A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot

An amiable con man sets out to land a big score from a man even less honorable than himself in this comic spaghetti western. Joe Thanks (Terence Hill) is a swindler and quick-draw artist who wanders into a dusty little town after literally falling out of a stagecoach while asleep. After besting card-sharp Doc Foster (Klaus Kinski) in a public shootout, Joe reconnects with his old friend Steam Engine Bill (Robert Charlebois), who is traveling with his beautiful but dizzy-headed girlfriend Lucy (Miou-Miou). Joe has learned that Major Cabot (Patrick McGoohan), an officer in the U.S. Cavalry, is escorting a $300,000 fortune that's been earmarked for Indian relief efforts; however, Cabot has no intention of actually delivering the cash, so Joe hatches a scheme to take it for himself. Bill, who bears a slight resemblance to Cabot, will pose as the officer and intercept the money, but when Bill and Lucy are found out and jailed, Joe must come to their rescue. While his name does not appear in the credits, Sergio Leone is said to have co-produced Un Genio, Due Compari, Un Pollo (aka A Genius, Two Partners, and a Dupe) and directed the pre-credit sequence, with Damiano Damiani helming the rest of the picture and receiving screen credit. In Germany, the film was released as Nobody ist der Grosste (aka Nobody is the Greatest) and marketed as an unofficial sequel to Il Mio Nome e Nessuno (aka My Name Is Nobody).