Ettore Manni is Jonas Dickerson and Andres Resino is Mark Tabor, quarreling friends who wind up in Denver.

That’s when they seem to get their lucky break. A thirsty old-timer named Tripper stumbles into town. Tabor gives him a drink from his canteen. In return, the old-timer shares a secret: He’s discovered gold in Dead Man’s Gulch.

So off to Dead Man’s Gulch go Dickerson and Tabor. The rest of Denver soon follows. Seems Tripper’s not very good at keeping secrets.

He even shares the secret with the conniving town mayor named Muller (Gordon Mitchell), who doesn’t head to the hills.

Instead, he sends out his henchmen to rob the miners as they head back into town.

And if that doesn’t work, he plans to drain their pockets dry in the saloon he’s operating with the help of a trio of pretty ladies and a pair of card cheats.

Review:

Demofilo Fidani, having directed a number of serious Westerns, clearly intended to follow the new trend here, with a Trinity style comedy.

And viewers will instantly spot Trinity influences, like scenes of Jonas Dickerson stuffing his face to feed his massive appetite. Like Gordon Mitchell scolding one of his men with a series of rapid-fire slaps across the face.

Mostly though, this film is tiresome rather than funny. There’s a mildly entertaining scene early on when Tabor is trying to arrange a clandestine midnight fling with a pretty girl while Dickerson, posting as a preacher, tries to seduce her mother.

But it’s clumsily handled, and those pretty ladies quickly disappear never to be seen again.

It doesn’t help that Fidani is 20 minutes into the film before revealing the point of all the nonsense viewers are witnessing: There’s gold to be found and stolen.

Fidani’s daughter — blue-eyed Simone Blondell — shows up again, looking fetching in saloon garb and showing off those pretty eyes in a series of closeups.

But when that’s the highlight of a film, well …

Ettore Manni (Red Carter) as a pretend preacher with lustful intentions in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Andres Resino (Bud Randall) as Mark Tabor pretends to deliver a message from God in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Directed by:
Demofilo Fidani
as Miles Deem

Cast:
Ettore Manni … Jonas Dickerson
as Red Carter
Andres Resino … Mark Tabor
as Bud Randall
Sleepy Warren … Tripper
Angela Portaluri … Concepcion
Federico Boido … Teddy
as Rick Boyd
Gordon Mitchell … Muller
Simonetta Viteli … Pearl
as Simone Blondell
Carla Mancini … Consuelo
Michele Branca … Fred
Amerigo Castrighella … Thomas
as Custer Gail

also with: Raimondo Toscano, Benito Pacifico (as Dennis Colt), Enzo Pulcrano (as Paul Crain), Antonio Basile, Luciano Conti, Vinicio Raimondi, Gualtiero Rispoli, Marcello Meconizzi

aka
Amico mio… frega tu che frego io
Everything for a Friend

Music: Lallo Gori

Runtime: 94 min.

Gordon Mitchell as Mayor Muller prepares for his next villainous deed in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Amerigo Castrighella (Custer Gail) as Sheriff Thomas and Simone Blondell as saloon girl Pearl in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Memorable lines:

Mark Tabor to Jonas, pretending to be the voice of God: “You once stole a lamb, and from poor, hungry people. It was the lamb of God was what you told them. If it was mine, why did you eat it? Tell me, Jonas. Explain it to me if you can.”

Muller to one of his saloon girls: “Not bad, Pearl. With those legs, you’re going places, if you do what I say.”

Jonas: “What’s the name of this delightful place?”
Fred’s brother: “That name of this crappy place is … ugh, ugh, ugh … Come on, help me Fred.”
Fred: “I don’t remember. Been years since I heard it called.”

Jonas, wanting to stop a barroom fight: “But I implore you, I hit you seven times already. Even the Bible says after the seventh, we rest.”

Mark Tabor, after Jonas blasts a whole in the side of a sandy hill: “Hey, I’ll be a rattlesnake’s uncle. Why this looks like gold.”

Pearl to Jonas: “Playing with yourself can make you made, you know?”

Sleepy Warren as Tripper, sharing his secret in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Andres Resino (Bud Randall) as Mark Tabor and Ettore Manni (Red Carter) as Jonas Dickerson in Anything for a Friend (1973)

Trivia:

* A rare starring role in a Spaghetti for Ettore Manni. At the time, he was romantically involved with frequent Spaghetti actress Krista Nell. They appeared together in Fidani’s “Django and Sartana Are Coming … It’s the End” (1970).

* Unfortunately, Nell’s end came in 1975 when she died of leukemia at age 28. Manni subsequently suffered from chronic depression, according to his bio on IMDb, leading to speculation that his 1979 death from a self-inflicted bullet wound might have been suicide rather than accidental.

* This marked the final Western directed by Fidani and the final Western in which his daughter — Simone Blondell appeared. She had roles in two more films; he directed four more.