''Adios Amigo'' is a 1976 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written, produced and directed by

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

, who also stars in the lead role. The film co-stars

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

and James Brown.

Premise

A frontier con man (Richard Pryor) tries scams that never work, leaving his partner (Fred Williamson) behind to explain.

Cast

as Ben "Big Ben" *

as Sam Spade * James Brown as Sheriff * Robert Phillips as Notary * Mike Henry as Mary's Husband

Production

The idea for the project came from Pryor's initial frustration of being rejected from starring in

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

's '' Blazing Saddles'' after collaborating with him on the screenplay, and Williamson's dislike of the finished film, which he considered silly. The goal was to make a comedy that would still be realistic to its Western setting, and which would allow Pryor to work without restraint. The initial script was only 12 pages, with Williamson encouraging Pryor to ad-lib scenarios in a suggested scene. Principal photography took only nine days.

Reception

Ultimately, both Williamson and Pryor were disappointed with the results. "I wanted to give him an idea, a concept, and then just turn the light on him and let him do whatever he wanted. You know what they say about comedians that you can just open the refrigerator door and the light comes on, the jokes roll on out. Well, Richard's light didn't come on," said Williamson. In an interview with ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

'' shortly after the movie came out, Pryor said, "Tell them I apologize. Tell them I needed some money. Tell them I promise not to do it again." Despite the negative opinions of its stars, the film garnered a positive review from Gene Siskel. During a ''Sneak Previews'' "Dog of the Week" segment, often devoted to low-budget films cashing in on name star appearances, Siskel mentioned approaching ''Adios Amigo'' as a potential "dog" because it didn't sound like a good movie in previews, but found it to be a very funny and enjoyable film that resulted in him stating that he had no "dog" selection after all for that week's show.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adios Amigo 1976 films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films Blaxploitation films Films directed by Fred Williamson American slapstick comedy films 1976 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films