The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)

Director:

Alan Rafkin

Writers:

Edmund L. Hartmann (screenplay) and
Frank Tashlin (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Plot:

Jesse W. Haywood graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west "to fight oral ignorance."...

Plot Keywords:

Stagecoach | Covered Wagon | Native American | Horse | Cowgirl

Cast

Don Knotts	...	Dr. Jesse W. Heywood
Barbara Rhoades	...	Penelope 'Bad Penny' Cushings
Jackie Coogan	...	Matthew Basch
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Rev. Zachary Gant (as Donald Barry)
Ruth McDevitt	...	Olive
Frank McGrath	...	Mr. Remington
Terry Wilson	...	Welsh
Carl Ballantine	...	Abel Swanson
Pat Morita	...	Wong
Robert Yuro	...	Arnold the Kid
Herb Voland	...	Dr. Friedlander (as Herbert Voland)
Fay DeWitt	...	Violet
Dub Taylor	...	Pop McGovern
Hope Summers	...	Celia
Dick Wilson	...	Black Eagle (Indian chief)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Herb Voland's first film role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Heywood is following the wagons through the desert (after the outlaws take Penny) there are tracks from the wagon wheels in the sand, but no tracks form the horses that were pulling the wagons.

Quotes:

Rev. Zachary Gant: Reverend Zachary Grant and my minion Matthew Basch.
Jesse Heywood: Lovely couple.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Operation Double 007 (#6.8)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

The Shakiest Gun in the West

Shaky Ground.

Nervous dentist Don Knotts graduates from college in Philadelphia and goes west to start his practice. He inadvertently gets embroiled with a beautiful sharpshooter (Barbara Rhodes) and some bad guys (Jackie Coogan and Don "Red" Barry). The bad guys are wanting to sell weapons and liquor to Indians for their own monetary gain. Before we know it the wide-eyed Knotts falls in the middle of all the chaotic action with would-be funny results. Knotts was never the same after he left "The Andy Griffith Show". The reason is he had lots more help in that sitcom and he only had to sustain the audience's interest for a half hour at a time. This movie plays more like a television sitcom except for the fact that it is not as funny as it should be and it fails to make the characters believable or humanistic. Basically a cheap western live-action cartoon. 2 stars out of 5.