The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County is a Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 comedy film released in April 1970 for Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 and directed by Anton Leader. The film stars Dan Blocker

Dan Blocker

Dan Blocker was an American actor best remembered for his role as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright in the NBC western television series Bonanza.-Early life:...

, Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and activist. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and then became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life...

, Jim Backus

Jim Backus

James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...

, Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

, and Jack Elam

Jack Elam

William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...

.

The film became Blocker's final role (besides his long-running role as "Hoss Cartwright" on Bonanza

Bonanza

Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...

) before his premature death from complications arising from gall bladder surgery in May 1972. In late 2010 the Encore Westerns channel began showing this film intermittently on their schedule [Source at Examiner.com: "Bonanza Fans Can Now Enjoy Dan Blocker In a Different Role"].

Synopsis

In the film, a simple-minded blacksmith named Charley, well-loved by the townsfolk, saves for a year to send off for a mail-order bride. However, when Charley, accompanied by many of the townsfolk, gather at the train station to greet the woman on her scheduled arrival date, Charley is publicly embarrassed when she fails to appear. Realizing that he has been suckered out of his savings and feeling like a fool, Charley plans to leave the town for good. This would not be an issue except that Charley is the town’s only blacksmith and no one else is available to replace him.

In order to persuade their only blacksmith to stay, the townsfolk recruit a saloon girl named Sadie to pose as Charley’s mail-order bride. As Charley is a straight and narrow sort of person, he has never been in the saloon and does not immediately recognize the woman for what she really is. The film is about Charley’s simple-minded efforts to see through the deceit and the townspeople’s efforts to maintain the fiction that a saloon girl is as pure as the driven snow.