''Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears'', also known as ''Los Amigos'', is a 1973

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

film starring Anthony Quinn and Franco Nero. The film is loosely based on the life of

Deaf Smith Erastus "Deaf" Smith (April 19, 1787 – November 30, 1837), who earned his nickname due to hearing loss in childhood, was an American frontiersman noted for his part in the Texas Revolution and the Army of the Republic of Texas. He fought in ...

, with direction by Paolo Cavara.

Plot

The

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

has just gained its independence from Mexico. President

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

sends Erastus "Deaf" Smith, a deaf-mute, and his partner Johnny Ears to stop General Morton's plot against the USA's annexation of Texas. Their contact, a man named McDonald, and most of his family have been massacred by Morton and his men before they arrive. McDonald's surviving daughter, Hester, is married to Morton, and when Smith convinces her of the truth, she helps them overhear a German diplomat promise Morton a new supply of weapons. They have a saloon fight with Morton's gang. Johnny recognizes a prostitute in a brothel, Suzie Q, whom he had seen bathing in a river. Deaf pays so that his partner can spend a night with her. Johnny gets jealous of her other customers, but when she suggests they leave together using her money, he says that Deaf needs him; though he later refuses to go on with the mission because he is in love, and hits Deaf. Stealing dynamite from Morton's fort, Deaf is almost given away by the bells on a prostitute's garter, a gift he had kept in his pocket and forgotten about. He is then pursued into a cave by three men, killing one of them in a sneak attack by throwing his knife. As he comes out of the cave, he sees the corpses of the other two men, killed by Johnny. Deaf gestures in jest that Johnny still owes him a punch. They set a trap with explosives to blow up the German's weapons transport, but stop the explosion when they see children playing near the wagon train. Instead, they infiltrate Morton's fort and kill his men with explosives and the new weapon, a machine gun that Deaf can handle because he read the lips of the instructor. Johnny gives his gun to Morton for a shoot out with Deaf. Morton is killed. Susie leaves with Johnny and Deaf. The next morning, Deaf is gone, having left Johnny his watch. Johnny cries out his name.

Cast

Production

Director Paolo Cavara did not consider the film a spaghetti Western, instead calling it a "psychological western". He used a portable 35mm Arriflex camera.

Reception

In his investigation of narrative structures in

films, Fridlund discusses this film as a variation of the partnership plot that was used in many Spaghetti Westerns following the success of

For a Few Dollars More ''For a Few Dollars More'' ( it, Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. German actor K ...

. In contrast to that story, wherein the bounty hunter partners initially have a fight and one is later revealed to have a secret vengeance motive, the two protagonists of ''Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears'' form a steady bond from the beginning. Johnny acquires a secondary motive—a love interest—and their partnership is peacefully dissolved in the end. Otherwise this is basically a professional story that concentrates on the problems of heroes and the methods they employ to reach their goals; especially the conditions arising from Smith's deafness.Fridlund, Bert: ''The Spaghetti Western. A Thematic Analysis''. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company Inc., 2006 pp. 151-53.

References

External links