Buddy Goes West (1981)

Bud Spencer plays a small-time crook who frees a horse thief named Cocoa from the cavalry, but then finds himself unable to shake the Indian.

Seems he once gave Cocoa a blood transfusion that saved his life; now Cocoa considers Buddy his (blood) brother.

They wind up robbing a train and making off with a satchel supposedly filled with a fortune.

It’s actually filled with doctor’s equipment. After miraculously healing an old-man, Buddy is viewed as a savior and quickly spirited off to doctor-less Yucca City.

Not all is well in this fair city. Residents are fleeing because it’s being terrorized by Colorado Slim and his henchmen. And the town sheriff, Bronson, seems unable to stop the violence.

But Buddy and Cocoa aren’t about to be scared off. And when he’s not satisfying his immense appetite, Buddy is trying to figure out why Colorado Slim is so hellbent to get him out of town.

Bud Spencer as Buddy, taking over his role as doctor of Yucca City in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Amidou as Cocoa, Buddy’s sidekick in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Review:

Any momentum gained by an opening in which Buddy uses painted stick figures to scare the calvary into turning over his buddy is quickly lost in tired old barroom brawls (in which he’s indestrucable, of course) and way-too-long scenes of him stuffing his face.

There are a few truly funny moments. One fight victim keeps urging Buddy to hit him with another uppercut so he’ll be boosted through a floorboard and can catch another glimpse of a scantilly-clad woman.

And as a doctor, Buddy’s curing of constipated Popsy Logan is worth a few laughs. So is his solution for Mr. Robinson, whose wife keeps wandering off in her sleep, presumably into the bed of other men. He prescribes sleeping pills. For the husband. So he won’t be so bothered by the wandering.

The ending includes a bit of a twist to help salvage this sometimes tedious affair. It’s also helped along by an interesting Ennio Morricone score.

Riccardo Pizzuti as Colorado Slim, reminding everyone who’s boss in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Renato Scarpa as Popsy Logan, welcoming the new doctor in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Directed by:
Michele Lupo

Cast:
Bud Spencer … Buddy/Dr. Malabar
Amidou … Cocoa
Joe Bugner … Sheriff Bronson
Riccardo Pizzuti … Colorado Slim
Renato Scarpa … Logan
Piero Trombetta … Popsy Logan
Andrea Heur … Romy Gordan / Brown
Sara Franchetti … Widow Gordon / Brown
Marlida Dona … Mrs. Robinson
Pino Patti … Mr. Robinson
Carlo Reli … Sarto
Tom Felleghy …. Professor

aka:
Occhio alla penna
A Fist Goes West
A Feather in the Eye

Score: Ennio Morricone

Runtime: 97 min. (most prints run 88 min.)

Joe Bugner as Sheriff Bronson, warns of the dangers in Yucca City in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Tom Felleghy as the professor, hoping to compare notes with the new doc in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Memorable lines:

Cocoa, after being freed by Buddy: “How um?”
Buddy, trying to speak Indian: “Not now-um.”

Grandfather, after drinking Buddy’s special concoction: “Hurrah, my bowels are liberated! When do we eat?”

Buddy: “I don’t know who you guys are or where you come from. But I’m warning you critters. Don’t mess with me when I’m eating.”

Andrea Heur as the former sheriff’s daughter, suspicious of his successor in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Marlida Dona as Mrs. Robinson, flirting with Buddy while Amidou as Cocoa looks on in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Trivia:

Amidou, who plays Buddy’s Indian sidekick, has a long list of French film credits and is still active with TV roles. He also appeared in the 2000 U.S. film “Rules of Engagement,” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel Jackson.

Hungarian born Joe Bugner, who plays the sheriff here, was a heavyweight boxing champ in Europe who fought — and went the distance with — Muhammad Ali on two occasions.

Riccardo Pizzuti as Colorado Slim confronts Buddy for the first time in Buddy Goes West (1981)

Bud Spencer as Buddy, ready to use a gun instead of surgical tools in Buddy Goes West (1981)