Three Amigos (1986) is my favorite dumb comedy which happens to be a brilliant satire on Westerns and silent films! John Landis directs the film and his filmography includes An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Coming to America (1988). It is co-written by Steve Martin who currently works on the comedy series, Only Murders in the Building, and the rom com, Roxanne (1987) based on the Edmond Rostand play, Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). His other co-writers are Lorne Michaels, long time producer of Saturday Night Live, and Randy Newman, song writer who also worked on the score for The Natural (1984) and music and songs for the Toy Story films. It is currently streaming on HBO Max. The film immediately starts with the “The Ballad of the Three Amigos” sung by the three leads. Then, we see the Amigos riding in their cabellero outfits; the leader (Martin), clueless hero, Chevy Chase’s part, and silly part of the trio played by Martin Short. Chase is of course known for National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and of course the comedy show, Community. Short also co-stars in Only Murders in the Building and was perfect for the sci fi comedy, Innerspace (1987).
Seeing their happy faces makes me laugh. “They are funny guys”, a later quote from the movie. This moves into the Elmer Bernstein score that evokes a Mexican sunet. then, we get a small town in “Mexico, 1916.” We see an early car chug away past two villagers, Carmen (Patrice Martinez) and young Rodrigo . Martinez was the receptionist in Beetlejuice (1988) and I recognize her from the Zorro (1990-1993) series where she played Victoria Escalante. She sees a gunfighter spin the barrel of his pistol, then looks up to see Cantina Del Borracho (Drunkard’s Cantina). Carmen tells Rodrigo that the men they are looking for are in the cantina. She introduces themselves as coming from the Santa Poco (Little Saint) village. Carmen hopes that there will be men to stop El Guapo (The Handsome). If you don’t get the Spanish that’s ok, my favorite is Martin’s L.A. Story when they go to stay at El Pollo del Mar (Chicken of the Sea)! The men return to their drinks. They leave and then hear church bells. A projectionist is spinning the reels for a camera to show a black and white, silent film as an organist provides the music. A woman (Sophia Lamour) says that The Three Amigos can help them. Dialogue is of course on cards.
They ride in with closeups showing their names; Lucky Day (Martin), Ned Nederlander (Short), and Dusty Bottoms (Chase). The best part, besides their names, is the heavy makeup they wear. The bandit leaders says they will die like dogs. Ned holds up his hand and says, “They will fight like lions.” It’s actually a fun Western, I would see it as a silent, love Ned giving a smile after shooting down a bandit. Carmen is thrilled by the movie. Then, the Amigos give their salute. Carmen, thinking it was a documentary, is convinced that the Amigos can help their village. She reads off the side of the film truck, the location of the studio, Goldsmith Pictures, then sends them a telegram. The typist says it will cost twenty-three pesos and they only have ten pesos, so he shortens El Guapo’s description to “infamous.” Then, we get the ragtime intro of the studio, “Home of the Three Amigos.” The studio head, Harry Flugelman (Joe Mantegna) tells the actors in their dapper suits the Amigos formula. Mantegna was in The Godfather Part III (1990) and also voices Fat Tony in The Simpsons. They smile before Flugelman adds that Those Darn Amigos had them in a Manhattan for a weekend, a box office failure.
Also, present is Sam (Phil Hartman) who asks Morty (Jon Lovitz) to pitch them the Cochise movie where they fight and then become friends. Of course, Hartman and Lovitz are SNL vets. Lucky leans in and refuses. He wants Amigo money. Flugelman walks over and then yells about actors telling him what to do sending the trio leaning back! He walks back and snaps at Sam for him to throw the Amigos out of the studio mansion. Sam again makes a call to take the Amigos clothes from Those Darn Amigos. Then, the Amigos are thrown off the lot, Lucky doesn’t despair. A telegraph immediately arrives! Ned explains that infamous means “more than famous”! Lucky climbs the wall and tries to use bird calls to get the attention of the others. Too funny! They dress heroically in their costumes and escape studio secruity. Back at the cantina, a German pilot with a scar on his face (Kai Wulff) enters, he tells the bartender (Fred Asparagus, seriously that’s his name) that he is looking for El Guapo. A drunk Cowboy (Michael Wren) wants to see his gun. Calmly, the German tells the bartender he is expecting “friends.” The drunk continues and the German faces him, a gunfight, and he guns him down and other armed men.
He tells the cantina to expect his friends and walks out of town. This when the stagecoach with the Three Amigos pulls up and the bodies are dragged away. They enter the cantina, everyone sees their guns, Lucky says to the bartender, “We’re not Mexicans.” The bartender asks them who they are with a wink. He tells them the message of the German. Dusty asks for a beer, the bartender says they only have tequila, Dusty asks what it is like, and the bartender says it’s like beer. I love the dialogue! All of the patrons watch them so Dusty goes to the piano so Lucky and Ned can sing a song, “My Little Buttercup.” This sequence just keeps me laughing at its absurdity. They leave the cantina and a bi-plane flies overhead, Ned identifies it as a Tuppan 601, which he flew in Little Neddy Goes to War. The film titles are funny. They leave as two Germans in suits, I recognize one as Brian Thompson, enter the cantina. The men at the second floor mock them and the Germans shoot them down. Rodrigo rushes into the church as Carmen prays and tells her about the Three Amigos. They go take them to Santa Poco, the Amigos all riding one large donkey!, the villagers don’t know what to think of them.
Carmen’s father, Papa Sanchez (Abel Franco) greets them, also there is lil' Pablo (Humberto Ortiz). At night, Lucky has heard from Rodrigo that they have to put on a show and run off El Guapo’s men. In the morning, El Guapo’s men are waiting, one says they should go into Santa Poco for tequila. A trio of the bandits ride towards the village. Washing laundry on the outskirts of the village, Carmen is asked which Amigo she likes and she says, “The one who is not so smart”, funny! Carmen warns Lucky about El Guapo. The bandits see The Three Amigos introduce themselves and are given the salute. They leap onto their horses and ride up to the bandits. Ned introduces the Amigos, but forgets his line, Dusty whispers it. Then, they ride around the bandits shooting their guns, the closeups are silly. El Guapo’s men ride away to tell him about the Amigos. Carmen and the rest of the villagers are happy, Papa Sanchez leads the cheer, “Viva Los Amigos!” At his hacienda, El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) gets the report about the Amigos. Arau played Juan in Romancing the Stone (1984) and directed Like Water for Chocolate (1992) based on the novel written by his wife IRL, Laura Esquivel, highly recommended!
His plan is to go into Santa Poco with 50 men. At night, all of Santa Poco celebrates with fireworks, dancing, and mariachi music! Rosita (Benita) flirts with Dusty. My favorite part is Ned telling the kids his story about Dorothy Gish! The next morning, they are wakened by the church bell, Carmen tells the sleepy Amigos about the arrival of El Guapo. The Three Amigos ride up to him and start their routine. Ned leans in to have El Guapo repeat the line, “You will die like dogs.” They start riding and shooting which amuses El Guapo. He has his second-in-command, El Jefe (Tony Plana) kill one of them. Plana was in the comedy Born in East L.A. (1987) and was in the movie Bombshell (2019). Lucky falls and the others help him up, Dusty patting his arm, which has a gunshot wound. He walks up to El Jefe and finds his gun has of course real bullets. Lucky realizes what is happening and walks back to the tell the Amigos that it is real. They all start to cry! They return to explain to El Guapo that they are actors, the bandit leader says he only kills men, the Amigos sigh in relief! The Amigos leave the village and El Guapo's men destroy some of the buildings! He takes away Carmen. They have to find the courage to be their characters and somehow stop El Guapo! Three Amigos is a comedy treasure, memorable comedy lines and characters, plus a clever story of Hollywood silent actors saving the day!
Five Amigo Costumes out of Five!
#ThreeAmigos, #JohnLandis, #SteveMartin, #MartinShort, #ChevyChase, #PatriceMartinez, #AlfonsoArau, #TonyPlana
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