I'm for the Hippopotamus

1979 Italian film

1979 (1979)

Running time

104 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

I'm for the Hippopotamus (Italian: Io sto con gli ippopotami) is a 1979 Italian adventure comedy film directed by Italo Zingarelli and starring the film duo of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.^[1]

The film focuses on the rivalry between two cousins, with one of them intentionally undermining the other's safari expeditions. The cousins eventually have to team up against a common foe.

Plot

Two cousins engage in a semi-friendly rivalry at the beginning of the film. Hill's character occasionally ruins the other's hunting safaris. It turns out that Spencer's character is none too honest, either, since he gives his tourists rifles loaded with blanks so they can't hurt each other or the animals. The two have to team up to stop a villain, with plenty of comedy, eating, and mild violence.

Cast

Terence Hill as Slim
Bud Spencer as Tom
Joe Bugner as Ormond
May Dlamini as Mama Leone
Dawn Jürgens as Stella (Slim's lady-love)
Malcolm Kirk as Ormond's bald henchman
Ben Masinga as Jason
Les Marcowitz as Trixie, Ormond's short henchman
Johan Naude
Nick Van Rensburg
Hugh Rouse as Police Captain, arresting Slim and Tom
Mike Schutte as Ormond's henchman (German version: Lumpi)
Kosie Smith as Ormond's henchman with moustache (German version: Kopf, wie 'n Hauklotz)
Joseph Szucs
Sandy Nkomo as Senghor (Stella's father)

Soundtrack

As with many other Spencer & Hill films, its soundtrack and theme song "Grau Grau Grau" (both composed and performed by Walter Rizzati, with Spencer himself providing lead vocals on the song) became very popular in Italy at the time of the film's release, and are still popular among the duo's international fan base.