It's both sad and ironic that Terence Hills portrayal 'Lucky Luke' had nothing in common with the comic-character but the name and Jolly Jumper, the talking horse. Ironic because Hills parade-roles, 'Trinity' and 'Nobody', both owned more to Lucky Luke than probably actor and director (Enzo Barboni) would care to admit.
Many "Trinity" fans consider "Man of the East" an unofficial prequel: here Hill plays Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore, a textbook Greenhorn who has arrived in the rugged Wild West claim his father's inheritance. The inheritance consists of a ram shackled old farm and three of his fathers cronies, who've taken it upon themselves to turn Thomas into gun-totting cowboy.
Having mentioned Lucky Luke, only at the end does Terence Hill (of course) turn into the faster-than-your-shadow, damsel-saving gunslinger but originally his character, Sir Thomas, is taken straight from the Lucky Luke comic book "The Greenhorn" – an archetypical bowler hat wearing, tea totting English gentleman, blissfully unaware that this is the West and not Kensington.
At first, the absence of Hill's "Trinity"-partner Bud Spencer is painfully obvious. However, Bull Schmidt (Gregory Walcott), the jovial friar Holy Joe (Harry Carey Jr) and Monkey Smith (Dominic Barto, who had previously played a steel-eyed killer in "Trinity"), playing Hills mentors and surrogate fathers, make a quirky trio, soon compensating for the absence of Spencer. Plus, we have director Enzo Barboni who knows the terrain of the spaghetti western comedy like the back of his palm.
The movie has all the elements necessary to please fans of early Hill/Spencer/Barboni co operations but never quiet reaches the high level of mentioned "Trinity"- and "Nobody" films. Still, far better than anything Hill was starring in the past 15 years and infinitely better than the dreadful "Lucky Luke" films.
Many "Trinity" fans consider "Man of the East" an unofficial prequel: here Hill plays Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore, a textbook Greenhorn who has arrived in the rugged Wild West claim his father's inheritance. The inheritance consists of a ram shackled old farm and three of his fathers cronies, who've taken it upon themselves to turn Thomas into gun-totting cowboy.
Having mentioned Lucky Luke, only at the end does Terence Hill (of course) turn into the faster-than-your-shadow, damsel-saving gunslinger but originally his character, Sir Thomas, is taken straight from the Lucky Luke comic book "The Greenhorn" – an archetypical bowler hat wearing, tea totting English gentleman, blissfully unaware that this is the West and not Kensington.
At first, the absence of Hill's "Trinity"-partner Bud Spencer is painfully obvious. However, Bull Schmidt (Gregory Walcott), the jovial friar Holy Joe (Harry Carey Jr) and Monkey Smith (Dominic Barto, who had previously played a steel-eyed killer in "Trinity"), playing Hills mentors and surrogate fathers, make a quirky trio, soon compensating for the absence of Spencer. Plus, we have director Enzo Barboni who knows the terrain of the spaghetti western comedy like the back of his palm.
The movie has all the elements necessary to please fans of early Hill/Spencer/Barboni co operations but never quiet reaches the high level of mentioned "Trinity"- and "Nobody" films. Still, far better than anything Hill was starring in the past 15 years and infinitely better than the dreadful "Lucky Luke" films.