FirstSoprano

A good solid episode of a Western, and family-friendly at that. Old Henry Squires (Andy Clyde) and his young grandson (Ricky Kelman) are passing through Dodge City on a mission to purchase some expensive cattle and take them back to Texas to improve their herd. A particularly vicious outlaw leader, Lou Silva (John Kellogg) has his eye on the valuable livestock, but as part of a bigger robbery plot that involves murder and some cold-blooded double-crossing of his own henchmen...but his victims may not be as defenseless as they appear. Clyde is particularly good as the kindly old man whose good-natured manner may hide more wit and nerve than even Marshal Dillon gives him credit for, and so is Kelman as his very cute and equally plucky grandson. The Gunsmoke regulars have fairly little to do, but of course get in on the action at the well-wrapped-up conclusion.

Although it's meant to be a sequel to 'Three Smart Girls,' this film starts out with a clean slate, so to speak - we have the same family but there's no references to anything that happened in the earlier film, and to make way for the older sisters' romantic woes, their charming original love interests are completely out of the picture. The plot is entertaining, but seems just a trifle improbable in places - it may be only my personal opinion, but the sisters seemed to match better with the men Deanna originally tries to set them up with before the mix-ups begin! The scene during the wedding preparations bothered me a little bit too - why does no one have the nerve to call it off if they know they're not going to be happy? The brightest spot in the film is Robert Cummings, all of whose scenes just sparkle. He has great chemistry with Deanna, and some wonderfully hilarious scenes with the family butler. Charles Winninger as the father is also uniformly enjoyable throughout. Helen Parrish is a little bit subdued as the middle sister, but she has one very touching scene in which she tearfully advises her younger sister on not hiding her feelings for someone lest she lose him. It's a nice way to spend an hour or so and of course the musical numbers are great, but in my opinion the original 'Three Smart Girls' remains far superior.