By the late 1960's, Spaghetti Westerns had reached a reputation of expressing extreme violence and high body counts. Directors had explored nearly every avenue of the Western and audiences had grown tired of the cinematic savagery associated with the genre. Hence, the comedic Spaghetti Western was born. In 1967, an Italian director and writer named Giuseppe Colizzi cast a handsome leading man named "Terence Hill" (Mario Girotti) and an oversized, comedic foil named "Bud Spencer" (Carlo Pedersoli) as the protagonists in God Forgives...I Don't. "Colizzi westerns present clever variations on several different kinds of partnerships encountered in other films inspired by A Few Dollars More" (Fridlund 199 - 203). Hill and Spencer's portrayal of Cat "Pretty Face" Stevens and Hutch "Jackass" Bessy, changed the cinematic landscape of the traditional Spaghetti Western. In 1970, under the direction of E.B. Clucher (Enzo Barboni), Hill and Spencer completed a spaghetti western comedy, They Call Me Trinity, followed by a sequel, Trinity is Still My Name (1971). They Call Me Trinity is considered to be the best of the comedy Spaghetti Western films made in this era of European Westerns (Hughes 123). Hill and Spencer are the Spaghetti Western equivalent of Laurel and Hardy. This paper closely examines the comedic sub-genre of the Spaghetti Western by focusing on the performances of the films of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The paper fills a gap in the research of the Spaghetti Western and European Western film genre.

1. Spaghetti Westerns of Hill & Spencer
Harlan D. Whatley
Graduate Student – English
The University of Texas at the Permian Basin

2. The Spaghetti Westerns of Hill & Spencer
Terence Hill (Mario Girotti)
 In 1968, Mario Girotti changed his
name to Terence Hill.
 Known for his blue eyes, acrobatic
scenes and recurring presence on
Italian TV.
 During the height of his popularity
Hill was among Italy's highest-paid
actors.
 Acted in five Spaghetti Westerns with
Bud Spencer.

3. The Spaghetti Westerns of Hill & Spencer
Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli)
 Carlo Pedersoli was an Olympic
athlete famous for his grunting, wild
beard and big bodily size.
 He is known for action-comedy roles
with his long-time film partner
Terence Hill.
 The duo garnered world acclaim and
attracted millions of viewers.
 Spencer and Hill appeared in,
produced and directed over 20 films
together.

4. Giuseppe Colizzi trilogy
 God Forgives... I Don’t! (1967)
 Ace High (1968)
 Boot Hill (1969)

5. Giuseppe Colizzi (1925
– 1978)
 Often used circuses in the plot and
setting of his films
 Strong sense of Bondesque style
 Terence Hill and Bud Spencer are
in all his Westerns
 Carlo Rustichelli scores

6. God Forgives ... I Don’t! (1967)
Dio perdona... io no!
 A violent, sadistic thriller-western, highly influenced by
Sergio Leone.
 The working title was Il Gatto, il Cane & la Volpe (The
Cat, the Dog & the Fox).
 Terence Hill plays “Cat” and Bud Spencer is “Hutch.”
 The script is quite intricate and demands all viewers’
attention.
 There are a few lulls, but the film is well-directed and
beautifully shot.
 Although Hill and Spencer are not really used as a duo
yet, there are a few sparks of chemistry, foreshadowing
some of the great things to come, but the film belongs
to Frank Wolff as the red-headed Bill San Antonio, one
of the genre’s great villains.

7. Ace High (1968)
 The film has Leone influences.
 A gambling scene in the film is based on the
American novel The Hoods by Harry Grey, which
was Colizzi’s favorite novel.
 The film’s main problem is that the different story
motives don’t harmonize.
 The grand finale is a wonderful scene that is both
exciting and bizarre.
 It has the four protagonists facing McCarthy’s gang,
in the middle of his casino, over the bodies of the
visitors who have dived to the floor in fear, an
orchestra playing a gentle waltz in the background.

8. Boot Hill (1969)
 Cat Stevens is wounded in an ambush by the
mining company's men who want his claim.
 Cat hides out with a travelling circus, but when
one of theirs is killed by the company's
henchmen, former gunfighter Thomas joins up
with Cat.
 They then fetch Hutch Bessy and his deaf mute
sidekick to get even with the company and
avenge the murder of the acrobat.
 This is the weakest of the Colizzi trilogy.

9. Trinity films
They Call Me Trinity(1970)
Trinity Is Still My Name (1971)

10. E.B. Clucher
(Enzo Barboni) 1922 - 2002
 Born in Rome, Clucher served as a war correspondent in World War
II.
 He worked as a camera operator from 1942 to 1961.
 They Call Me Trinity was his first Spaghetti Western film in 1970.
 Trinity Is Still My Name! (1971) is the fifth highest grossing Italian
film.
 He continued to make slapstick comedies with Hill and Spencer.

11. They Call Me Trinity (1970)
 This film created the subgenre of the comedy
spaghetti western.
 The comedy western would be referred to as
fagioli westerns.
 This is the story of two men coming to the aid of
a defenseless group of people who are
threatened by a corrupt land owner.
 Trinity (Terence Hill) is a good-for-nothing, lazy
and ever-smiling gunslinger who accidently
discovers that his fat, grumpy, horse-thieving
brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) has become the
sheriff of a small western town.
 Hill and Spencer had discovered that audiences
loved the contrast between the blue-eyed
Casanova and the grumpy fatso, so this was
emphasized.

12. They Call Me Trinity (1970) Gunslingers

13. Trinity Is Still My Name
(1971)
 While the opening scene paid homage to Leone (and
probably Corbucci), the homecoming scene pays homage
to John Ford: the father is played by Ford actor Harry
Carey Jr. and even though there are some bad table
manners on display, the circle of the family is presented as
a safe haven in the wild west.
 The film's highlight is a scene that was not in the original
script but improvised by Hill and Spencer. It's set in a posh
French restaurant and has all the broad and irresistible
humor the movies are famous for.
 When Trinity is Still My Name was released, it broke all the
records and became the most successful Italian western
movie ever.

14. Trinity is Still My Name (1971) - French restaurant scene

15. Conclusion
 Known as the Abbot and
Costello of spaghetti westerns,
Hill and Spencer pioneered the
subgenre known as the
Spaghetti Western comedy or
fagioli western.
 Their cinematic and television
career extended far beyond the
spaghetti western film genre.
 They went on to become two of
Italy’s highest paid actors and
acted in 19 films together.

16. Works cited
Cox, Alex. 10,000 Ways to Die. Harpenden, UK: Kamera Books.
2009.
Fisher, Austin. Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western.
London & New York: I.B. Tauris. 2014.
Fridlund, Bert: The Spaghetti Western. A Thematic Analysis.
Jefferson, NC and London: 2006.
Hughes, Howard. Spaghetti Westerns. Harpenden, UK: Kamera
Books. 2010.