¡Three Amigos!
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| ¡Three Amigos! | |
|---|---|
| Image:Three amigos ver2.jpg | |
| Directed by | John Landis |
| Produced by | Lorne Michaels George Folsey Jr. |
| Written by | Lorne Michaels Steve Martin |
| Starring | Chevy Chase Steve Martin Martin Short Joe Mantegna Jon Lovitz Phil Hartman Alfonso Arau Tony Plana |
| Cinematography | Ronald W. Browne |
| Editing by | Malcolm Campbell |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 12, 1986 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
| Ratings |
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¡Three Amigos! is a 1986 comedy western film, produced by George Folsey, Jr., and Lorne Michaels, and executive-produced by Steve Martin. John Landis directed for HBO Films. Chevy Chase ("Dusty Bottoms"), Steve Martin ("Lucky Day"), and Martin Short ("Ned Nederlander") took the title roles. Joe Mantegna, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman make cameo appearances. The movie was written by Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, and Randy Newman (who also contributed several original songs, including "The Ballad of the Three Amigos" and "My Little Buttercup"). The musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein.
"The Three Amigos" are bumbling, out-of-work silent film cowboy stars in 1916. They are invited to a small Mexican town to (they presume) perform their act. However, the townspeople have actually invited the trio to defend them from a terrifying band of outlaws. The townspeople, having seen too many of the Tom Mix-style westerns starring the Three Amigos (and apparently have also been influenced by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai), expect the trio to save them from the ravages of the local villains. After some misunderstandings, the Three Amigos eventually find themselves trading in their jobs acting as bandit hunters for jobs being bandit hunters. The comedy is highly visual and physical, but characters are also very quotable.
For instance, Dusty (Chevy Chase) has a moment of inept romance with one of the local girls:
- Rosita: I was thinking later, you could kiss me on the veranda.
- Dusty Bottoms: Lips would be fine.
Also memorable are the villainous characters of El Guapo, played by Mexican actor Alfonso Arau (perhaps familiar as one of the main villains in 1969's The Wild Bunch) and Jefe, played by Tony Plana. El Guapo and Jefe have become a popular meme outside of the film.
Example:
- Jefe: I have put many beautiful piñatas in the storeroom, each of them filled with little surprises!
- El Guapo: Many piñatas?
- Jefe: Oh yes, many!
- El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of piñatas?
- Jefe: A what?
- El Guapo: A plethora.
- Jefe: ...Oh yes. You have a plethora.
- El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
- Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
- El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora!
- Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo, I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education, but could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?
- El Guapo: Like what, Jefe?
- Jefe: Could it be because you are turning forty today?
- El Guapo: Naw!
- Jefe: Could it be because Carmen chooses to sleep in her cell, instead of with you?
- El Guapo: (shrugs) Eh.
- Jefe: Why don't you just take her? When you want cattle, you take the cattle. When you want food, you take the food. When you want a woman, you just take the woman. Why don't you just take her?
- El Guapo: Jefe, you do not understand women! You cannot force open the petals of a flower. When the flower is ready, it opens itself up to you.
- Jefe: So when do you think Carmen will... "open up her flower" to you?
- El Guapo: Tonight. Or I will kill her!
[edit] Trivia
Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman both had small cameos in the beginning of the film as Harry Flugleman's two assistants. Lovitz would later succeed Hartman on the TV series NewsRadio following Hartman's murder in 1998.
The film has four Saturday Night Live alumni in its cast--Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz. In addition, Steve Martin has also hosted the show numerous times. Also, both Lovitz and Hartman are members of the Groundlings improv group.
Sam Kinison had a role as a Mexican bandit but all of his scenes were cut from the film.
On The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, during an episode on which Chevy Chase promoted the film and Siskel & Ebert guested, Carson asked Roger Ebert what he thought the worst film of the holiday season was. Ebert's reply was "The Three Amigos." After a brief pause, Chase replied with, "Looking forward to your next movie." Carson then apologized, saying he wished he hadn't asked the question, and Ebert replied that he wished Carson hadn't, either. (According to Ebert, backstage after the show, Chase confessed that he hadn't liked the movie either.)
This Film was heavily promoted on Saturday Night Live, for a whole year, the poster to the show was center stage on the fake theater set. during a Penn and Teller Sketch they even promoted the film on the jumbotron above times square.
The Canadian animation company Nelvana did animatronic work for a talking turtle in one scene of the film.
[edit] Derivative presence
National Football League The NFL's Denver Broncos had 3 wide receivers who were collectively nicknamed "The Three Amigos". The "Amigos" (Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel) all played together on the team from 1987 to 1992.
Major League Baseball Three of the youngest pitchers on the resurgent 2006 Detroit Tigers' pitching staff, Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson, and Joel Zumaya are often referred to as the Three Amigos as they represent 3 top pitching prospects who have the potential to be dominant for years to come.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Eddie Guerrero (1967-2005), the Latino professional wrestler, also performed three consecutive vertical suplexes, which he nicknamed "The Three Amigos".
On Friday 22nd September 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment presented a special event in Tijuana, Mexico. After the main event, wrestlers Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Rey Mysterio, Jr. donned sombreros and thrust their hips in homage to the film. Actress Patrice Martinez played Carmen and actress Benita Marti played Rosita.
[edit] External link
Burglar (1987) - Malice (1993) - Spaceman (1997)
Partially worked on: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) ("The Faithful Wookiee" sequence) - ¡Three Amigos! (1986) (turtle animatronics)
