The Shakiest Gun in the West
Encyclopedia
The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 1968 Western comedy film starring Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...

. It was directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by Alan Rafkin
Alan Rafkin
Alan Rafkin was an American Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and actor for television.-Biography:Born in New York City, Rafkin attended Admiral Farragut Academy in Pine Beach, New Jersey....

 and written
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.

The film is a remake of The Paleface, a 1948 movie starring Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

 and Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....

.

Plot summary

Jesse W. Haywood graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...

 dentist. As a "city slicker
City Slicker
City slicker is an idiomatic expression for someone accustomed to a city or urban lifestyle and unsuited to life in the country. The term was typically used as a term of derision by rural Americans who regarded them with amusement...

", he finds himself bungling in a new environment.

On his way west, the stagecoach is held up and robbed by two masked bandits. A posse catches one of them, Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing.

Facing prison, Penelope is offered a pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...

 if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers that also involves a local Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 tribe. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage
Sham marriage
A sham marriage or fake marriage is a marriage of convenience entered into with the intent of deceiving public officials or society about its purpose. Arranging or entering into such a marriage to deceive public officials is itself a separate violation of the law of some countries...

 as a disguise.

Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid" and performs other exploits (all with covert assistance from Penny).

There are a couple of scenes which parody similar scenes in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart and John Wayne. The black-and-white film was released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a short story written by Dorothy M...

with John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

 and James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...

. The stage coach holdup scene is the first encounter that both city dudes have with the "wild west". In the gunfight scene, both "dudes" are about to be shot down in duels with trained gunfighters when they are saved by one of the good guys who shoots the villain from a hidden position which makes the shooting look like the underdog winning a legitimate gunfight.

Cast

  • Don Knotts
    Don Knotts
    Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...

     as Dr. Jesse W. Heywood
  • Barbara Rhoades
    Barbara Rhoades
    Barbara Rhoades is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings in The Shakiest Gun in the West...

     as Penelope 'Bad Penny' Cushings
  • Jackie Coogan
    Jackie Coogan
    John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...

     as Matthew Basch
  • Burt Mustin
    Burt Mustin
    Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin was an American character actor.-Early life:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to W. I. and Sadie Mustin, Mustin was a 1903 graduate of the Pennsylvania Military College , earning his degree in civil engineering...

     as Old Artimus
  • Don 'Red' Barry as Rev. Zachary Gant (as Donald Barry)
  • Ruth McDevitt
    Ruth McDevitt
    Ruth McDevitt was an American stage, film, radio and television actress.-Career:She was born Ruth Thane Shoecraft in Coldwater, Michigan. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she married Patrick McDevitt and decided to devote her time to her marriage. After her husband's death in...

     as Olive
  • Frank McGrath
    Frank McGrath
    Frank McGrath was an American television actor who played the comical and optimistic cook, "Charlie Wooster", on the Western television series Wagon Train on, first, NBC and then ABC...

     as Mr. Remington
  • Terry Wilson
    Terry Wilson (actor)
    Terry Wilson was an American actor most noted for his role as "Bill Hawks" in 267 episodes of the NBC and ABC television series Wagon Train...

     as Welsh
  • Carl Ballantine
    Carl Ballantine
    Carl Ballantine was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go...

     as Abel Swanson

Beethoven film

The plot of the film Beethoven's 3rd
Beethoven's 3rd
Beethoven's 3rd is the second sequel to the 1992 film, Beethoven. Additionally, this is the third installment in the Beethoven film series...

revolves around a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

copy of The Shakiest Gun in the West, and, consequently, this film is discussed during the Beethoven film.

External links

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