Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia are Union soldiers, being honored posthumously for their valor on the battlefield. Medals have even been pinned on their horses.

Then Col. Custer orders a cannon shot in their honor. The blast lands near a rock.

Out jump Franco and Ciccio, out of uniform because they stripped them off in order to play dead and avoid danger during the battle.

That display of cowardice earns them a spot in front of a firing squad … until Union Gen. MacLean unveils his latest ploy to learn the Confederate battle plan.

He plans to send two well-trained, highly intelligent spies behind enemy lines. He needs two idiots to serve as decoys, men so stupid they’d be useless to the enemy if captured.

Col. Custer announces that he has the perfect candidates for the job — Franco and Ciccio.

Then comes a wrinkle the Union high command hadn’t envisioned.

The real spies get caught, repeatedly, leaving Franco and Ciccio to locate a pretty female spy known as the Lynx (Margaret Lee) and carry out the mission.

Franco Franchi as Franco La Pera, disguised as a child in need of medical attention in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Ciccio Ingrassia as Ciccio La Pera, disguised as a professor of medicine in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Review:

One of the better Franco and Ciccio outings, this one will have you chuckling even if you can’t understand a word coming out of the stars’ mouths.

Among the jokes that work best? The spies are supposed to communicate with coyote calls. Franco and Ciccio gets confused and wind up mistaking the intelligent spies for real coyotes.

On another occasion, an Indian called Nervous Buffalo trusts the idiots to send up smoke signals. They wind up burning the blanket.

A racous performance from Fernando Sancho as a Union soldier who loses a promotion because of the duo’s antics helps make the film work.

The presence of three lovely ladies — Margaret Lee as the spy; Moira Orfei as her tough-as-nails cousin Baby O’Connor; and Dina Loy as the colonel’s daughter — add to the movie’s appeal.

If you’re in the mood for lots of silliness, this Franco and Ciccio outing will satisfy your craving, right down to the moment the credits roll.

Ernesto Calindri as Col. Custer, sure he has the perfect idiots for the job in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Fernando Sancho as Sgt. Fidhouse, fed up with the antics of Franco and Ciccio in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Directed by:
Giorgio C. Simonelli

Cast:
Franco Franchi … Franco La Pera
Ciccio Ingrassia … Ciccio La Pera
Margaret Lee … Beth Smith, The Lynx
Moira Orfei … Baby O’Connor
Fernando Sancho … Sgt. Fidhouse
Ernesto Calindri … U.S. Colonel
Franco Giacobini … Cochise
Nino Terzo … Schultz
Aroldo Tieri … 1st specialist
Riccardo Garrone … 2nd specialist
Michele Malaspina … Gen. Lee
Dina Loy … Mary
Alfio Caltabiano … Nervous Buffalo

Also with: Juan Luis Galiardo, Armando Curcio, Nino Fuscagni, Enzo Andronico, Rino Genovese, Gina Mascetti, Pasquale Basile, Vittorio Duse, Antonio Cuenca, Tom Felleghy, Ignazio Spalla, Osiride Pevarello, Ugo Fangareggi, , Mimmo Poli

Runtime: 100 min.

aka:
I Due sergenti del generale Custer
Dos vivales en Fuerte Alamo
Two Idiots at Fort Alamo

Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Margaret Lee as Beth Smith, a Union spy known as The Lynx in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Moira Orfei as Baby O’Connor, a saloon girl so tough she could be a bouncer in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Memorable lines:

Sorry, I watched a foreign language version of this film.

Trivia:

* Like many Spaghetti films dealing with the Civil War, this one has it taking place out West, with Gen. Lee and Custer roaming the same territory as Cochise and the Apache.

* Margaret Lee, the leading lady here, starred in just one other Spaghetti, 1966’s “Djurado.” But the year after this film was released, she appeared in “Circus of Fear” with Klaus Kinski and the pairing struck a chord with filmgoers. They wound up appearing in 12 movies together.

* Franco and Ciccio appeared in nearly 120 films together, releasing an astonishing 38 between 1964 and 1966. And while panned by critics, their films were wildly popular. According to a blog on Westerns All’Italiana, their films received 20 percent of the proceeds of all Italian cinema between 1964 and 1968.

Ciccio Ingrassia as Ciccio La Pera and Franco Franchi as Franco La Pera, fearful of their fate in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Michel Malaspina as Gen. Lee, grilling suspected spies about the Union positions in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Franco Giacobini as Chochise, visiting Franco and Ciccio in confinement in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Dina Loy as Mary, the colonel’s daughter, learning her locket has been found at Confederate headquarters in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Aroldo Tieri and Riccardo Garrone as the real spies in Two Sergeants for General Custer (1965)

Margaret Lee as Beth Smith and Moira Orfei as Baby O’Connor, watching Franco get swept up in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Fernando Sancho as Fidhouse, letting the professor’s son get under his skin in a trap in Two Sergeants of General Custer (1965)

Ciccio Ingrassia as Ciccio La Pera and Franco Franchi as Franco La Perra, posing as Rebel soldiers in Two Sergeants for General Custer (1965)