Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 3 | slideshow)

Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   517 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 13% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Charles Barton
Writers:
D.D. Beauchamp (story)
William Bowers (story)
more
Contact:
View company contact information for The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 October 1947 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Western more
Tagline:
It's 'Ma (EGG AND I) KETTLE' as the wild and willing widow! more
User Comments:
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Bullets more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Bud Abbott ... Duke Egan
Lou Costello ... Chester Wooley
Marjorie Main ... Widow Hawkins
Audrey Young ... Juanita Hawkins
George Cleveland ... Judge Benbow
Gordon Jones ... Jake Frame
William Ching ... Jim Simpson

Peter M. Thompson ... Phil (as Peter Thompson)
Bill Clauson ... Matt Hawkins
Olin Howland ... Undertaker (scenes deleted) (as Olin Howlin)
Bill O'Leary ... Billy Hawkins (as Billy O'Leary)
Pamela Wells ... Sarah Hawkins
Jimmy Bates ... Jefferson Hawkins
Paul Dunn ... Lincoln Hawkins
Diane Florentine ... Sally Hawkins
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Wistful Widow (UK)
more
Runtime:
78 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Finland:K-8 | USA:Approved (PCA #12600)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was the only feature film to be adapted into the Abbott and Costello comic book. more
Quotes:
Chester Wooley: We stop the stage, the bandits are waiting for the stage, and then you show up instead of the stage.
Duke Egan: That's pretty well-staged.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The World of Abbott and Costello (1965) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful:-
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Bullets, 6 May 2006
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Two traveling salesmen (guess who) arrive in the lawless frontier town of Wagon Gap where the outlaw boss Gordon Jones and citizen's committee head William Ching are in a power struggle. Poor inept Costello winds up getting framed for a murder and he and Abbott are both about to be hung when Ching discovers a law in Montana Territory about a man who causes the death of another is responsible for the deceased's debts and family. Costello takes the responsibility.

He soon thinks capital punishment even the extralegal kind might be preferable to dealing with Marjorie Main and her squalling band of kids. Think of Costello inheriting the Kettle clan if Pa Kettle had met his demise at Costello's hands and you have some idea what Costello is going through.

But quite by accident it's discovered that Costello has carte blanche in Wagon Gap because no one wants to see any harm come to him or else they might inherit Marjorie Main. Costello carries a picture of her and the clan close to his heart and it's more valuable than a Sherman Tank would have been. He has a very funny scene cooling down a town drunk played by Dewey Robinson after he's made sheriff.

Marjorie Main with her own brand of rustic humor does not yield the film to Bud and Lou. You might also like the performance of George Cleveland as a judge not unlike Samuel S. Hinds in Destry Rides Again.

In fact the whole film has a lot of similarity to Destry and no surprise there since this was originally supposed to be a more serious story that was to have starred James Stewart. When he passed on it, it was rewritten for Abbott and Costello.

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap should appeal to both fans of the Kettle family and those of Bud and Lou. Between them they accounted for a big portion of what counted as profits for Universal Studios.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein Buck Privates Come Home Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man This Marriage Business Hit the Ice
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits IMDb Comedy section
IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.