Chi Trova un Amico, Trova un Tesoro

A friend is a treasure!

As usual for Hill and Spencer movies, they are two self centered and greedy characters, who basically care only for themselves, but still manage to do the right thing when the time comes,  you know after all, their films can be recommended for youngsters to find family values shaped under very entertaining adventures. Hill & Spencer don't waste time teaching values the old school way, they rely on their fists to fight all sorts of sinful temptations to become a couple that saves the day doing the right thing.

Hill and Spencer could easily be the modern day equivalent of everymen. The only thing that has them motivated (in any of their movies) is greed for money, because they don't have it and are prepared to do many things to get it (although they would never really cross the border of the law).

In this case there's an old uncle with a treasure map and his nephew (Hill), who doesn't really believe him, but once he gambled away all of the mafia's money, the treasure seems to be the only way out for him. So he hides away on a sailboat as a last possible way to get away from the pursuers. The captain (Spencer) is only doing this trip with the sailboat to get the money from the sponsor Puffin (making a product he hates himself). And after they loose the boat (as usual Hill dragged Spencer in the middle of it all) they have nothing left but the treasure to search for.

Outta ma' boat landluber!

As with other similar movies like "Go For It", "Crime Busters", "Double Trouble" or "Odds and Evens" Spencer is a grouchy leave-me-alone character and Hill the happy-go-lucky character. The first half an hour is a way to bring these two everymen in a situation where the slapstick comedy occurs. Although always shallow, the plot is plausible enough to let you settle in it and the opening part of the movie, when they are just getting to the point, is as always the funniest, for it doesn't rely on slaps and punches.

After the landing on the island with the treasure the slapstick comedy gets on the way. So expect punches, kicks, slaps and many hurt bad guys. And as usual there is the reward to be had, so they find the treasure - still they can't get rich off it. It's never that easy, so just like the real modern everyman they are left more or less empty handed in the end.

All in all a very amusing and simple movie, that would fall in the category of upbeat movies that will brighten your day, even though when you really think about it, you'll see it has a lot more to offer than it first seems. 

From up here I can see the nude natives taking sunbaths.

I humbly ask you to go on a diet mama.

The Unofficial Terence Hill & Bud Spencer Trivia

1. "Who finds a friend, finds a treasure" is the fourteenth movie collaboration of Italian comedy duo Terence Hilland Bud Spencer.
 The name of the island was "Pongo Pongo". It was also know as "Chow Key". Both were fictional names. One of the track's on the film's soundtrack is called "Corbucci's Island", the name of the movie's director being Sergio Corbucci.
 
2. It is mentioned during the movie that it is thirty-six years after the Second World War. As such, this sets the movie taking place around 1981 which is the year the film was first released. The World War II Japanese tank seen was not a real life WWII Jap tank nor replica nor was it based on either. The tank was especially built for the film and was designed as some kind of generic tank but without any actual specific historical design.   

3. Terence Hill says the line "He who finds a friend finds a treasure" in the earlier Terence Hill-Bud Spencer movie "Miami Supercops".  Ironically, a line spoken at the end of this film by Terence Hill was not "Who finds a friend finds a treasure" but "Who loses a treasure finds a friend". 

That's a whole lot of outdated benjamins you got there sr.

So here's where you've been fapping all these years my jap friend.

4. The amount of treasure money there was on the island amounted to $3,470,923.
 
5. The name of Charlie O'Brien (Bud Spencer)'s boat was "Puffin" whilst the name of the bikie-pirate gang's catamaran was "Trick".
 
6. The birth names of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer are Mario Girotti and Carlo Pedersoli respectively.
 
7. The movie's joke closing statement read: "The director and the entire production sincerely thank the people and authorities of "The Island" for their courteous and generous collaboration during the shooting of this film, and they solemnly promise never to return nor to reveal to anyone the location of this last unspoiled paradise". "The Island" the movie was actually shot at was Key Biscayne in Florida, USA.
 
8. The picture had three English language titles. They are: "A Friend Is a Treasure", "Keep your hands off the island" and "Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure" which is the more accurate translation from the original italian title.

Overall, Who Finds  a Friend, Finds a Treasure  is a very entertaining sunday afternoon type of film. What it lacks in originality is highly compensated by the gags & action scenes. Perhaps it is a film that not every regular enthusiast would enjoy as much as a Hill/Spencer connoisseur would but,  who isn't a Spencer/Hill connoisseur anyways?

Next entries will be about a couple of very interesting Bud Spencer's solo flicks.

PS: the recently introduced Trivia section was inspired by the suggestion of Ruta Flashback, a good blogger friend. Thanks for all the comments you make!

Here's the cool movie trailer:

Alright, you deserve it! here is the entire film courtesy of YouTube: