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The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

  • 1947
  • Passed
  • 1h 18m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and Marjorie Main in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
ComedyWestern

Chester Wooley (Lou Costello) and Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana en route to California. During the stopover, notorious criminal Fred... Read allChester Wooley (Lou Costello) and Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana en route to California. During the stopover, notorious criminal Fred Hawkins is murdered and the two are charged with the crime. They are quickly tried, convi... Read allChester Wooley (Lou Costello) and Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana en route to California. During the stopover, notorious criminal Fred Hawkins is murdered and the two are charged with the crime. They are quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to die by hanging. The head of the local citizens' committee, Jim Simp... Read all

  • Director
    • Charles Barton
  • Writers
    • Robert Lees
    • Frederic I. Rinaldo
    • John Grant
  • Stars
    • Bud Abbott
    • Lou Costello
    • Marjorie Main
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Charles Barton
    • Writers
      • Robert Lees
      • Frederic I. Rinaldo
      • John Grant
    • Stars
      • Bud Abbott
      • Lou Costello
      • Marjorie Main
    • 16User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos62

    Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and Marjorie Main in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Bud Abbott, George Cleveland, Lou Costello, and Marjorie Main in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Lou Costello in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Lou Costello, Diane Florentine, Marjorie Main, and Pamela Wells in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Wade Crosby and Gordon Jones in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Bud Abbott, Diane Florentine, Pamela Wells, and Audrey Young in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Lou Costello in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Bud Abbott, William Ching, Marjorie Main, Peter M. Thompson, and Audrey Young in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Lou Costello in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    George Cleveland, Wade Crosby, Gordon Jones, and Rex Lease in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Gordon Jones in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
    Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Bud Abbott
    Bud Abbott
    • Duke Egan
    Lou Costello
    Lou Costello
    • Chester Wooley
    Marjorie Main
    Marjorie Main
    • Widow Hawkins
    Audrey Young
    Audrey Young
    • Juanita Hawkins
    George Cleveland
    George Cleveland
    • Judge Benbow
    Gordon Jones
    Gordon Jones
    • Jake Frame
    William Ching
    William Ching
    • Jim Simpson
    Peter M. Thompson
    • Phil
    • (as Pete Thompson)
    Bill Clauson
    • Matt Hawkins
    Billy O'Leary
    • Billy Hawkins
    Pamela Wells
    • Sarah Hawkins
    Jimmy Bates
    • Jefferson Hawkins
    Paul Dunn
    • Lincoln Hawkins
    Diane Florentine
    • Sally Hawkins
    Rex Lease
    Rex Lease
    • Hank
    Glenn Strange
    Glenn Strange
    • Lefty
    Edmund Cobb
    Edmund Cobb
    • Lem
    Wade Crosby
    Wade Crosby
    • Squint
    • Director
      • Charles Barton
    • Writers
      • Robert Lees(screenplay)
      • Frederic I. Rinaldo(screenplay)
      • John Grant(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The story was based on an actual law in effect in Montana in the 1880s, which stated that a man who killed another man was responsible for the care and support of his victim's family.
    • Quotes

      Chester Wooley: Marriage is a three-ring circus: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and suffering.

    • Crazy credits
      MONTANA, in the days when men were men - with two exceptions.
    • Connections
      Featured in The World of Abbott and Costello (1965)

    User reviews16

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A Picture is Worth a Thousand Bullets
    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.
    helpful•7
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • May 6, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 8, 1947 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Udovica iz Vagon Gepa
    • Filming locations
      • Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Universal International Pictures (UI)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $720,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 18 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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