The brothers, a couple of ne'er-do-wells, turn a sleepy mining town upside-down in their search for quick riches.The brothers, a couple of ne'er-do-wells, turn a sleepy mining town upside-down in their search for quick riches.The brothers, a couple of ne'er-do-wells, turn a sleepy mining town upside-down in their search for quick riches.
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Most prominent in the cast are TV stars John Astin (in a dual role, no less) and Lee Meriwether (as the embittered wife of Astin’s bandido character) but equally notable are Hollywood veterans Jesse White (as the Mayor of a sleepy Western hamlet with an unpronounceable name), Allyn Joslyn (as the Sheriff) and Hans Conried (in a very belated cameo as an oil tycoon); as was to be expected, director Erdman also contrived to give himself a small but fun role as a bemused Judge.
The bulk of the narrative sees cardsharp Astin being mistaken for bandido Astin and cardsharp Astin’s no-good younger brother is more often a hindrance to his pleas of innocence than anything else. The incarcerated Astin’s eventual trial, then, requires his alter ego to dress up conspicuously as an old man but this middle section of the film is also where it really drags and sags badly. The film does get back into shape (relatively speaking) with the appearance of Conried and, especially, the climactic foulness contest – where participants of every size and shape are awarded for their prowess in belching, spitting and cussing (don’t ask) – which, for better or worse, only serves to reinforce my afore-mentioned claims of the film’s inherent “home movie” quality.
Brothers Astin and Carlson are a pair of city slickers, Astin is a rogue gambler in the Maverick tradition, Carlson is a love 'em and leave 'em type. But Astin is chased out of town and Carlson runs out of town with an angry father with a shotgun chasing him.
They arrive at a town named Mollybedamned because some passing geologist said the lead mine that is now played out is full of nothing but this stuff called molybdenum. And the stuff is not really good for anything. Too bad for the town because everybody there has stock in it and the certificates paper the walls, line the spittoons and such.
Astin is quite good in his dual roles and a lot of familiar character faces like Hans Conreid, Pat Carroll, Allyn Joslyn, Jesse White, and director Richard Erdman all do their shtick.
But essentially the film is built around a one joke premise and it isn't really enough for a great comedy, just a passably good one.
While John Astin is a very talented man and I love him in many of his films and shows, he also had a pretty poor track record in the 1970s with TV shows and movies made for TV. It seems the networks tried but the material was often broadly written and beneath his talents. Try watching "Evil Roy Slade" or "Wacky Taxi" (both made around the same time as "The Brothers O'Toole") and you'll see what I mean. Overall, this is a VERY broadly written and generally unfunny comedy. Not terrible by any stretch but it sure could have been a lot better.
Did you know
- TriviaPatty Duke (married to Astin at the time) makes a very brief appearance as the stage coach agent who confirms the arrival of the coach carrying the judge & records it on the blackboard.
- GoofsThe attorney's name is shown as 'Benoni Beidermeier' on his bag but as 'Bedermeir' on the credits.
- Quotes
Michael O'Toole: I have, in my time, visited three political conventions, four sessions of congress, and two homes for the criminally insane. I have known army generals, steam doctors, vegetarians, prohibitionists, and a female suffragette. But never, even in an Orangeman's Day parade, have I seen such pure and stainless brainlessness as I now behold in you. The Almighty, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, has given the worm enough sense to turn with, and the barnacle can grasp whatever happens to be standing by. But you are equipped with a mental capacity smaller than you were born with. Here we are, benighted in the middle of a nowhere named Molly-Be-Damn - a dreary little rookery, Timothy, a squalid sty, a festering pustule on the face of the western slope. Bless the town and bless the people! Look at them - the rabble of this cantankerous community! Knaves and fools, louts and lardheads, the least of all God's creatures, without enough push to pick the fleas off each other, abiding in putrefaction and inertia, curled up comfy in it like hogs in a mud hole! And while I, of all people, fret and sweat for a way to pull these Simple Simons out of the bog, you stand around making flatulent noises for the titillation of the vulgar mob. And while he's bubbling himself, what are you doing, you pusillanimous pack of popcorn pickers? You clattered clutch of clucks? The town dilapidating around you, coasting downhill in a handcart to Hell while you stand about gaping for flies and going patty-cake with your hands!
Mayor: There now! Now just one minute, you!
Michael O'Toole: All right, all right, all right! Fine! Keep it, and treasure it the way it is! For when all this trash has collapsed into one pile, and the howling wilderness has claimed its own again, I want you hicks to be happy, belching and spitting, laughing and singing, swinging from tree to tree, with your friend Soapy Sam here, the Uriah Heep of the hookworm belt, standing around below waiting to steal anything that falls to the ground. If a nut should drop and fall - leave it lying there. It's probably my little brother Timothy.
Sheriff Ed Hatfield: Is that all?
[O'Toole throws up his hands and the crowd applauds]
Sheriff Ed Hatfield: By acclamation - the winner of the cussin' contest - Michael O'Toole!
- ConnectionsReferenced in I've Got a Secret: Chad Everett (1973)
- SoundtracksMolly Be Damned
Vocals by Sonny Curtis
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- Also known as
- De ohängda bröderna O'Toole
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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