Three Amigos!

Three Amigos! is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film’s songs), and starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau, Tony Plana, Patrice Martinez, Jon Lovitz and Joe Mantegna. It was released in the UK on 12th June 1987.

It is the story of three, down on their luck, American silent film stars, ‘Ned Nederlander’, ‘Lucky Day’, and ‘Dusty Bottoms’ who play ‘Lone Ranger’ types in their movies are mistaken for real heroes by the suffering people of a small Mexican village in 1916. The actors must find a way to live up to their reputation and stop a malevolent group of bandits lead by El Guapo.

The production went through many cast changes before filming. Martin had been attached to the project since 1980 and he, Dan Aykroyd, and John Belushi were originally going to star. At one point, Steven Spielberg was slated to direct; he wanted Martin, Bill Murray, and Robin Williams to play Lucky, Dusty, and Ned, respectively. Landis has said that Rick Moranis would have been cast as Ned had Short been unavailable. When Aykroyd became unavailable, Chase replaced him. John Candy was set for the role originally intended for Belushi, but was too large to ride a horse. Candy recommended Short to Martin, as they had worked together at SCTV. Martin and Short then became close friends and continued to perform together.