Andrea Balestri has dubbed himself Kid Terror O’Hara, leader of a group of children who head to the ghost town of Torque to play cowboy games.
One day, he overhears a gang of outlaws planning a bank robbery in River City, his hometown.
As a game, and as part of an attempt to be taken more seriously by the adults in town, Kid Terror O’Hara decides he and his friends will rob the bank themselves.
In a complex plan that includes diversions, padded wagon wheels, explosives made from gunpowder and butter, and smuggling the smallest child into the bank in a piece of luggage, the children succeed.
They hadn’t counted on the outlaws looking for revenge once they realize someone got to the gold before they did.
Nor had Kid Terror and his friends quite figured out how they would tell the town sheriff what really happened at the bank.
Andrea Balesti as Kid Terror O’Hara in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Cristiana as Mary Ann in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Review:
Give this film a chance, and you might be pleasantly surprised. I went into it with empty gun expectations and wound up laughing more than at the far majority of the Spaghetti West comedies.
Some of the humor is crude. Offering the outlaws warm beer, Kid Terror has the child with the weakest bladder slip behind the bar and pee in two mugs.
But there are some genuinely clever moments — and dialogue — too. These kids have more moxie and ingenuity than they know what to do with.
There’s also a subplot with lots of familiar faces. A corrupt businessman named Wilson (Franco Ressell) is trying to squeeze farms off their land by not extending a loan to their leader, McKenzie (Attilio Dottesio).
Fortunato Arena plays the sheriff trying to sort through all the trouble in town.
Fortunato Areana as Sheriff Stone in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Franco Ressell as Wilson in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Directed by:
Tonino Ricci
Cast:
Andrea Balestri … Kid Terror O’Hara
Cristiana … Mary Ann
Fortunato Arena … Sheriff Stone
Attilio Dottesio … Noah McKenzie
Franco Ressell … Wilson
Giuseppe Tuminelli … Keaton, the banker
as Pippo Tuminelli
Mirko Ellis … Capt. Sydney Fordice
Remo Capitani …. Montana Jim
as Ray O’Connor
Gaetano Scala … Comanchero
Gianclaudio Jabes … Shadow
Salvatore Furnari … Little Wart
Other credited cast members: Flavio Colombaioni , Carlo Carloni, Maurizio Fiori, Clara Park, Barbara Fiorini, Walter Battistelli, Fabio Muscara, Rinaldo Ballanti, Claudio Cinquepalmi, Giuseppe Monte, Alberto Allegrezza, Carla Mancini, Fabio Migliosi, Rosita Torosh, Mario Donatone, Roberto Gallozzi, Isabella Pizzoferrato,
Runtime: 87 min.
aka
Kid il monello del west
Western Kid
Music: Enrico Simonetti
Song: “La banda del West” sung by Renata Cortiglioni
Salvatore Furnari as Little Wart with Mirko Ellis as Capt. Sydney Fordice in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Attilio Dottesio as Noah McKenzie with Fortunato Arena as Sheriff Stone and the farmers in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Memorable lines
One of the kids, playing pretend poker: “I got six wild aces!”
The kids singing; “We are the terrors / the terrors of the West / no one can catch us / we are the best.”
Kid Terror O’Hara: “Not a word of this to anyone, even if your parents beat you with a dingle berry bush.”
Mary Ann, trying to calm Kid Terror O’Hara: “There’s nothing to worry about. If you should be hung for it, I’ll go write a romantic novel listing the deeds you’ve done.”
Kid Terror O’Hara; “Don’t worry about it kids. So long as O’Hara is still the holy terror of the West, there’ll be no dingle berries and no hangings.”
Kid Terror O’Hara: “Ain’t no use talkin’ truth to anybody who prefers hearin’ a lie.”
Gaetano Scala as Comanchero in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Gianclaudio Jabes as Shadow in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Remo Capitani as Montana Jim in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Trivia:
* Andrea Balestri was 10 when this film was made and coming off the lead role in the acclaimed Italian TV miniseries, “The Adventures of Pinocchio.” He appeared in just a couple more films, worked in construction as an adult, but penned a book on his Pinocchio experience in 2008.
* Bruno Corbucci, Sergio’s brother, wrote the witty script along with Mario Amendola and Roberto Amoroso.
* Despite the bathroom humor prevalent in the film, it was apparently marketed to kids. Head to ebay and you’ll often find baseball card type stickers available that were released in conjunction with the movie.
THE OTHER KIDS (PLEASE HELP WITH IDS IF YOU KNOW WHO PLAYED THESE ROLES)
Tuppet in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Butterball in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Tildy in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Butterfly in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Billy Tart in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Lollipop in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Timothy Stone in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Three of the kids, including Louise (middle), envision bank robbery riches in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
One of the kids in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
Another of the kids in Bad Kids of the West (1973)
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