Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'

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.

All the other reviewers seem to have covered every important point. All I can say is a really lousy title covers up a pretty good B-musical comedy---and Joe Besser not only has a major role,it;s a non-sissy role as an actually competant sheriff.

The same year O'Connor made ARE YOU WITH IT?,which Leonard Maltin suggests is another good film that got lost in t he shuffle.

O'Connor has two very good dance routines shoehorned in to pad the film.

Marjorie Main--is well,Marjorie Main. Was she ever anybody else?

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.

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.

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'.