The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox

This western comedy gets off to a smashing start: Goldie Hawn, dressed like a lascivious German barmaid, singing in a San Francisco saloon full of rowdies. It's a Marlene Dietrich bit that out-Dietrich's Madeline Kahn from "Blazing Saddles". Thin plot has a card-sharp in the Old West trying to keep vicious sidewinders from stealing his stolen loot; a dancehall girl gets there first. This is one of those comedies from the 1970s best described as 'bawdy', with some memorable moments: Hawn, pretending to be the Duchess of Swansbury, singing for a drooling Mormon; she and George Segal talking gibberish-French in a stagecoach; the couple floating down a river to the vocals of Bobby Vinton, and later getting tied to stakes in the sweltering desert. Sloppy, yet ingratiating film gets by solely on charisma and energy. It didn't find a sizable audience in theaters, though I would suspect Hawn-buffs will enjoy it on DVD. Raffish Segal also charming, and working effortlessly with his co-star. ***1/2 from ****