Waterhole #3 (1967)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Joseph T. Steck (writer) and
Robert R. Young (writer)

Release Date:

17 November 1967 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

This is the West as it really was. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!

Plot Keywords:

Gunfight | Crooked Sheriff | Waterhole | Voice Over Narration | Gold

Cast

James Coburn	...	Lewton Cole
Carroll O'Connor	...	Sheriff John H. Copperud
Margaret Blye	...	Billee Copperud
Claude Akins	...	MSgt. Henry J. Foggers
Timothy Carey	...	Hilb
Bruce Dern	...	Deputy Samuel P. Tippen
Joan Blondell	...	Lavinia
James Whitmore	...	Capt. Shipley
Harry Davis	...	Ben
Roy Jenson	...	Doc Quinlen
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Clerk (George)
Jim Boles	...	Cpl. Blyth
Steve Whittaker	...	Soldier #1
Ted Markland	...	Soldier #2
Rupert Crosse	...	Prince

Also Known As:

Waterhole No. 3
Waterhole Three (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:Approved | UK:15 (re-rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Geoffrey Productions

Trivia:

Excluding action during the credits, this film features approximately 665 shots in 5560 seconds - an Average Shot Length (ASL) of about 8.4 seconds.

Quotes:

Narrator: The code of the west says do unto others... do unto others before they do it unto you.

Engaging and Lyrical Western Comedy... With One Bad Flaw...

WATERHOLE #3 (4 outta 5 stars) I've always loved this movie... mostly for the a great song by Roger Miller ("The Code of the West") that plays throughout. James Coburn is a con man and grifter who comes across a map that leads to a fortune in stolen US Army gold. Carroll O'Connor is the crooked sheriff who stays on Coburn's tail. The movie kind of meanders along in a lazy way... with amusing comedy bits and some violent gunplay along the way. As I said, the Roger Miller soundtrack is what really propels this movie along... without it I think the movie would be barely mentionable. The only flaw in this movie... the reason I can't give it 5 stars is for the awful subplot about James Coburn raping the sheriff's daughter and having her fall in love with him for the rest of the movie. I guess a case could be made that the movie is supposed to be "satirizing" the casual treatment of rape by its characters but such "playful" moments as describing rape as "assault with a friendly weapon" seem calculated as laughs AT women rather than AGAINST the menfolk. This probably didn't bother people a bit in 1967 but nowadays... well, you can see why this doesn't play much on TV anymore.