Enzo Barboni, professionally known as E.B. Clucher, was a renowned filmmaker who made a significant impact on the Italian western genre, particularly through his parodic and humorous Trinity series. Born in 1922, Barboni began his career as a car operator in 1942 and later transitioned to director of photography in 1961 with the film The Two Marshals, directed by Sergio Corbucci.
Simultaneously, he started working as a screenwriter, eventually making his directorial debut in 1970 with Ciakmull - The Man of Revenge, a traditional Western that did not achieve much success. However, his next film, Called Trinity..., starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, whom he also wrote the subject and screenplay with, became a cult classic and exceeded expectations, resulting in one of the highest-grossing films of the time.
The success of Trinity was largely attributed to the irony and humor Barboni brought to the rigid and cold western genre. This led to the creation of a sequel, Trinity..., which was also a huge commercial success in 1971. Barboni went on to direct three more films with Hill and Spencer: Crime Busters (1977),Go for It (1983),and Double Trouble (1984).
Barboni's production style was notable for its family-friendly content, which audiences appreciated until the early 1980s. Although the Trinity series was no longer as successful, and the spaghetti western genre as a whole entered a deep crisis from which it has not recovered, Barboni continued to write for other films.
Eventually, he retired, and his son Marco Tullio took over, writing films such as Trinità & Bambino... e adesso tocca a noi! (1995),an unsuccessful attempt to revive the Trinity franchise. Heath Kizzier and Keith Neubert, US actors, were featured in the film. Enzo Barboni passed away in 2002, just a few days shy of his 80th birthday.
