Charleston (1977)

One of my guilty cinematic pleasures is undoubtedly watching the films of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, either in solo starring efforts or their buddy comedies.  Yes, I know that they are decidedly lowbrow slapstick comedies, apparently aimed at twelve year old boys, but they still appeal to the twelve year old boy in me.  They are also hugely reassuring, not only taking me back to my twelve year old self, but also positing me back in a world of black and white simplicity - the good guys, generally in the form of simple working class blokes, always triumph over the forces of evil, who are typically slick, but incompetent high rollers with pretensions of sophistication, through a combination of guile and brute force.  Of late the streaming service Pluto TV has been screening a number of their films on their movie channels.  Most, like Odds and Evens, Crimebusters and Who Finds a Friend, Finds a Treasure (all starring both Hill and Spencer), along with Banana Joe (Spencer only) and Super Snooper (Hill only), I was already familiar with.  But they've also turned up some, like Even Angels Eat Beans (Spencer with Giuliani Gemma clearly standing in for Hill), that I hadn't seen before.  Watching them inspired me to dig a bit further into their respective back catalogues for some less well known items and I came up with the Bud Spencer solo effort Charleston (1977).

As always, before discussing the film, I have to give the proviso that what I'm basing my observations upon is an English-language version of the film which, inevitably is edited and dubbed and therefore might not be entirely representative of the original.  This version of Charleston, for instance, runs nearly fifteen minutes shorter than the Italian version and features Bud Spencer with yet another different voice, (it sounds like the guy who sometimes dubbed Jean-Paul Belmondo in the late seventies), and several recognisable British actors dubbed with voices other than their own.  This film should also not be confused with a 1974 Italian film which had the same English language title, (interestingly, it was a non-Bud Spencer starring sequel to the aforementioned Bud Spencer vehicle  Even Angels Eat Beans).  I must admit that Charleston surprised me somewhat  upon viewing it - the film was clearly designed to be something of a departure for Spencer, firmly casting him against type and eschewing much of the slapstick action and physicality of his usual vehicles.  Bud Spencer typically played unsophisticated, gruff, working class types, (a docker in Crimebusters, for instance, or a trucker in Odds and Evens), who generally leave the scheming to Terence Hill (or his substitutes), preferring to resolve situations with fists and formidable strength.  Here, however, he is sophisticated upmarket con man Charleston, who teams up with some hapless former associates to spin an incredibly complex sting against American gangster James Coco.  Indeed, 'sting' is an apt description for what unfolds, as one of the film's inspirations is clearly the hugely popular Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie The Sting.

Instead of depression-era New York, though, Charleston is mainly set in then present day London.  Which means that there are lots of shots of various Central London locations familiar to tourists, not to mention quite a bit of footage shot in various luxury hotel suites.  The plot which unfolds against this background is complex and careful viewing is required to keep abreast of all the developments. The catalyst id Coco's loss-making casino ship, based in the Mediterranean, which he is desperate to divest himself of - he is constantly calling the captain, trying to persuade him to somehow sink the ship so that he can collect the insurance.  When this fails, Coco's crooked lawyer sets up a scheme whereby he lets it known that he fronting for a third party desirous of purchasing a passenger vessel for five million pounds (far above its value at current market rates), in the hope that someone will chance their arm by offering Coco at least three million for his ship in order to resell at a profit to the non-existent third party.  Of course, when the sale is made, the 'buyer' will vanish, leaving the suckers with a loss-making ship and Coco three million richer.  A group of small time con artists in London take the bait, but don't believe that the job is too big for them, so call in former associate Charleston.

Charleston, obviously, sees through Coco's scheme and plans to out-con him, securing the unwitting assistance of Scotland Yard Inspector Herbert Lom along the way.  In a complicated bit of business which involves Spencer donning a turban and pretending to be an Indian art expert, the gang succeed in stealing a valuable painting that Lom happens to own, (judging by his house and art collection, he's either overpaid or on the take), ensuring that the Inspector suspects Charleston of being involved in the theft.  Lom makes contact with Charleston, who convinces him that he wasn't responsible for the theft, but rather that Coco was behind it, offering to help Lom recover the painting and bring Coco to justice.  Meanwhile, Charleston, now in the guise of a theatrical impresario, makes contact with Coco and does a deal to buy the ship.  Using the theatre and the troupe of performers he has employed there under the pretext of rehearsing a show, the gang create a fake news report, piped exclusively to Coco's hotel room TV set, claiming that the ship has been sunk after being caught in the middle of an Arab-Israeli conflict.  Realising that he would make more from the insurance pay out than from selling the ship to Charleston, Coco dispatches his lawyer to the theatre to buy it back - for five million pounds.  Coco, however, realises that he has been duped and unsuccessfully tries to call the lawyer at the theatre (his inability to use phones has been a running gag throughout), so sends some heavies around instead.  In what turns out to be the only sequence of violent mayhem one might expect from a Bud Spencer film, the heavies are dealt with by the theatre troupe and Charleston, before he signs the ship back to Coco.  In the final act, before Coco can organise any reprisals against Charleston and his gang, Lom raids his hotel room, finding his stolen painting there.  

All-in-all, quite a departure for Bud Spencer, which will come as a surprise to Hill/Spencer fans.  The question is, does it work?  Well, Spencer is a decent enough actor that, even with the handicap of dubbing on the English version, that he isn't entirely unconvincing as a sophisticated con artist.  Certainly, he is far more restrained than he is in most of his roles, with none of the usual double takes and exaggerated reactions familiar from his films with Hill. There is also none of the sentimentality you usually find in Spencer's characters in his usual films, where he generally cast as the gruff, beer-drinking outsider who conceals a heart of gold beneath his ill-tempered and misanthropic exterior.  Charleston is a smoothly efficient character, rarely moved to extremes of reaction, remaining cool in the face of potential threats and set-backs and is both personable and cunning.  (More like the characters usually played by his erstwhile partner Ternence Hill, in fact).  As noted, the only time we see anything like Spencer's usual movie persona is right at the end, when he wades in to deal with Coco's heavies.  Simply seeing Spencer doing something different is, in itself, quite fascinating and worth watching the film for.

The main problem with Charleston is that, despite the strong presence of Spencer and a pretty decent supporting cast, not to mention a complicated plot with plenty of ins and outs, it never really seems to take off.  As a comedy-thriller it is neither comedic enough, nor thrilling enough.  Spencer's more restrained character and performance means that the usual slapstick and broad comedic shenanigans falls upon the shoulders of Coco who, although being very experienced in this sort of role, is given little to work with, (the whole business with his phone difficulties soon become tiresome).  Likewise, Charleston's sidekicks, (who include Geoffrey Bayldon and Ronald Lacey - both dubbed into English with other people's voices), are neither defined as characters sufficiently, nor given enough to do, in order to add much in the way of comedy.  While Herbert Lom has clearly been cast to capitalise upon his appearances in the Pink Panther films, his police Inspector never rises to to tragi-comic heights of Chief Inspector Dreyfus, being both under-written and under-utilised.  As for the thriller aspects, the problem is that there is never any sense of threat to the protagonists - Coco's character is such a buffoon and Charleston clearly so much smarter than him, that he simply doesn't pose a credible threat.  (Interestingly, Charleston comes over as being just as invulnerable and indestructible as Spencer's regular characters, albeit because of his brains rather than his brawn).  A curious aspect of the film is that it has no significant female roles - perhaps not entirely surprising as that sort of thing is usually left to Terence Hill's (or his surrogate's) characters.  But as there is no Hill equivalent in Charleston, (in most aspects, the title character fulfils his usual functions as the weaver of complex get-rich-quick schemes), there is no need for a female lead to provide a love interest.

While not entirely successful as a comedy-thriller, Charleston does, nonetheless, provide a reasonably enjoyable ninety minutes or so of entertainment.  Certainly, it is worth watching for Bud Spencer completists, particularly as it offers a chance to see him stretch himself a bit playing a less familiar role than usual and represents a definite change of pace for him.  Some of the film is very much of its era: Spencer in blackface as an Indian, for instance, seems jarring, (not to mention ludicrous) now.  It also offers some great shots of seventies London - a London I remember form childhood, (we regularly visited relatives in the capital during the seventies and always ended up driving around the landmarks seen here).  When all is said and done, though, I must admit that, despite Charleston's merits, I did miss the mass brawls and low humour of the regular Bud Spencer vehicles of this era.  Or rather, the twelve year old in me missed them.