Yankee Fakir

I watched Yankee Fakir (1947) last night on the Westerns Channel. I was t expecting much, but it turned out to be a pretty good movie.

Medicine show pitchmen Yankee Davis (Douglas Fowley) and Professor Newton (Ransom Sherman) arrive in a small Arizona town and set about plying their wares. Yankee falls for boarding house proprietor Mary Mason (Joan Woodbury). Mary's uncle is murdered by person or persons unknown. When the sheriff and nobody else seems interested in finding out who done it, Yankee, the professor, Mary, and Mary's young nephew Tommy, set about to find the truth. To run a scheme to smoke out the killer, Yankee sends for his old friend, Shaggy Hartley (Clem Bevans). Shaggy is an old weather beaten prospector, but he poses as Yankee's wealthy uncle, who appears to want to share some of his wealth with a few of the townspeople. But can this crazy plot possibly work?

Douglas Fowley usually played a bad guy, but he does very well as the hero. Without his usual pencil thin mustache, Fowley makes a likable hero you want to root for. Joan Woodbury was very attractive, but never really made it big. She does well as Mary. I remembered that Joan had the title role in a 1945 serial, "Brenda Starr, Reporter." After seeing Yankee Fakir, I found a Brenda Starr, Reporter DVD on eBay for less than $10 and ordered it.

Clem Bevans steals the movie as Shaggy. He was already 68 when this movie was made. Clem had been in show business all his life. He dominates every scene he is in here. I remembered him from a 1958 Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Demure Defendant, as Captain Hugo. Clem was 79 at that time and he stole every scene in that episode too. A really great unsung actor.

Check out Yankee Fakir if you haven't seen it. This movie is well worth watching.

The basics: official is killed and visiting traveling salesman helps uncover murderer.

Douglas Fowley, who usually played villains or sidekicks, is the hero here, minus his usual mustache. He's half of a traveling show that's visiting a small town. Fowley's "hustler" persona is used to good advantage here, but, he stays honest all the way through, even trying to prevent the sale of "snake oil remedy" that his partner hustles when ever Fowley's back is turned.

Fowley becomes interested in Woodbury, who runs the boarding house he's staying in. When her uncle is murdered, Fowley tries to help to uncover the killer.

A fair who-done-it with a western background. Fowley makes a good hero, but was really perfect as a slimy villain type. He just had that voice and sneer that made you dislike him, and want justice to prevail.

The rest of the cast fit their roles, and Bevans as the aged prospector who helps Fowley is wonderful in his role. He is kind of "comic relief", and a hoot in this role. Of course, he was always great in the "cantankerous" character role.

Not a great, or memorable movie, and not a terrible one. A fair "B" effort. Having Fowley as the hero is interesting. Worth a watch for that element.

Pitchmen Douglas Fowley and Ransom Sherman roll their wagon into a small town and start hawking their wares. They stay at the boarding house run by Joan Woodbury, the daughter of a border policeman who's murdered Fowley is in love with Miss Woodbury, and investigates; he and Sherman are soon thrown in jail to stop them.

It's a decent little comedy-drama written, produced, and directed by W. Lee Wilder, full of complacently written stock characters played by skilled actors. Marc Lawrence is there, playing a bad guy, and he's just enough differentiated from his usual sweaty hoodlum to be interesting. However, it's Clem Bevans, playing yet another variation on his old coot, who steals the show, with his sly, self-aware prospector. When he's around, the movie is lively. Without him, it's just a dull time-waster.

I am surprised that this film has such a low rating. I watched it for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. As noted previously, Douglas Fowley who usually plays the villain really is perfectly believable as the hero. He always has such an ingratiating persona that I find it difficult to dislike him even when he is the "bad guy". He was truly a fine actor who deserves more acclaim. Clem Bevans was truly humorous as the supposedly wealthy businessman. The story was suspenseful and funny. Although it would be considered a "B" movie, it has more entertainment value than many "A" films.

I think so highly of this movie that I am going to keep it as a dvr recording until I purchase it on VHS or DVD. This is a gem that deserves more show time on television. I rank it an 8.