Three Amigos

Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short are The Three Amigos, a comedy team from Hollywood’s silent era (probably inspired by The Ritz Brothers). After being sacked by the studio they receive a telegram from a Mexican woman named Carmen, who wants them to come to her little hometown Santo Poco, south of the border, and do some work for the locals. The three think they’re asked to perform their singing cowboy routines, but no: the señorita had accidently seen their adventures on a big screen and thinks they will be able to defend the town against real bandits ...

As one might expect in a comedy, the three amigos are the last to understand the seriousness of the situation: the town of Santo Poco is visited on regular intervals by the notorious bandit El Guapo, who has discovered the racketeering business and is asking increasingly more money for his services from the poor villagers. And as you might expect (again) in a comedy, the three manage to do what they were hired for, in spite of their own incompetence. And they do this - the film makers know their stuff - by rallying the villagers to stand up for themselves and organize their own defence; in other words, the three amigos become the magnificent three.

As a comedy Three Amigos is not without merit, but knowing that three of the most popular American comedians from the period are in it, one would have expected it to be funnier. The script offers all three of them a few opportunities to show what they’re capable of, but only in one scene, set around a campfire, there’s something like a synergetic effect, otherwise the best moments come from individual efforts, and the three never really feel like a team. In one scene, Short and Martin perform a song and dance number in a cantina; it’s a nice and funny scene but you wonder what Chase is doing while they’re performing their act: it turns out that he was playing the piano - at least that’s what we’re supposed to believe.

Three Amigos has its moments and I noticed that it also has its fans: some critical notes from my part on Facebook led to some spiteful remarks. I therefore gave it another chance. I'm still not a fan but I do admit that some of the solo bits and vignettes are pretty good. Kai Wulff is hilarious as the German who has always idolized Short’s skills as a gunslinger and therefore challenges him to a duel and ... is outdrawn by him! Alfonso Arau - best known to western buffs as one of the baddies from The Wild Bunch - has the movie’s best remembered line as the villain El Guapo, after watching the three performing their routine:

"I like these guys. They are funny guys. Kill only one of them."

Randy Newman is mentioned as co-author of the script; he wrote three songs for the movie and also has a ‚cameo’ as a singing bush (maybe he wrote his own lines). Let’s say that his songs are better than his performance ...

Dir: John Landis - Cast: Chevy Chase (Dusty Bottoms), Steve Martin (Lucky Day), Martin Short (Ned Nederlander), Joe Mantegna (Harry Flugleman), Alfonso Arau (El Guapo), Loyda Ramos (Conchita), Patrice Martinez (Carmen), Kai Wulff (The German)