Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948) User Reviews

Some Heavy Bets Down On This Foot Race

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 April 2009]

Except for the beginning and end title sequences the song Feudin', Fussin', and A-Fightin' will not be heard at all in this western comedy with two musical numbers in it. The feud here involves a couple of western towns that have an annual footrace and one town has been running the pants off the other, so much so that with the money lost in bets, the town that Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main reside in is practically in receivership to the other.

So what to do, but try to find a fast runner even if it means kidnapping him. Which is what they do with traveling salesman Donald O'Connor. Of course later on Penny Edwards who is Marjorie's niece provides a more subtle inducement for him to stay.

The film itself was created to take advantage of the hit song by Burton Lane and Al Dubin and popularized by Dorothy Shaye, billed as the Park Avenue hillbilly. She sings the song in the later Universal film with Abbott&Costello, Comin' Round the Mountain. It's a fun song and made Dorothy Shaye a one hit wonder in her time, but it was a big hit. I have a bootleg recording of it where she does a trio version with Bing Crosby and Groucho Marx on one of Crosby's radio broadcasts.

The premise quite frankly is rather dopey, the best comedy in the film is provided by future stooge Joe Besser as the sheriff who condones kidnapping in his town for a good cause. But Donald O'Connor is given a couple of fine numbers. He sings and dances to Me And My Shadow in a nice number staged in barn. Very intricate almost Busby Berkely like in creativity. And he sings and dances with Penny Edwards to the song Sposin'.

For those numbers which do show the ingenuity and talent of Donald O'Connor, I'd check out Feudin', Fussin', and A-Fightin'.

Fresh corn of the highest stock!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 8 August 2012]

"When I get a man, I want one that ain't afraid of anything, including me!" So says boisterous Marjorie Main to her diminutive constant companion Percy Kilbride, in this, their follow-up to "The Egg and I", and a year before they started their series of "Ma and Pa Kettle" films. Here, they are residents of a small hayseed town searching for someone to represent them in the annual county race, and they find it in visiting salesman Donald O'Connor who literally just stepped off the stagecoach to make a pitch and step right back on. Fortunately, he misses the coach, and must run to get it, after which Main and Kilbride chase it to keep him in town to be their town representative in the race. Most of the film focuses on getting O'Connor ready for the race with various gags, and then comes the race, fast, furious and funny. Of course, O'Connor finds romance in the meantime with Main's niece (Penny Edwards) and performs a neat dance number to "Me & My Shadow" filled with special effects. Along with Edwards, O'Connor sings and dances to the sweet "S'posin'".

This is a charming comedy made for the country folk that city slickers could enjoy too. Main and Kilbride make a cute couple. "From now on, there's gonna be one person wearing pants in the family, and it ain't gonna be me", Kilbride realizes at one point. O'Connor is one of those naively romantic heroes who could win the pretty girl just by his innocence over the more worldly hunk. It's all harmless fun. Some of the dance moves in "Me and My Shadow" O'Connor would later repeat in his famous "Make Em' Laugh" number in "Singin' in the Rain". The race sequence is very funny with some assistance for the hero thanks to some animal friends.

Nice production; weak comedy

[16mmRay · 5/10 · 2 June 2010]

This is a very pleasant picture with a terrific cast. But it has one glaring problem - the comedy sequences are weak at best. D.D. Beauchamp wrote the story and screenplay. Beauchamp had previously written Universal's THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP, but on that picture he had help from the excellent Bob Lees and Fred Rinaldo, as well as Abbott & Costello specialist John Grant. On FEUDIN', Beauchamp was all alone and the comedy sequences are flat as a pancake. In fact, the "gimick" that is employed in the race finale is also very weak. Nor was the director, George Sherman, particularly strong on comedy. His specialty was oaters (of which this is indeed one). The strength of the picture is to be found in the personalities of O'Connor, Main and Kilbride (not playing the Kettles). O'Connor's dance routines are a nice diversion and I'm sure nobody cared that "Me and My Shadow" was written long after this picture is supposed to take place. This could have been a very, very good picture if only there had been some comedy experts on the job. But Universal had recently changed hands and Messrs. Spitz and Goetz were miserly on their non-prestige products. Even Joe Besser has virtually nothing to do that exploited his many comic talents. If you enjoyed this picture, do yourself a favor and seek out THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP. You'll have a really good time with that one.

Fine Cast, Poor Production

[dougdoepke · 10 May 2011]

Fast-talking salesman gets roped into foot-racing for a cash strapped town, and in the process, meets the town's colorful characters including a lovely blonde.

It's a low-budget musical with a sprightly cast. O'Connor earns his money with an array of acrobatics, including two energetic dance numbers. He also pairs up nicely with the sparkling Edwards, while their extended waltz up the street remains winsomely charming. In my book, these are the movie highlights. Reviewer Faiola, however, is right—the comedy aspects don't work well, even with such under-used characters as Kilbride and Main. Also, the climactic foot race comes across as more labored than amusing. Clearly, director Sherman is more at home with six-guns and horses than comedic timing.

Speaking of horses, I don't know the origin of the Francis series, but there's a strong similarity between O'Connor and Jasper in this movie, and O'Connor and Francis, the talking mule, of that later series. In fact, this film also looks like a springboard for the Ma & Pa Kettle series that kicked off the following year. None of this would be surprising since the cast is so superior to the production. Frankly, the budget looks like it doesn't exceed 50-bucks, resulting in one of the most visually unattractive movies on record. Too bad glossy MGM didn't get the material first.

Anyway, the movie has its musical moments, but is mainly a practice round for an under-served cast.

Mild rustic comedy!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 14 November 2017]

Director: GEORGE SHERMAN. Screenplay: D.D. Beauchamp. Based on his Colliers Magazine story, "The Wonderful Race at Rimrock". Photography: Irving Glassberg. Film editor: Edward Curtiss. Art directors: Bernard Herzbrun, Frank A. Richards. Set decorators: Russell A. Gausman, Ray Jeffers. Costumes: Rosemary Odell. Make-up: Bud Westmore. Hair styles: Carmen Dirigo. Assistant director: Horace Hough. Title song by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Burton Lane (music). Dances staged by Louis Da Pron. Dance numbers (both O'Connor): "Me and My Shadow" by Al Jolson, Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer; "S'posing" by Andy Razaf and Paul Denniker. Music: Leith Stevens. Sound recording: Leslie I. Carey, Richard DeWeese. Associate producer: Aaron Rosenberg. Producer: Leonard Goldstein.

Copyright 24 June 1948 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. No New York showcase. U.S. release: July 1948. U.K. release: 21 February 1949. Australian release: 23 December 1948. Sydney opening at the Victory as the top half of a double bill with The Saxon Charm. 78 minutes. Cut to 70 minutes in Australia.

SYNOPSIS: A slapstick comedy, with song and dance routines, about the annual foot race sponsored by two rival villages. Setting: the West, at the end of the 19th century. — Copyright summary.

NOTES: Leonard Goldstein's inspired re-teaming of Marjorie Main with Percy Kilbride in an effort to cash in on their huge box-office success in "The Egg and I", was not seen as the potential bonanza by the Universal brass who didn't even bother to arrange a New York opening. In Sydney, the movie was booked as the Christmas attraction at Greater Union's third-string city cinema (after the State and the Lyceum), the Victory. In order to accommodate double-billing with "The Saxon Charm", it was cut from 78 to 70 minutes. To everyone's surprise, the movie proved a colossal hit, with Main and Kilbride eventually being advertised in larger letters than the film's actual star, Donald O'Connor. The ads linked Main and Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle of "The Egg and I".

Despite its huge box-office take, you will not find this movie listed in any of the record books, because Universal split all receipts at least fifty-fifty and in some cases as much as ninety- ten in the film's disfavor. This amazing success was deliberately minimized because Marjorie Main was under contract to M-G-M.

Formerly antipathetic, Universal executives were now ultra enthusiastic about a Kettle series, but if M-G-M got wind of just how much Main was really worth, her asking price would have risen at least 1,000%.

COMMENT: Mild rustic comedy offering little more than passable entertainment. George Sherman's heavy-handed direction robs the script of whatever original sparkle it may have possessed. Were it not for the sterling efforts of Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride and particularly Joe Besser, its entertainment potential would be even lower.

Dance director Louis Da Pron has contributed one mildly imaginative touch with a shadow dance between Donald O'Connor and his alter ego, but the potentialities here are nowhere near fully realized.

The title is a misnomer: the feud is limited to a foot-race, there is absolutely no fightin' and altogether too much fussin'.

A true musical treasure!!!

[cheshirecat325 · 10/10 · 23 November 2003]

I am a huge Donald O'Connor fan, and have seen most of movies. This one however, is one of his best, right up there with "Singin' in the Rain" and "Call Me Madam." This movie is about Wilbur McMurtry, played by O'Connor, and how he is kidnapped by a small western town, to run in their annual footrace. It has two musical numbers, one being "Me and My Shadow," a fast paced tap number, which has him dancing with shadows and running up walls, four years before he did in "Singin' in the Rain." Then there is "S'posin'" which is more of a lyrical love song, where once again he shows his incredible dancing skills. Not to mention that this movie is hilarious. Donald's comedic timing and physical comedy in this movie are outstanding, not to mention his dancing and singing, but that's no big surprise. This movie is pretty hard to track down...it took me almost a year, but I would try getting a copy of it because it some of Donald O'Connor's best work, and is just an all-around great movie. A hidden gem and a true musical treasure.

A chicken in every pot, plus Don O'Connor, Margorie Main, Percy Kilbride and Penny Edwards

[weezeralfalfa · 9/10 · 20 January 2013]

Maybe you didn't catch Don's(Wilber)spoof of Huey Long's 'share the wealth, every man a king, a chicken in every pot' political campaign of the '30s. Don substitutes a horse and a bottle of his snake oil hair tonic for Huey's promises in his acceptance speech, after having been unanimously decreed mayor of the tiny dusty hamlet of Rimrock, replacing restaurant owner Maribel(Marjorie Main)..This kidnapped former traveling salesman was awarded this honor for winning the annual Bench County marathon from its arch rival Big Bend, apparently the only two towns in this very sparsely populated county. Also, he was clearly knowledgeable of political history and legal matters(strange for a mere traveling salesman for snake oils).

Universal reteamed Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbridge from the previous year's successful rural comedy "The Egg and I", with a new first-billed star:Donald O'Connor, and a new girlfriend for him in Penny Edwards, in a rural western romantic comedy. Universal would continue to pair Marjorie with Percy or his successors in a yearly series through '57, with future titles always beginning with Ma and Pa Kettle, resurrecting their character's names from "The Egg and I". In the present film, they are also essentially Ma and Pa Kettle in all but name, although they aren't officially married. Apparently, the decision to resurrect their Kettle identity wasn't made until after this film was finished.

As another reviewer pointed out, Wilber's relationship with the horse Jasper, his 'roommate' in the town livery stable where Wilber was essentially incarcerated, looks like a precursor for Don's future popular series with Francis 'the talking mule'.

This was my introduction to Penny Edwards(as Libby): a vivacious young blond with singing and dancing talent. She made winsome bait to help convince Wilber to stay a while in Rimrock and hopefully win the annual marathon for the town.(seems all the young men had left this dead end community!). Eventually, he takes the bait after considerable resistance against his captors.Their up and down relationship hits a high point when she follows him outside into a dark Main Street,following a low point at a party. She initiates a lengthy street song and dance routine with Wilber to the '20s hit "Sposin", demonstrating her excellent singing voice and stage dancing talent. She later engineered the stampede to have him replace her mother, Maribel, as town mayor, by spreading the rumor that rival Big Bend had offered him their mayorship. Penny was mostly cast in westerns, including the occasional musical comedy, in her Hollywood and TV careers, and was a popular TV pitch girl. Like Donald, seems like she should have had a much more prominent film career.

Don(Wilber) has a lengthy dance sequence, including tap dancing, by himself,locked up in that livery stable, while singing the '20s hit "Me and My Shadow". At times, we see his inflated shadow dancing, and sometimes,clearly his shadow is dancing independently from Don's action. This spooks him, and he dives through the paper wall where his shadow is seen, foreshadowing his similar dive through the thin set wall in his notable solo "Make 'Em Laugh"skit, in "Singing in the Rain".

I disagree with several reviewers who say the humor in this film was flat, due to poor script and direction. We had a great primarily physical comedian in Don, and a great verbal comedian in Marjory, and they did their normal thing well. Actually, Don exhibited outstanding combined physical and verbal comedy in his failed attempt to interest the patrons of Maribel's restaurant in his hair tonic. His high point in physical comedy related to his marathon run, where he was barely conscious due to lack of sleep, staying up all night to tend his sick horse friend. He required the stimulus of a series of antagonistic animal encounters(rattlesnake, porcupine, skunk) to keep him interested in the race instead of sleeping, a chance reversal of a route arrow by a crow, and a topical dose of his hair tonic near the end to power him past his adversary at the last second: an extended slapstick performance worthy of Stan Laurel, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Red Skelton or The Three Stooges, for example.Of course, the end result was quite predictable.

Of course, the screen play is quite daffy, but that was normal for most musical comedies of this era. Burton Lane and Al Dubin composed the title song, heard at the beginning and end. One criticism I have is the title, which i feel suggested an unrealized level of violence and antagonism."We Love Wilber" would perhaps have been more appropriate, in line with Don's later MGM film: "I Love Melvin" You can currently view this film in its entirety on You Tube. I much enjoyed it and consider it one of Don's best post-Peggy Ryan films.

Donald O'Connor, Marjorie Main, and Percy Kilbride and that's it.

[jeromec-2 · 8/10 · 22 April 2009]

Do you like musical comedies? Then this is your cup of tea. It has two really terrific musical entries. Donald O'Connor is a good dancer, but he is not particularly creative. Me and my shadow is terrific, but not entirely original.

The plot has a lot of fluff. O'Connor plays the part of a fast talking salesman. He tries to sell his wares in a town of 275. When it's time to leave, Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride see him run after a stagecoach. They desperately need someone to run against a good runner who is a resident of another nearby town. They arrest him. He meets a beautiful resident of the town, and that makes the place more appealing. There are many non essential threads that lead us away from the "race", but we are intended to be amused by all the going ons.

Finally the day of the race arrives. O'Connor is not ready to race: he's been threatened by his girl friend's other boy friend, and he's been up all night baby sitting a sick horse.

That essentially is the plot. The race itself is a variation on the story of the Tortoise and the Hare.

It is a period piece: it is interesting as a part of the history of film, but one can watch much better films that O'Connor and Main and Kilbride have starred in. It is interesting to see once, but not worth more than a casual look when other better films are available.