Dirty Dingus Magee (1970)

Ass-breaker Dingus Magee is looking for a gold train when he comes upon old acquaintance Hoke Birdsill on stage to San Francisco, and robs him of his money. Hoke goes to the nearby town of ... See full summary »

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writers:

David Markson (book), Tom Waldman (screenplay),

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, George Kennedy, Anne Jackson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Sinatra	...	Dingus Billy Magee
George Kennedy	...	Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Anne Jackson	...	Belle Nops (mayor of Yerkey's Hole)
Lois Nettleton	...	Prudence Frost (schoolteacher)
Jack Elam	...	John Wesley Hardin
Michele Carey	...	Anna Hot Water
John Dehner	...	Brig. Gen. George
Henry Jones	...	Rev. Green
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Charles Stuart
Paul Fix	...	Crazy Blanket (Anna's father)
Marya Christen	...	China Poppy (Belle's maid)
Terry Wilson	...	Sergeant
Willis Bouchey	...	Ira Teasdale
Tom Fadden	...	Trooper
Mina Martinez	...	Belle's girl

Storyline

Ass-breaker Dingus Magee is looking for a gold train when he comes upon old acquaintance Hoke Birdsill on stage to San Francisco, and robs him of his money. Hoke goes to the nearby town of Yerkey's Hole, where Belle Knops is both mayor and bordello-mistress. She appoints Hoke Town Sheriff and tries to get him to stir up the Indians so the soldiers at the nearby fort (the main customers) won't go to Little Big Horn. Dingus tries to stir up more trouble and get involved with the pale, baby-talking Indian, Anna. The film is a send-up of the oft-repeated phrase "the Code of the West" and exaggerates it and what it stands for into the ridiculousness that it is.

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Plot Keywords:

code of the west | jade | female mayor | hung upside down | urination | 

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Taglines:

It's kind of a western. He's sort of a cowboy.

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some bawdy humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1971 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Balada o Dingusu Mageeju

Filming Locations:

Mescal, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After completing this film, Frank Sinatra took a 7-year acting hiatus until the 1977 TV movie "Contract On Cherry Street".

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Goofs

When Dingus tackles Anna off of her horse following the chase after she threw her knife at his wanted poster, a stunt double for Anna, wearing skin-colored tights, falls off the horse.

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Quotes

John Wesley Hardin: Ain't I seen a poster on you somewhere?
Dingus Billy Magee: Yes sir. The name's Magee - Dingus Magee.
John Wesley Hardin: Oh, that ten dollar outlaw.
Dingus Billy Magee: None but.
John Wesley Hardin: Ha! Ha! Ha! Hell, if I'd known that, I never would have held you up, but I got to steal something from you. Never stop a man for robbing unless you take at least something. That's the Code of the West.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Viva Ned Flanders (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Dirty Dingus Magee"
Written by Mack David
Performed by The Mike Curb Congregation

User Reviews

Looking for a guilty pleasure?

I consider myself well educated, articulate, literate. So loving this movie is a bit embarrassing. It is silly, adolescent, a little creepy (How old all the "leading men" are! And how young and voluptuous and willing the women!) But I loved this movie. I laughed all through it.

Frank Sinatra is somehow simultaneously wide-eyed and leering as Dingus Magee. He never once gives any indication that he isn't taking this seriously. He plays it like a professional actor! And he does it well.

George Kennedy is as professional. He knows that when you play a clown, you must never, ever be clownish. He gives a good, solid, straight performance of a ridiculous character. And when he is sworn in as the sheriff, the oath he takes made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe for a while! Anne Jackson is always worth watching. Her turn as the mayor(madam) of Yerkey's Hole is delightful. She comes as close as anyone to winking at the camera, but she manages to maintain professionalism, and gives the movie her inestimable good work.

Then there's the stunning Michelle Carey as (I am not making this up) Anna Hot Water. You now have her name. Need I say more? I have sometimes wondered if it was a law in Hollywood that you couldn't make a western comedy without Henry Jones and John Dehner. Throw Jack Elam in and you have a winner.

Suggestive? Throughout? Profane? Never. No blatant sex, no nudity, no gore, the only violence is comic.

Silly, stupid, a plot a 13-year-old boy would love.

Yep. I really enjoyed this movie!