The Shakiest Gun in the West

Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west "to fight oral ignorance." Meanwhile stagecoach robber Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers.

Don Knotts fans will enjoy this one, as it fits right in line with his regular comedy style (more like "Andy Griffith" or "Frame a Figg" and less like "Private Eyes"). There is plenty of physical comedy, especially early on, and if you like a bit of slapstick, this is for you.

By today's standards, the film may be considered questionable because of its portrayal of Native Americans. I am not one to be politically correct, but did find the scenes with them to be rather dated. Not offensive, but not really positive either. But I will not dwell on this.

Definitely one of Knotts' better films, and a good deal funnier than "Mr. Limpet".

The Shakiest Gun in the West This movie is so funny and many scenes are hysterical. Jesse W. Heywood/Don Knott's was studying to be a dentist. He has a female patient Mrs Stevenson/Katherine Barrett that won't open her mouth and he finally gets her mouth pried open puts in his finger and she bites it. His dental supervisor grabs her faces to show Jesses how to open her mouth and she kicks him. The expressions of Mrs Stevenson not opening her mouth is so funny. Jesse ends up fist fighting with her and they bat each other around. She fights like a man and almost wins til they end up on the ground and she is knocked out with her mouth open and Jesse works on her teeth. Jesse Heywood ends up graduating from dental school as a dentist. He wants to head west to do his dentistry. There are so many parts in this movie that are so funny. A few parts I did not like where the women's dress are too revealing. There are so many funny scenes. Dentist Heywood thinks he is a sharp shooter cause he shot a lot of Indians. His facial expressions of fears, pride and getting drunk are unbelievable. Watch it if you can

Knotts at his inept best as a bumbling dentist who is taken in at every turn by swindlers, gun runners, and a conniving lady outlaw. I liked the use of 2 regular players on "Wagon Train" as members of Knotts party. I didn't like Myron Healy being uncredited.

This is one of the most surprising films I have recently seen. I first saw it as a kid and liked it. However, I saw it again recently after one of my students brought it in and asked if his 8th grade history class could watch it. Well, I figured the movie had nothing to do with the class so I made some excuses not to use it. Later in the year, we had a day just before the break and once again he asked if the class could watch it. Well, we were about to do a small unit on the real West, so I reluctantly agreed. The film turned out to be pretty helpful in discussing Hollywood myths about the old West (as it had a few like most Westerns) but I was also VERY surprised to see how much 8th graders today liked the film. This actually says something, because normally these kids would never watch an "ancient" film like this--choosing instead to watch only the latest releases. But the film held their attention and I heard a lot of laughs. It's actually better than I remembered and is far better than a lot of Don Knotts' other films (such as THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET or THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG--yuck).

If you happen to own or rent the Don Knotts "Reluctant Hero" pack, this is one of the four films, and probably the least strong in terms of comedy. It is a remake of the movie Paleface, with Bob Hope and Jane Russell, not exactly shot for shot, but close. A lot of the same jokes were used, and the plot is identical.

However, I still recommend this film. It's got some very funny stuff. While I'm not usually a fan of remakes, I thought this WAS better than Paleface, though it could just be I saw this one so many times first. Son of Paleface I had seen before Paleface, and I enjoy that one quite a lot.

Apart from the comedy in this film, we get Barbara Rhoades, the love interest. Let me just say, VA VA VOOM! YOWZA! and COR, BLIMEY! You'll have to see for yourself though....

This fits nicely into Knotts' "reluctant hero" idea, and I recommend it overall. It's a fun film.

P.S. "How's it going, Heywood?"