A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe

After the success of My Name is Nobody (1973), producer Sergio Leone rejoined Terence Hill for another Western spoof. A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975) isn't as bad as its reputation suggests, but neither is it especially good.

Joe Thanks (Terence Hill) is a gunslinger-conman roaming the American West. Along with sometime partners Steam Engine Bill (Robert Charlebois) and Lucy (Miou-Miou), Joe stumbles onto Major Cabot's (Patrick McGoohan) evil scheme. Cabot discovers a gold mine on Navajo Indian land, and hopes to procure it by provoking a war with the Indians. Joe, Bill and Lucy stage an elaborate con with Bill impersonating a Cavalry Colonel (Jean Martin) to swindle Cabot and save the Navajo.

Genius started as a Western riff on Going Places (1974), a French sex farce also featuring Miou-Miou. Though packaged as a Nobody sequel (an alternate title is Nobody's the Greatest) Genius has no connection to Tonino Valeri's movie. Like the earlier film, it's full of nods to classic American Westerns and Leone's own work. But there's even more emphasis on Hill's slapstick and athletic prowess, more closely recalling his Trinity films. At first it's fun watching Joe outwit opponents with card tricks and climbing skills, but eventually gets old.

Directed by Damiano Damiani, best-known for the politically charged Bullet for the General, Genius has several inspired scenes. Leone himself directed the opening, a darkly humorous riff on Once Upon a Time in the West's family massacre. Another highlight has Joe stage a phony duel with a glowering Klaus Kinski, complete with self-firing Colt! Damiani helms elaborate action scenes, including a chase where one character recreates Yakima Canutt's legendary Stagecoach stunt. The gorgeous Monument Valley scenery ensures a pleasant-looking film, with Ennio Morricone providing a boisterous comedy score.

Genius provides plenty of laughs but ultimately bogs down in plot. The gang's elaborate con plays like a second-rate The Sting, a convoluted series of double-crosses with a lame payoff. Bill and Lucy prove annoying sidekicks, while the villains are silly featherweights. Marxist as he is, Damiani insists on inserting political commentary ("We're not ordinary people - we're Americans!") that feels singularly inappropriate. The movie ends with a literal bang but still feels empty, with a cheesy moral out of an after-school special.

Terence Hill provides his usual amiability: few stars are so effortlessly likeable. Co-stars Robert Charlebois and Miou-Miou don't fare so well: Charlebois's grumpy griping gets old fast, while Miou-Miou's sunk by a hideous dubbing job. Patrick McGoohan seems as surprised as viewers that he's slumming in a Spaghetti Western. Pietro Vida plays a shifty go-between, playing Cabot and Joe against each other. Klaus Kinski gets a show-stealing cameo before an ignoble exit.

A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe won't be high on too many Spaghetti fans' lists. It's amusing but disposable, a fairly routine parody Western.