Jean Martin as Col. Pembroke, the man Steam Engine impersonates in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Miou-Miou as Lucy, the former orphan with an eye for two men in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Robert Charlebois as Steam Engine Bill, dodging the church, in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
Terence HIll as Joe Thanks, explaining Indian affairs to the major in A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975)
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