Man of the East ( it, E poi lo chiamarono il magnifico) is a

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Spaghetti Western film directed by

Enzo Barboni Enzo Barboni (7 July 1922 – 23 March 2002), sometimes credited by his pseudonym E.B. Clucher; the surname of his grandmotherp. 115 Wong, Alzia S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide (National Cinemas)'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (15 ...

starring

Terence Hill Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a child actor and gained international fame for starring roles in action and comedy films, many with longtim ...

. The film is set in the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

during the time of the railway construction. A recurring theme is the always progressing

modernisation Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization within societies. The "classical" theories of modernization of the 1950s and 1960s drew on sociological analyses of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and a partial reading of Max Weber, ...

which some of the protagonists are trying to escape.

Plot

The young

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

nobleman Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore (

) arrives in the West following the wish of his late father who years earlier had to leave England due to an affair. The trouble led to a conflict with "Vicci Windsor". In the West, the young man joins up with his father's former pals, the stagecoach robbers Monkey (Dominic Barto), Holy Joe ( Harry Carey Jr.) and Bull (

Gregory Walcott Gregory Walcott (born Bernard Wasdon Mattox, January 13, 1928 – March 20, 2015) was an American television and film actor. Although he had roles in many Hollywood films and television series, he is perhaps best known for having appeared in th ...

). The characters are introduced as time moves on during Tom's journey, beginning with Bull who works at a stagecoach station disguised as a mute man. After Bull has listened in on the conversation of two headhunters and found out about the death of "The Englishman" (Tom's father), he begins a journey of his own. In a small town he finds a preacher in his church, conducting a fiery sermon to a somewhat dubious audience of drunkards, gamblers and easy women who he had to drive into his church just as he had to have the saloon's pianola moved into the church right before. Both of them then proceed to Yuma, where the third one, Monkey is in jail as usual. Through deceit they manage to free Monkey after they manage to keep him from taking revenge on the sadistic warden, because according to Holy on the day of the Lord you don't shoot people. From there they travel to the Englishman's gang's old hideout in the mountain, which is also the destination of Tom's journey, who had just before been in a stagecoach robbery performed by the masked trio of Monkey, Bull and Holy. Tom was just about to inspect the property around the log cabin when suddenly his walking stick is shot out from under him by the three crooks, who do not know who Tom is and therefore suspect him to have come back to retrieve the stolen money. Soon the situation is explained by Tom showing them a photograph of his father along with giving Holy a letter of his father for the three of them. In his letter the father asks them to make a "real man" out of his progress-loving son. Initially they fail miserably since Tom refuses to touch a weapon and would rather ride his bicycle than a horse. This changes once he meets Candida (Yanti Somer) in the town's thrift store, the landowner's daughter who he had once met before when she travelled in the same train as him and had captivated his thoughts. There she asks for Books of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, which he can procure, unlike the trader. Candida returns his love. Since Morton (

Riccardo Pizzuti Riccardo Pizzuti (born 28 May 1934) is an Italian actor and stuntman. He is known for playing the role of gunfighter Morton Clayton in the 1972 film ''Man of the East''. Pizzuti appeared in '' They Call Me Trinity'', and its sequel '' Trinity Is ...

), Candida's father's rough ranch administrator has also set his eyes on the girl this leads to several brawls during which Tom initially ends up on the receiving side. Only after an intensive course in all things brawling, shooting and spitting which his father's accomplices put him through Tom not only manages to put Morton in his place but also Candida's father (

Enzo Fiermonte Enzo Fiermonte (17 July 1908 – 22 March 1993), sometimes credited as William Bird, was an Italian actor and boxer. Early life Vincenzo "Enzo" Fiermonte was born on 17 July 1908 in Casamassima, a rural village near Bari, in southern Italy to Do ...

) who has been convinced of Tom's skills. It ends with a happy end although Monkey, Bull and Holy leave the town in which progress has taken a footing, driving them to flee further toward the west. In the last scene they reach the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

, shocked to hear the whistle of a steam train and so they turned back.

Cast

as Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore *

as Bull Smith * Yanti Somer as Candida Olsen * Dominic Barto as Monkey Smith * Harry Carey Jr. as Holy Joe (as Harry Carey) *

as Frank Olsen * Danika La Loggia as Iris *

as Morton Clayton * Jean Louis as Prison Warden * Alessandro Sperli as Tim *

Salvatore Borghese Sal Borgese (born 5 March 1937, in Rome) is an Italian film actor. He is sometimes credited as Salvatore Borghese or Mark Trevor. He is noted for extensive work in the Italian film industry from the 1960s to present day, and for his work as a s ...

as Cacciatore di taglie (as Salvatore Borgese) *

Steffen Zacharias Steffen Zacharias (April 11, 1927 – June 6, 1989) was a German-born Greek American character actor known for his roles in films and television in America and Italy. Biography Born in Germany to Greek parents, Zacharias grew up in the Unite ...

as Stalliere * Luigi Casellato as Padrone del ristoro *

Pupo De Luca Giovanni "Pupo" De Luca (18 December 1924 – 18 December 2006) was an Italian actor and jazz musician. Life and career Born in Milan, after the World War II De Luca started his career in the theaters of his hometown, performing in revues, dia ...

as Direttore del carcere * Antonio Monselesan as Cacciatore di taglie (as Tony Norton) * Rigal Suzanne Leone * Kevin Richmond * Zach Bell

Production

The film contains several

running gags Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

, like the three friends constantly being chased by two bounty hunters. During each encounter one of the three appears behind them, when they are just about to get to business with the others. Bull every time slams their heads through a then destroyed table, making them appear more bandaged with each new additional encounter. Another running gag is the calendar problem. Since for the Western heroes every day is a Saturday, Tom has his fair share of problems coordinating meetings with them. Additionally, there is Bull's

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.The Tenderfoot" from the series ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

''. It is not clear if there is any correlation between the film and the comic. However, in the early 1990s Terence Hill directed and played a

TV adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of Lucky Luke.

External links

* * * {{Enzo Barboni 1970s Western (genre) comedy films 1972 Western (genre) films Jadran Film films Spaghetti Western films United Artists films Yugoslav Western (genre) films Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Films produced by Alberto Grimaldi 1972 comedy films 1972 films 1970s Italian films Yugoslav comedy films Italian Western (genre) comedy films