Brothers against Villain – They Call Me Trinity
Westerns have been a part of cinema since the movies first began and spaghetti westerns have enjoyed great success as well. There have been many films within this genre and the film They Call Me Trinity is a part of a big list. The film itself isn’t that remarkable, at least nothing that would make it stand out from others. The film premiered in 1970 by Italian director Enzo Barboni and stars, Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, and Farley Granger.
The film opens with the shot of a drifter (Hill) as he’s being dragged into town by his horse. Arriving and walking into the local bar, our drifter makes his spot at a table and starts shoveling down food. In the bar with him are a couple of bounty hunters and a wounded man at their table. The hunters see the drifter, convinced by his looks he must be a wanted criminal that can bring in. Unfortunately for the bounty hunters, they soon learn that this drifter is in fact Trinity, the so called “Right Hand of the Devil”,
and one of the fastest gunslingers in the area.
He shows them his skills by not only taking their prisoner but shooting them when they try to ambush him.
Trinity has just saved this prisoner – a Mexican man who shot a white man in self-defense when he tried to rape his wife – and they both head toward another town. In this town, a group of men are calling out the sheriff for arresting their friend. The sheriff (Spencer), a large burly man, defends that man belongs in the jail and he has no plans of releasing him. When Trinity shows up, the sheriff appears exasperated to see the young man. None the less, the sheriff shows the group of criminals where he stands on the
law by shooting all three.
When the Mexican prisoner asks Trinity who the sheriff is, Trinity responds, “That’s the Left Hand of the Devil.” Implying the two are more than just passing strangers.
The movie goes into the typical story of the outlaw trying to do right, in this case the sheriff and Trinity trying to stop the calculating Maj. Harriman (Granger) from removing a newly settled Mormon colony from a rich land on the outskirts of town. There is comedy in this western, setting the stage for other comedy westerns. The laughs are mainly between Spencer and Hill, whose characters of outlaw brothers lend to a lot of funny dialogue about their mother, as well as disparaging remarks towards and about
each other.
The climax is of course when Trinity falls in love with not one, but two Mormon women, making him want to help the Mormons keep their land. As a drifter and a guy with no reason to want to do anything, the change of heart is of course the standard in the movies, but his change back is what’s funny, if just a little bit.
Even when the laughs come from the main stars, it’s always the side players that seem to steal the show. In this movie, it’s the cook and all around grumpy guy Jonathon (played by Steffen Zacharias). His comments regarding Trinity’s arrival will give you a chuckle and learning that he’s a bit of a schemer as well only adds to his personality. Granger’s portrayal of the major is likable, despite the fact that he’s trying to oust people off their claimed land; however that’s the appeal of Farley Granger as a whole – he
has a very gentlemen attitude that even when he’s a villain, he’s a pretty nice villain.
Even if you aren’t a fan of westerns in general, this movie will give you a few laughs, even if it’s just watching the seemingly amazing strength of Bud Spencer. This movie was extremely popular in Europe and made international stars of Hill and Spencer. The movie would spawn a sequel and would help to pair up Hill and Spencer for more movies outside of their western roles.
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