moonspinner55 Review of Man of the East

Man of the East (1972)

Surprisingly jaunty Italian-made western...Terence Hill makes it fun

[5/10 · 16 August 2010]

East meets West, with the usual pleasures to be had in a rather typical fish-out-of-water story. Terence Hill is the jolly Britisher who arrives in Old West Arizona upon his dying father's wish that he become a cowboy. Writer-director Enzo Barboni knows just how to utilize Hill's starry-eyed charm, and the actor is very funny exercising in the morning in front of the gunslingers or riding his bicycle down tumbleweed streets. A ready-made romance is provided for our hero with a literature-minded lass into Byron (her baby-blue eyes match up well with Hill's, although his dimply prettiness is tough to beat). The film isn't much, but the English-dubbing is good and the Yugoslavian locations give it a curious and unusual look. The general handling is so amiable that viewers may become absorbed by the movie without even realizing it. It sneaks up on you, like the best kind of sleeper. ** from ****