A bizarre comedy/western hybrid with star Terence Hill, who, with his usual partner Bud Spencer, was one of Italy's brightest stars back in the late '60s/'70s. Here, Hill goes it alone with this many-titled movie which rips-off the work of Sergio Leone at numerous points but still succeeds in being a unique little movie, mainly through the cross between silly jokes and slapstick humour and more action-orientated, old-fashioned western behaviour. While not an entirely successful movie, A GENIUS, TWO PARTNERS AND A DUPE moves fast, has a plot to keep your head spinning and is occasionally brilliant.Things start off as they mean to go on with that most clichéd of western traditions: the duel. Here, Hill's opponent is the inimitable Klaus Kinski who plays Doc Foster, a devious card-player with murder on his mind. Incredibly, Hill's gun flies out of his pocket to shoot Kinski's gun from his head, which gives you some idea of the surrealist humour to expect in this movie. After this initial set-up, which doesn't bear much relevance to the rest of the film other than to play with Leone's conventions and introduce the cocky, joking Hill, the complex plot begins.What happens is far too detailed to go into here, and I would be lying if I said that I was fully following what was going on throughout. Basically it involves Hill and his cohorts trying to outwit Patrick McGoohan's Major Cabot, who in turn is trying to outwit them. Along the way a tribe of western-dressed Indians, that old staple of the Great Western-Pacific Railway and numerous minor characters get involved. Like Leone, director Damiano Damiani plays with the camera at points, dwelling on moments of silence in some instances and going over the top with others. Ennio Morricone's score is a great asset, as it plays with many classical music pieces as a counterpoint to the on screen action.My favourite parts of the film were all at the end, with various characters chasing each other in a very old-fashioned way. Some of these scenes are hilarious, like when Hill and some chasing guards hurdle over a number of barriers while a Beethoven riff plays over the action. It has to be seen to be believed. The characterisation is also strong in the leading characters, who have a touch of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY about them in that generally they all hate each other and spend the movie fighting amongst themselves. Hill's smug presence takes some getting used to but he fits the bill well, and has enough charisma to carry it off; Charlebois is good as the gruff drunk caught up and lost amid the craziness, and the bizarrely named Miou-Miou is perfect as the token female. McGoohan gives a memorable performance and has one of the most amusing voices ever, whilst the supporting cast flesh out their roles with effectiveness.Allover, not a great film, certainly not up there with the Leone westerns, but more of a fun take on them instead. While I may not have enjoyed all of the movie, Damiani's direction is at times inspired and deserves some credit. I'm sure that in time I'll get to see more of these Italian comedy/westerns and perhaps find out what they're all about.

"A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot" also titled "Trinity Is Back Again" is a Western satire with a bemusing premise , there is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts , fights or stunts every few minutes ; however , being regularly directed by Damiano Damiani . It's an improbable blending of standard Western , tongue-in-cheek , silly humor , Comic-book and realized in Spaghetti/Fagioli/Trinity(Terence Hill-Bud Spencer) style . It deals with an expert conman named Joe Thanks (Terence Hill) who remembers the character ¨Nobody¨ from ¨Il Mio Nome e Nessuno¨ or ¨My name is Nobody¨ by Tonino Valeri . Joe teams up with Mestizo Bill Locomotiva (Canadian singer , Robert Charlebois) and naive Lucy (Moiu Miou) to rob a lot of money from a nasty Army officer . Joe is a genius with several qualities as ubiquity , controlling space and time and fast gun . As three rogues set out to steal $300,000 from an Indian-hating cavalry major Cabot (miscast Patrick McGoohan) supported by his Sergeant Milton (Raimund Harmstorf) . Their elaborate scheme is full of disguises , treason , and pursuits , but Joe along with half-breed Steamengine Bill always seem to know what they are doing . The two gunmen using his wits , break all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants carry out their objectives .Spaghetti/Schnitzel/Paté Western parody co-produced by Italy/Germany/France , it is packed with ridiculous situations , noisy action , exaggerated roles and lots of silly humor .This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western in which three diverse characters joining forces to rob a cache of money . This amusing as well as absurd picture contains a funny plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and embarrassing humor . During filming took place a distress , parts of the original camera negative were stolen , so the film makers had no choice but to assemble many scenes from alternate takes , until today the original negative has not been found It displays an entertaining screenplay written by usual Ernesto Gastaldi , but shot by a filmmaker with no sense of humor . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . This overlong film mingles slapdash, silly scenes , chases , double-crosses and it's fast moving and embarrassing .There appears customary Spaghetti actors such as Benito Stefanelli , Mario Brega , Raimund Harmstorf , Reno Girone , Rik Battaglia , and of course Klaus Kinski . The musician Ennio Morricone , composes a jolly soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted. Colorful cinematography plenty of barren outdoors , sunny landscapes under a glimmer sun , stunningly photographed by Giuseppe Ruzzolini on location in Monument Valley , Utah , a favorite place habitually used by John Ford and also Sergio Leone , here producer . This was a failed farewell in Western genre from Sergio Leone , and ordinary secondary actors as Mario Brega and Klaus Kinski as a grumpy gunfighter who is ridiculed by the genius Terence Hill . The motion picture was middlingly directed by Damiano Damiani and lavishly produced by Fulvio Morsella and Sergio Leone . Damiani's so-so direction is regularly crafted, here he's mostly cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and too much action especially on its ending part . Damiano is an expert on all kind of genres as Drama (¨Arthur's island¨ , ¨The Most Beautiful Wife" , ¨The witch¨ , and ¨Empty canvas¨ based on the Alberto Moravia novel) , Terror (Amytiville 2 : the possession) , Historical (¨The Inquiry¨) , Spaghetti Western (¨Trinity is back again¨and the prestigious ¨A bullet for the General¨ again with Klaus Kinski) . Damiani was specialized on crime-thriller-Subgenre or Italian cop thriller (¨Confessions of a Police captain¨ , ¨How to kill a judge¨, ¨The case is closed , forget it¨, "Goodbye e amen" , ¨Mafia¨, "I Am Afraid" and ¨Warning¨ starred by Martin Balsam) . Rating : Average , 5 . Only for Terence Hill fans .

While many people claim that "A Genius, Two Partners, and a Dupe" is a sequel to "My Name Is Nobody", it really isn't - Terence Hill's character here has a different name, and it's taking place before the events of MNIN. Sequel or not, what we have here is a very disappointing spaghetti western, one of the last that was made. For the longest time, there simply isn't any plot to be found. And when the plot DOES start, it unfolds in a very confusing manner. Klaus Kinski fans will be let down by the fact that he only appears for a few minutes. (He only seems to be in the film enough so that the movie could get German funding - the movie is an Italian, French, and German co-production.) Terence Hill is charming as ever, there is a great score by Ennio Morricone, and the scenery is fantastic, so the movie isn't a complete loss. Still, I would only recommend this to spaghetti western enthusiasts - and even they might find this tough to sit through.

Spaghetti Westerns are Clint Eastwood to the average dork like me. Apparently they also meant high camp comedy to many in Europe. The DVD information says this movie took more lira in Italy than 'The Good Bad and Ugly'. The comedy spaghetti was family fare apparently. What a flight of whimsical ideas this one turned out to be. The spaghetti western era ended with this one. An idea that had travelled so far that it had finally arrived backwards and inside-out. Very strange.Klaus Kinski gets dubbed out of earshot and Terence Hill has the voice of a girl with the blue-eyed, doe-eyed smile of an angel. No wonder Patrick McGoohan dug deep in his own character-filled pockets for an inspired way to project his cavalry h'Officer. Yes, he came up with the, possibly, historically accurate idea of a Thomas Meagher...."I am an American". He looks dreadfully sun burnt too. Location filming in Monument Valley did his Celtic skin no good at all. This movie can only be viewed as episodic, a series of set-pieces. I am sometimes annoyed by McGoohan's accents as they blur his diction and my enjoyment of his delivery. This time, his accent is SO inspired, SO unpredicted, why, it's Genius !!