Los amigos

Plot synopsis:
The Republic of Texas has just gained its independence from Mexico. Erastus "Deaf" Smith, who is a deaf mute, and his partner Johnny Ears are sent by President Sam Houston to stop general Morton, who plots against the annexation of Texas by the USA.
They find their contact McDonald and his family massacred by Morton and his men. McDonald’s daughter Hester is married to Morton, and when Smith convinces her of the truth, she helps them overhear a conversation where a German diplomat promises Morton new weapons.
They have a saloon fight with Morton's gang. At a brothel, Johnny recognizes a prostitute he saw bathing in a river, Suzie Q. Deaf pays so he can spend a night with her. Later he is jealous of her other customers, but when she suggests that they leave together using her money, he says that Deaf needs him. Later he refuses to go on with the dangerous mission because he is in love and hits Deaf.
Deaf steals dynamite in Morton’s fort but is almost given away by a garter with bells that he was given by a prostitute and has forgotten that he still keeps in his pocket. He is then pursued by three men and kills one of them in a sneak fight in a cave, by throwing a knife against his gun blaze. As Deaf came out of the cave, he saw the dead bodies of the other two men who were killed by Johnny who came to rejoin him. Deaf gestured in jest that Johnny owes him a punch.
They set a trap with explosives to blow up the weapons transport to Morton, but stop the explosion when they see children playing near the wagon train. Instead they infiltrate Morton's fort and killed his men with explosives and with the new weapon, a machine gun that Deaf can handle because he could read the lips of the instructor. Johnny gave his gun to Morton for a shoot out with Deaf. Morton is killed.
Susie leaves together with Johnny and Deaf. In the morning the deaf mute is gone, leaving Johnny his watch. Johnny cries out his name.

Tags: western, cult, murder, violence, romantic

Review:
Nero stands out in watchable western.
Set in 1830's Texas, Erastus 'Deaf' Smith (Anthony Quinn) is an ageing but trusted spy for the president, despite the obvious handicap of being a deaf mute.
His friend and companion is the sexually charged Spaniard Johnny Ears (Franco Nero), seemingly on a constant mission to obtain another notch on his bed post (or should I say, someone elses!).
In fact, unlike your usual Spaghetti Western hero, he is probably more likely to be found in bed than in a bar brawl or gunfight.The two have been sent by the president to halt the uprising down south, where a rebel by the name of Morton is rallying a rebellion to create independence and domination, with the help of German backing.The whole emphasis of the story is the great bond between Nero and Quinn, which is quite enjoyable throughout.
Comically, Johnny Ears is constantly throwing stones at the laid back Smith in order to get his attention.
Ears' relationship with the luscious local whore Susie (Pamela Tiffin) is also a fine display of character play, as their interplay changes from flirtation to sexual tension, and from lust to love.
Hell, by the end, Ears seems willing to quit his womanising ways and settle down with the blonde beauty.There are entertaining one-liners throughout (all obviously left to Nero, who is in fine comic form).
As for Quinn, the whole idea that a deaf gunhand can survive and be held in such esteem is entertaining in itself (as he walks away completely unaware of the explosions metres behind him, and sneaks up on opponents oblivious to the fact that the bells on a whores garter - given to him whilst he awaited the return of the promiscuous Ears from the local brothel - are jangling together).Aside from these highlights, the film is fairly average fare.
At times Smith's inability to communicate can be as frustrating to the viewer as it must be to Smith himself.
The Director does however highlight this disability to some effect, with silence at any time when the story is shown from Smith's eyes.
Too much weight is also placed on the final action-packed climax, which goes on for an age with a maximum explosion count (although it does contain a priceless moment when Ears is unable to operate the enemies' machine gun - a skill mastered to great effect by Nero's Django).In summary, this is an entertaining little film, high on cheese but low on substance.
And there are days when that is exactly the sort of "popcorn" movie that you want to watch.
If you are in that mood (I was) you will probably enjoy it (I did!).
But it is definitely more "watchable" than "recommended"..
The Real "Deaf" Smith.
I like the above comment: "Watchable if not recommended".
I just saw it on TV as "Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears".
It breaks my heart that AMC didn't show the full credits as I am haunted by the music and cannot identify the tune.Erastus "Deaf" Smith was actually a soldier in Houston's army and was distinguished for destroying a bridge that cut of Santa Ana's retreat at the battle of San Jacinto.
The movie, of course, is pure fiction with no historical basis.Anthony Quinn has always been one of my favorites and it pleases me that a Mexican actor has found such worldwide success.
His AMC interview is well worth a watch..
Good Music!.
The plot of this movie and the characters may be a little bit suspect but the photography is brilliant and, to add to the appeal, so was the music which was written by a name that I have never heard of before i.e. Daniele Patucchi.
Soundtrack collectors like myself may be interested to know that the main themes are available on a CD entitled "Wanted - Dead or Alive".
catalogue No. CVS 900-020.
I enclose the number as it is an Italian CD but if I found it in Australia you can guarantee that it is more readily available elsewhere.Anthony Quinn and Franco Nero, who have appeared together in other productions, have this rapport between them that is so obvious.
See this movie!
Don't analyse it.
Just sit back and enjoy it!.
Passable Spaghetti Western with great duo protagonist , Anthony Quinn/Franco Nero and shot in Almeria , Spain , as usual.
The war with Mexico over , the new republic of Texas is born .
Set in 1836's Texas just after the Republic won its independence from Mexico.
President Houston is actively working to have the new republic join the United States of America .
But rebel forces , aided by a foreign power , are plotting against him .
Houston , busy reorganizing the exhausted forces of Texas sends his faithful scout Erastus .
As President Sam Houston instructs one of his agents to put down the plotters , the tough deaf-mute Erastus Smith (Anthony Quinn and based on real-life character) to carry out a dangerous mission .
Deaf Smith is the man who hears with his eyes and speaks with his gun .
Accompanying him is his best friend the sex-obsessed Johnny Ears, (Franco Nero) who falls for a beautiful prostitute (Pamela Tiffin) , Susie the ¨hooker¨ .
But the rebels and the general Martin (Franco Graziosi) have intercepted a message that a deaf-mute spy is in their midst .
At the beginning ,there takes a place a massacre executed by rebel henchmen (Romano Puppo , Luciano Martino) against McDonald family and things go wrong .Pasta Western picture is set post American-Mexican war but ignores the wealth of the authentic history and becomes yet another action/adventure/humor Western and this decent production delivers what it should .
However , it relies heavily on the peculiar relationship between Deaf Smith/Anthony Quinn and Johnny Ears/Franco Nero .
Here there are some historical remarks about Texas , as the Republic's future is in doubt, with various factions and foreign powers hoping to sway matters to their own advantage .
And based on facts , as Deaf Smith was a soldier in Houston's army distinguished for destroying a bridge and there's actually a Deaf Smith County in Texas .
Although it has some anachronisms as an out of time machine gun and hokey historical events .
It is a decent Western with comedy , tongue-in-cheek , action and plenty of shoot'em up , gun-play , explosion , and some moments results to be quite entertaining .
Including a spectacular ending when our protagonists using a machine gun and a lot of dynamite execute a slaughter in which they take down themselves the enemy army .
Anthony Quinn gives over-acting as the deaf-mute Erastus "Deaf" Smith , to infiltrate and put down one of the growing rebel factions and sympathetic acting by Franco Nero as his companion Johnny Ears who must not only do Smith's hearing for him, but must also conceal Smith's handicap .
Acceptable support cast full of ordinary Spaghetti secondaries as Luciano Rossi , Goffredo Unger , Tom Felleghi , Renato Romano and Romano Puppo .
It packs an anti-climatic musical score by Daniel Pattucci and attractive ¨ballad of Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears¨ sung by Ann Collin .
And an atmospheric cinematography in Eastmancolor by Tonino Delli Colli , though a perfect remastering is necessary , being shot on location in Gelato falls , El Lacio , Rome and Almeria , Spain , as usual .
The motion picture was regularly directed by Paolo Cavara , a craftsman who made all kinds of genres .
As Paolo directed Giallo as ¨Black belly Tarantula¨ , ¨E Tanta Prava¨, Drama/war : ¨La Cattura¨, ¨comedy : "Virility" , ¨Il Lucamone¨, ¨La Lacandiera¨ and especially shock-documentary as ¨L'Occhio Salvaggio¨, ¨Mondo cane¨ , ¨La Donna Nel Mondo¨, ¨Witchdoctor in Tails¨, and ¨I Malamondo¨ ..
Better luck next time, Franco.
I like Franco Nero.
I like his voice, his accent, his acting style, his acrobatics.
Any movie starring Franco Nero already has one thing going for it in my book.
Saying that Nero is the ONLY thing going for "Deaf Smith And Johnny Ears" would be somewhat inaccurate - there is also a good score, Pamela Tiffin's spunk (at one point, she puts Nero in a reverse headlock!), and some interesting directorial touches (as when Cavara films some scenes from the deaf man's point-of-view, with no sound).
But if this is supposed to be a comedy, it's much too violent (beginning with the massacre of an entire family), and if it's serious, then the plot is confused and uninteresting.
Anthony Quinn is a bore...and what's up with that ending?
This is not a bad little movie, of a certain 'style' that was popular when it was made.It's loud - and violent - at times, but there-in lies a heart and whilst neither (Franco) Nero or (Anthony) Quinn show us their inner feelings, rather like a lesser Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, there is a sort of loyal, strange chemistry between them, that like the best of friendships, work for reasons only known to them.Unlike 'B' westerns of 20 years earlier, that almost tried too hard to get the most out of their tiny budget/bad script/untalented actor, director etc, Deaf Ears...
doesn't, it just gets on with it, which is nice as we can relax and let it unfold.Erastus 'Deaf' Smith (Anthony Quinn) is the deaf mute messenger who is hired by General Sam Houston to infiltrate a rebel faction that are trying to stop Texas becoming part of the U.S. His friend, Johnny Eras (Nero) comes to assist him with his mission.There's the usual womanising in the cat-house that helps beef up both the lead's manliness and the male viewing numbers is there as is blowing things up.Though the film is also known as the bland 'Los Amigos', it's often and usually goes by this far more intriguing one.
I saw it on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
It says on the Radio Times website that it was in Italian, but it was not, though in hindsight I'm sure it was dubbed - and Quinn, who is multi-lingual, doesn't speak, of course.
The ending and its music is quite a strange enigma, mind you.If you're after a good, standard, straight western, I'd dither at recommending it, but if you do like your spaghetti westerns, with some sauce, then go for it..
"western" tells a tale of Texas.
Franco Nero and Anthony Quinn co-star in this odd, period piece about Texas independence.
Houston is now the leader of Texas, and sends Johnny and Erastus to knock out those who want to stop integration to the U.S. It's an odd film, since Nero was born in Italy, and Quinn was born in Mexico.
The music NEVER matches the mood of the film.
and apparently, it was filmed in Spain.
They meet up with the Mortons, played by Ira von Fürstenberg and Franco Graziosi.
The plot is kind of choppy, with lots of time spent in the madam's house.
very italian spaghetti western.
Erastus and Johnny are best buddies, but spend the whole film arguing.
Not bad.
Not bad.
it's okay.
when Johnny wants to get Deaf's attention, he throws a stone at him...
the running gag.
shows on Turner Classic now and then.
Los Amigos, also known as Deaf Smith.
Directed by italian Paolo Cavara, about halfway through his career.
Looks like he died young at 56.
odd...
no info on him anywhere.
only made 16 films..
Nice movie.
I watch this movie at different ages..
and i love it..
i love this kind of westerns..
Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, Watch no Evil!.
With the talent assembled in the production of this tosh, it should have at least been tolerable.
The films English title "Deaf Smith and Johhny Ears" attracted my curiosity, but a film about a deaf commando (gunfighter!) set in a historic Texas, where more people end up in Boot Hill than seem to live in the township was certainly difficult to believe.
What could they have been thinking?...a 'deaf' 60ish protector of the countries president......I ask you!
I see from other posts, a few have enjoyed it but I'm with those who looked deeper and found very little.
After a string of films just like this, it's little wonder the Western genre was well and truly killed off.
Leone's Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli may have had an eye for detail, but he obviously did not get the budget, or the time, to create any magic here.
Any promise in the idea, is quickly killed off with shoddy Italian and Spanish writing and film technique (or lack off it) A halfway interesting Music score attempts to give more than the script can deliver (the song lyrics promise a strong idealistic storyline but it's not forthcoming) In fact, the music score not only seems to belong to another film, it sounds somewhat familiar.
The film wastes beautiful Pamela Tiffen, and reduces the Franko Nero role to little more than a clone of the 'Trinity' films character, and Quinn, well he just appeared to be enjoying getting paid in his old ageItalians could not make intelligent films about the 'American' west (even Sergio Leone's epic 'Once Upon a time in the West' while it looked good at the time, in retrospect, is filled with the type of foolishness that drags this work down to 'C' grade level) The near ridiculous body count and callous way people are killed puts 'Deaf Smith' in the 'Dollar' film category.
The undiscerning viewer could be impressed, anyone else may want to leave town.
Maybe with better handling....but I doubt it.
TCM in Australia screened this (as with most of their movies) with the 'Automatic Sound Leveler' on...
creating what sounds like a constant hailstorm in the background when no-one is speaking.
In this age of technical excellence when will they ever get it right?
KenR.
A nice job by Mr. Anthony Quinn.
It is not really a good movie.
The best things are the character of Deaf Smith (Quinn), the beautiful prostitutes appearing in the film and the moves of the camera around a deaf gunman, that help us to understand how he is aware of the people around him.
Anthony Quinn performance is incredible, being the most notable character without pronouncing a single word.
All the scenes where he appears flows around him, even when the apparently most charming Johnny Ears (Nero) tries to be funny (sometimes he creates the opposite effect).
Smith is funnier, harder and more interesting than Ears, and maybe that is the main reason to watch this film..
Another awful spaghetti western.
Whenever you have a lively Franco Nero (or his clone Terence Hill) in a western you've got one thing in your favor already.
But that's the only thing in this film's favor.
Otherwise you have the flat dubbing, tinny and wretched music scoring, and predictably imbecilic action scenes typical of these spaghetti westerns.
First of all, Anthony Quinn plays a deaf mute, a casting decision on the far side of stupidity (although obvious that his name would lend box office value).
An actor of such ebullience and renown for his growling/shouting presence is reduced to pantomime.
It takes you right out of the film in every scene because you keep expecting that famous voice to come bursting out any moment.
And then there is co-star Tiffin who plays a likable character but her voice is mostly shrill.
Better if SHE had been the mute.
And the rest of the cast is the usual standard issue Italians-on-the-range from central casting in Rome.
The script is also standard issue (with the exception of the deaf-mute angle) so we get parts of 'Duck You Sucker/A Fistful of Dynamite' and a Gatling gun finale ala 'The Wild Bunch.' The finale is especially bad since a platoon of gunslingers blast away at Gatling gun-wielding Quinn with no discernible effect, as if the act of using such a gun makes you impervious to all lead fired in your direction.
Then there is the hideous music score that features two absurdly dated songs: one during the opening credits that sounds like a TV commercial jingle for hair spray, and a second one in the middle so derivative of Burt Bacharach that it's lawsuit-worthy.
Needless to say, it's a tortured viewing experience to watch a western set in Texas in 1836 that is almost completely cast with Italians and features soft pop tunes from 1972.
And how can you think of this film at all without scratching your head at the incredibly bizarre freeze-frame at the very end?
What in blazes were the director/writer/powers-that-be thinking with that shot of Nero screaming in what should have been a sweet-to-bittersweet final moment?
All it needed was horror music.
Yeesh!