The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 1968 Western comedy film starring Don Knotts. It was directed by Alan Rafkin and written by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.
The film is a remake of The Paleface, a 1948 movie starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell.
Plot summary
Jesse W. Haywood graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. As a "city slicker", he finds himself bungling in a new environment.
On his way west, the stagecoach is held up and robbed by two masked bandits. A posse catches one of them, Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing.
Facing prison, Penelope is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers that also involves a local Indian tribe. Because the wagon train she plans to accompany will not permit single women to join, she tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise.
Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Heywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid" and performs other exploits (all with covert assistance from Penny).
There are a couple of scenes which parody similar scenes in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with John Wayne and James Stewart. The stage coach holdup scene is the first encounter that both city dudes have with the "wild west". In the gunfight scene, both "dudes" are about to be shot down in duels with experienced gunfighters when they are saved by one of the good guys who shoots the villain from a hidden position which makes the shooting look like the underdog winning a legitimate gunfight.
Cast
- Don Knotts as Dr. Jesse W. Heywood
- Barbara Rhoades as Penelope 'Bad Penny' Cushings
- Jackie Coogan as Matthew Basch
- Burt Mustin as Old Artimus
- Don 'Red' Barry as Rev. Zachary Gant (as Donald Barry)
- Ruth McDevitt as Olive
- Frank McGrath as Mr. Remington
- Terry Wilson as Welsh
- Carl Ballantine as Abel Swanson
Beethoven film
The plot of the film Beethoven's 3rd revolves around a DVD copy of The Shakiest Gun in the West, and, consequently, this film is discussed during the Beethoven film.
References
External links
- The Shakiest Gun in the West at the Internet Movie Database
- The Shakiest Gun in the West at the TCM Movie Database
- The Shakiest Gun in the West at AllMovie
- New York Times review