Sergio Leone was sort of a Tarantino from the 70's in how he made films all based on style and an exaggerated thick sense of humor. The issue is a film based on style will always by default lack in content and will always struggle hard to give meaning to itself. This is a completely cartoonish, slow Leone where if you're not absolutely in love with the humor, stylistic editing and atmosphere, you might be in for a long, long viewing. It runs just under 2hrs, so quite far from the "Once Upon a Time..." endeavor. But still. A joke may be excellent but it loses its excellence when it's repeated a million times in a row.It's just as slow as Once Upon a Time, but proportional to its run time so feels a tad less lethargic, not a difficult task by any means, and carries a tad more spontaneous rhythm. It's more on the funnier side, and is actually funny on a rare few couple of occasions and the fact it's a comedy certainly helps to make this more watchable.The constant overdubs, dodgy editing and visual/camera quality along with how grotesquely silly and self-indulgent the film is definitely give it a certain B film tone.People shoot their guns at stuff, all the time, at everything: at other people, hats, guns, glasses, billiard balls... it never gets bored with itself.It's fun for about an hour but then loses itself in completely lazy sequences that are unsubtle, and really quite vacant a lot of the time. It gets redundant and trapped into itself rather quickly. One finds himself wondering where the film went, where it's going.The moral at the end is too ordinary and clichéd and uncharacteristic for the film, feels out of place.So if you love Leone, for whatever personal reason, that's that. If you're not a fan, there's practically nothing to keep out of this, on any level really.4/10.

My Name is Nobody (1973) is sometimes silly, sometimes clumsy, often brilliant, but always entertaining. The basic story line is about a young gunfighter who manipulates his idol into a final grand act that would make him a legend. My Name is Nobody is a remarkable unique addition to the Spaghetti western genre, although maybe that uniqueness grew of circumstances. The film is much more complex than just another comic film with Terence Hill. It is four types of the westerns rolled into one:1) A classic American John Ford western represented by Henry Fonda. 2) A revisionist western from the late sixties/early seventies with references to Sam Peckinpah and The Wild Bunch (complete with slow motion deaths, not standard in Italian westerns). 3) A Sergio Leone western with another memorable score by Ennio Morricone. 4) A Trinity-style western with Terence Hill (but without Bud Spencer) parodying the Italian "Man-With-No-Name" icon.John Ford was from Irish descent and is considered the most important director of westerns in American cinema. He did not invent the genre but he certainly defined it. Maybe one of Leone's fantasies was that he would produce the last western of his idol John Ford. My Name is Nobody ends with a long monologue which is very unusual for a western and even more unusual for a Sergio Leone production. The monologue is delivered off screen by regular Ford-actor Henry Fonda. It could be that this monologue was Leone's wish of how he wanted to be remembered and appreciated by his idol: continuing the western genre in "his own funny way" and becoming a Somebody like his idol. Which is the basic theme of the film. Of course in reality the last film John Ford directed was released in 1966 and by then the old master had long lost interest in the movie business. So he probably never heard of Sergio Leone. Also in the monologue Henry Fonda calls himself a National Monument (which Fonda certainly had become at that point), during that line behind Fonda a boat passes with the name: President. The point being in case we still didn't get it: one of the early starring roles for Henry Fonda was Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) directed by John Ford.The uneven tone of My Name is Nobody can also be contributed to the fact that the film had two directors. After Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Duck You Sucker (1971), Leone wanted to continue producing Sergio Leone-westerns, but mainly directed by one of his assistants/admirers. The name of Sergio Leone appears three times during the credits of My Name is Nobody, just to make it clear who is the true author. It is still unclear who directed what, but the input of Tonino Valerii should not be underestimated. He had previously proved to be a good director with the Italian westerns Day of Anger (1967) and especially The Price of Power (1969), the first film ever that supports the theory that the President Kennedy assassination was a conspiracy. So Valerii was much more than a glorified assistant.In 1964 A Fistful of Dollars put unknown director Sergio Leone, Italian composer Ennio Morricone and American TV actor Clint Eastwood on the map. The sequel For a Few Dollars More (1965) defined the Italian western and broke all box office records in Europe. It became the most successful Italian film ever made. Even the third sequel and more famous The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) released a year later did not break this record. The main reason was that in 1965 Leone had little competition, but because of the juggernaut success of For a Few Dollars More, everybody in Italy was making westerns the following years. Among them was Django of Sergio Corbucci, which was also a big smash at the box office.Five years after the release of For a Few Dollars More, two comic spaghetti westerns pushed the two Sergio's from their number one spot: They Call Me Trinity (1970) and the even more successful sequel Trinity Is Still My Name (1971).The Trinity films were comic spaghetti-westerns for all ages and they are considered to be the death of the serious spaghetti western. But in truth the genre had already peaked in the years 1967-1968. After Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Corbucci's The Great Silence (1968) there was nowhere to go but down. So if the genre had to be killed, then there was no better way than to do it with big belly laughs. The Trinity films broke all box office records in Italy and would hold that record for more than a decade. It made international stars of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer and although it was already their fourth and fifth collaboration, this was the first full time comedy they did. They would repeat this formula mostly in modern day settings with 10 more movies, until 1985 when the Trinity formula had played itself out. Spencer and Hill would have one more reunion in 1994 with the disappointing Troublemakers.Sergio Leone in the early seventies must have thought: "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". So he produced a film with the star of the Trinity films in the lead. It kind of worked, since My Name is Nobody made more money than the first Trinity film, but did not break the record of the sequel. So Leone did not reclaim his throne at the box office. But appropriately My Name is Nobody was the last western Henry Fonda did and was released in the same year Leone's idol John Ford died. It was not the last Italian western released, but My Name is Nobody should be considered as a remarkable epitaph to the spaghetti western.

In or quickly approaching the year 1899, western gunslinger Henry Fonda (as Jack Beauregard) gets a shave and haircut. Due to his legendary status, Mr. Fonda must make sure the barber doesn't get carried away with his razor. Remaining calm, quick-draw Fonda draws attention from other baddies around the barbershop. After escaping, the barber's son asks if anyone is faster on the draw than Fonda. "Faster than him? Nobody," the barber replies. As he is getting older, Fonda would like to hang up his holster. Given his reputation, Fonda decides Europe would be a safe place, but he may not make it there before getting gunned down by upstarts or old enemies. It's true "Nobody" is faster than Fonda, so what if he meets "Nobody" on the way outta Dodge...Fonda fittingly meets "Nobody" in the form of handsome young gunslinger Terence Hill. For most of the running time, Mr. Hill takes the camera's attention. Fonda becomes a supporting player, although his voice-over in the last act commands co-starring status...This is a fine film, apart from some slapstick and "fast-motion" that feels dated. It seems intent on being a comedy, but elicits less than the desired laughter. The real worth is under the surface. We have a very impressive new actor (Hill) taking the screen from a legend (Fonda). This parallels the new gunslinger emerging to replace the old. Moreover, there is the "new" western taking over, here in the "spaghetti western" genre of Sergio Leone with the modern Sam Peckinpah version referenced strongly. Even the turn of the century can be called into action. Hill and director Tonino Valerii are an exemplary team, with photographer Giuseppe Ruzzolini contributing strongly. Now, if only the surreal was more prominent than the slapstick.******* My Name Is Nobody (12/13/1973) Tonino Valerii, Sergio Leone ~ Terence Hill, Henry Fonda, Jean Martin

A fun parody of Western clichés that never becomes stale and gibing Spaghetti genre. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes. There are also many fine technicians and stunning direction and excellent production design with magnificent scenarios. It deals with a young, soft-hearted gunfighter (a cocky Terence Hill) who worships and competes with a veteran outlaw named Jack Beauregard (awesome Henry Fonda), once the greatest gunslinger of the Old West who only wants to retire but instead they band together . He arranges for Beauregard to take on the 150-man band known as The Wild Bunch . Both of them oblivious to dangers and hopeless odds endure mishaps and adventures and they attempt to right wrongs . At the end takes place a spectacular duel earning his place in history between the easygoing gunslinger and the famous retired outlaw he reveres .It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdowns between the protagonists and their enemies full of shots , explosions , thrills and deaths . Spoofs every Western clichés with relentless comedy , parodying ordinary Spaghetti elements . The main premise results to be the confrontation between Old West represented by Henry Fonda and new West mirrored on Terence Hill character. The storyline has some embarrassment and ridiculous , silly situations but also has its agreeable moments here and there. It's a Spaghetti western with humor and develops the usual issues : invincible antiheroes, spectacular gun-down , violent taking on but united to slapstick and simple humor. It's an entertaining Italian western with overlong runtime in which there are irony, tongue-in-cheek, shootouts, numerous showdowns and is quite funny and amusing . This bemusing picture with Spaghetti all-star-cast contains an entertaining plot , action Western , shoot'em up and bits of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Western, irony and continuous duels with no sense . An enjoyable premise and interesting casting full of usual Spaghetti make this oater well worth the watching . Delightful Western satire in which two gunmen using his wits , break all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has fifteen minutes in excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be a little tiring . Fonda and Hill steal the show as two improbable heroes , they are very fine, they ravage the screen, , hit , shoot and kill .There is even a homage to ¨Orson Welles's The lady from Shangai¨ when at a Mirror Fun House takes place a duel between Hill and his enemies . Terence Hill is nice as a good guy , hilarious and likable , known only as "Nobody", idolizes Fonda and wants to see him go out in a blaze of glory. Here Hill plays a similar character to ¨They call me trinity¨ and ¨Trinity is still my name¨. Henry Fonda is first-rate as a rough, two-fisted old gunman but with good heart. There appears customary Spaghetti actors as Piero Lulli , Mario Brega , Benito Steffanelli , Antonio Molino Rojo and notorious American secondaries as Geoffrey Lewis , Steve Kanaly , Leo Gordon and R.G. Armstrong . Lively but commercial musical score by the great Ennio Morricone . Colorful cinematography plenty of barren outdoors , sunny landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets on the action scenes shot by excellent cameraman Giuseppe Ruzzolini , filmed in US and Spain as La Calahorra, Granada, Andalucía, (railway scenes) , Almeria ; USA : Colorado New Orleans, Louisiana, White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mogollon, Acoma Mexico, USA .The motion picture lavishly produced by Fulvio Morsella and Sergio Leone , being well directed by Tonino Valeri . Tonino 's so-so direction is well crafted, here he's mostly cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and too much action especially on its ending part . Valeri is an expert on Western as proved in ¨The hired gun ¨ , ¨A reason to live , a reason to die¨ with James Coburn and Telly Savalas , ¨The price of power ¨ with Giuliano Gemma and Van Heflin , ¨The day of anger ¨ with Lee van Cleef and ¨ Taste of Killing¨ with Craig Hill and George Martin .