The Second Time Around

Say what you like about Debbie Reynolds, she gave each of her roles everything she had. Here she throws herself into the part of a widowed mother of two who who moves to Arizona and becomes an unlikely Sheriff.

Also unlikely is Steve Forrest as a leading man for a major, wide-screen motion picture in color in 1961. Forrest actually does a creditable job, but Reynolds buries him. He never stood a chance.

Also among those present is Andy Griffith, peddling the same laid back southerner soft soap he tried on in Mayberry and Ritz cracker commercials. Reynolds is caught between tricky saloon owner Forrest and goody-goody Griffith.

It has a few innovation, such as a brawl, not in a saloon but an ice-cream parlor.

From her first big break in "Singin' in the Rain" until her ultimate decline, Reynolds was wonderful. But this story was too slight (as were her co-stars) to merit the big-screen treatment. It would have served Reynolds better as a huge musical opposite a singing star. Or a Robert Preston type.

Still, it's not a total disaster. It's just not "special" enough (nor funny enough, nor anything enough) to justify the treatment it got. It's basically for people who can't get enough of Reynolds in the upper end of her cute-as-a-button phase.

Debbie Reynolds plays a very fiesty widow with two small children. She takes a big risk and goes alone to the territory of Arizona right before it becomes a state where her deceased husband's best friend has offered her a job in his store.

When she arrives, the friend is being sent back to New York in a coffin. He was killed in a holdup the night before. Desperate for a job she convinces a ranch owner Addie to hire her as a ranch hand which proves to be exceptionally hard work for a petite woman like Debbie.

The town is completely corrupt with the sheriff, the saloon owner and thieves all in cahoots with each other...this is how Debbie ends up becoming the sherif!

Kind of a fun western-ish film. Good conquering evil.

Debbie Reynolds remains America's sweetheart and this is a must see. She is a tenacious wonder standing up for what is right.

IIRC, women got the vote in AZ in 1912, so that'd mean they did their homework, but who cares. I love early 60's movies. Love Debbie Reynolds. It moved along at a good pace and all in good fun. Better than any flick produced in the past 10 years or more, in the good fun genre. Character actors include Andy Griffith being Andy. Thelma Ritter. Eleanor Audley (oft seen on old Lucy show, Bev Hillbillies, etc.), Marie Blake (Grandma on the Addams Fam). Best scene was when Lu (Debbie Reynolds) shot at a fellow in the street and he expired, watch it and see how. And fwiw I have mixed feelings about Andy G so it felt satisfying to see him punched into the crick, LOL.

I remember seeing this movie at the theater and thoroughly enjoying it. I would very much like to see it again and cannot understand why it is not available. I loved Debbie Reynolds, of course, but Thelma Ritter as always is truly splendid as are all other cast members. Steve Forrest is a handsome romantic lead with Andy Griffin and Juliet Prowse creating a colorful background. The whole concept of a very proper young Boston widow with two adorable children trying to make a new life in the West working as of all things a ranch hand makes for most enjoyable entertainment. Why is this movie not available for purchase on DVD?

This certainly is a very unusual film--and its being so different is a big plus. The film begins in the East and the widow Lu Rogers (Debbie Reynolds) and her children are living with her mother-in-law. However, Lu wants to go out and earn her own money and find a place of her own for her family, so she takes up on an offer by an old family friend to move to Arizona (about 1912) and work for him. However, when Lu arrives she learns that the man is dead...and she is without any prospects. But a woman (Thelma Ritter) feels sorry for her and agrees to take this city girl on as a hired hand.

Along the way, two men (Andy Griffith and the rakish Steve Forrest) vie for her hand. She also has a bit of a small feud with the local sheriff...that ends up erupting into an all-out war! Can this nice little lady manage to survive all this?!

The film is, more than anything else, fun...along with being unusual. It's hard not to like the film and Reynolds is at her spunky best. Well worth seeing and as much different from a typical western as you can find! Cute and clever.