Man of the East (1974)

Powerful

A Masterpiece!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

East meets West, with the usual pleasures to be had in a rather typical fish-out-of-water story. Terence Hill is the jolly Britisher who arrives in Old West Arizona upon his dying father's wish that he become a cowboy. Writer-director Enzo Barboni knows just how to utilize Hill's starry-eyed charm, and the actor is very funny exercising in the morning in front of the gunslingers or riding his bicycle down tumbleweed streets. A ready-made romance is provided for our hero with a literature-minded lass into Byron (her baby-blue eyes match up well with Hill's, although his dimply prettiness is tough to beat). The film isn't much, but the English-dubbing is good and the Yugoslavian locations give it a curious and unusual look. The general handling is so amiable that viewers may become absorbed by the movie without even realizing it. It sneaks up on you, like the best kind of sleeper. ** from ****

This Western comedy deals with the young man, Sir Thomas (Terence Hill), he's a dandy from East who goes to the West following the last wish his deceased father . His mentors are a threesome sympathetic crooks , Bull , Holly Joe and Monkey (Gregory Walcott , Harry Carey Jr, Barto). The cocky Thomas carries a bicycle and wearing elegant clothes . The veteran friends teach him the West manners and training him for shooting . Thomas Moore must fight against a nasty enemy named Morton (Ricardo Pizzuti ) who is jealous his girlfriend (Yanti Somer) , daughter of a land baron (Enzo Fiermonte) falling in love for the ingenious young.The film contains action-Western , brawls , shootouts , fist-play , humor with tongue-in-cheek and results to be pretty bemusing . It's an entertaining film with enjoyable comedy in the wake of Trinity and Bambino , in fact , is unofficially regarded as the third part of the Trinità Trilogy . Agreeable main cast with a likable Terence Hill (though I miss Bud Spencer) as a naive East young man and Yanti Somer (Trinity is still my name) as a gorgeous girl looking for the dreamt prince riding on a white horse . Furthermore , Harry Carey Jr , as a nice preacher , he's an usual secondary of John Ford films , Gregory Walcott as a tough illiterate and , of course , Ricardo Pizzuti , Hill's habitual antagonist and whom receives the knocks and kicks . Adequate cinematography by Giordani and jolly musical score including songs by the usual Guido and Maurizio De Angelis . This is a French-Italian co-production , mostly produced by Alberto Grimaldi (PEA Productions) , famous producer of ¨Dollars trilogy¨ by Sergio Leone. The motion picture was well directed by Enzo Barboni or E. B. Clucher . He was a notorious cameraman , including classical Spaghetti Western (Django , Goobye Texas , Hellbenders) , but with the hit of ¨Trinity is my name¨ left it and turned to film-making, and directed the following ¨Trinity is still my name¨ and the third outing ¨Trinity and Bambino, the legend lives on¨, plus other Hill and Spencer vehicles .

I allways liked Bud Spencer and Terence Hill films as a kid. And I still think some of them are quiet good and fun to watch, but this one is different (in a way). Of course there's fights in the typical terence hill style (with the favorite opponent Riccardo Pizzuti), but then there's this fine irony, the melancoly sometimes and the story of the greenhorn coming to the wild west, having no idea about it and getting into big trouble without realizing it.

Sir Thomas Moore, An eccentric Englishman, is sent to the Wild West by his dying fathers last wish, to teach him how to be a "real" man. He is threatened by a man called Morton, who wants to marry the girl that Hill also wishes to marry. With the help of his 3 friends, Hill learns how to fight and use a gun in case he is challenged by Morton.Being a fan of Terence Hill movies, I decided to get a bootleg of this movie off a friend. I was told this movie was better then Hill's 2 most famous movies THEY CALL ME TRINITY & TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME. This movie wasn't that funny and the action was just average. Still I enjoyed seeing MAN OF THE EAST, but its nothing special, and a bit overlong I might add. It's worth seeing once if your a Hill/Spencer fan. My vote: **1/2 out of ****