Waste of time

Thanks for the memories!

Absolutely the worst movie.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

"Cat Ballou" meets "The Sting," though not as good as either. Zero Mostel leads a group of con artists scheming to rob a high security bank. It's a pretty standard comic heist story, except that it's set in the old west. The main charm of the film is the cast, led by Mostel and Kim Novak, but which also includes Clint Walker, Claude Akins, Larry Storch, Sam Jaffe, Mako, and Elisha Cook Jr. The film also features a peppy score by Nelson Riddle, but overall, it's pretty inconsequential fluff that I may have enjoyed more than most because of my affection for Kim Novak.

There are far better comic westerns out there: The Paleface Movies, Cat Ballou, Destry Rides Again, McClintock!, Support Your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter. That being said, why watch this one? It's the cast: Zero Mostel, Clint Walker, Claude Akins, Mako, Larry Storch, Sam Jaffe, and Kim Novak, who in my estimation,was such a gorgeous woman, rivaling even the likes of Marilyn Monroe. The plot seems very familiar and very unoriginal : Several groups of robbers attempt to rob an "impenetrable" Western bank in a little town called "Friendly". There is underground tunneling into the vault, dynamite, and even Kim riding "Lady Godiva style" to distract the bank guards. They had to use large daises to hide her "ass-sets"(and front-sets)! Zero plays a corrupt Christian minister with "Sister" Novak as his sidekick and companion. Typical stunts with a typical Western wood-burning locomotive, some typical shootouts where people die (but only the bad guys or extras), and there is no visible "blood on the saddle". Zero sings a totally annoying and cloying song called "Rainbow Rider" while the Mitchell Boys Choir croons. That song, sadly, is hard to get out of your head. Acceptable, good-natured performances by all, but a cliché-ridden script. Yes,you HAVE seen it all before. The ending is sweet as Kim "falls" for Clint as she bails out of the hot air balloon and Zero & Co. literally float off into the sunset with the loot. Larry Storch plays his funny stereotypical "Mexican" that sounds like Speedy Gonzales. The ending mood is is marred by a last minute gunfight where "bad guy" Akins bites the dust. Fun but very light entertainment to be sure and it was a "bomb" at the box office. As I said, rated high for it's cast, not it's content.

Two rival gangs compete with each other to rob a fortune in gold from a small town bank. It's up clever lawman Ranger Ben Quick (the excellent Clink Walker) to thwart their plans. Director Hy Averback, working from a witty script by William Peter Blatty, relates the funny story at a snappy pace, does a good job of creating and sustaining an amiable lighthearted tone, stages the shoot-outs with real aplomb, and adroitly mines the sharp sense of brash'n'n'broad humor for plenty of belly laughs (the madcap climax in particular is a complete riot). The bang-up cast of familiar faces have an absolute ball with the wacky material: Zero Mostel as shrewd bogus priest Reverend Pious Blue, Kim Novak as the lovely and sassy Sister Lyda Kebanov, Akim Tamiroff as scruffy bandito gang leader Papa, Larry Storch as the dim-witted Juan, Claude Akins as formidable outlaw Slade, Sam Jaffe as the fussy Brother Lilac Bailey, Mako as the crafty Secret Agent Fong, John Anderson as the wily and corrupt Mayor Kincaid, Elisha Cook Jr. as Slade's antsy, but loyal partner Jeb, and John Fiedler as impish explosives expert Brother Dismas Ostracorn. As a nice added plus, Mostel heartily belts out the catchy song "Rainbow Rider" and Novak looks positively ravishing throughout (Kim's eye-popping Lady Godiva bit is especially memorable). Fred J. Koenekamp's lush widescreen cinematography makes neat use of fades and dissolves. Nelson Riddle's spirited score hits the stirring spot. An enormously entertaining romp.

Zero Mostel managed, after being blacklisted in the McCarthy period, to climb back to his place as one of the leading stage personalities of his day. UlYSSES IN NIGHTOWN, RHINOCEROS, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF made him a Broadway immortal. The film versions of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED and THE PRODUCERS showed he could have been one of the great screen comedic actors. Then, came GREAT CATHERINE and THE GREAT BANK ROBBERY, and Zero soon was seen as good as support but not in leads. He would have other screen highlights in the future (THE HOT ROCK, THE FRONT), but the possible great film career was screwed up.As Reverend Pious Blue, Zero was supposed to be the head of a gang masquerading as revivalists, but actually a criminal gang planning to rob the bank owned by Big John Anderson (who is also the town Mayor). The gang includes Kim Novak and John Fiedler. The trouble is that others are considering a bank robbery: Claude Atkins, the film's stereotypical (?) bad man, and a gang of Mexican bandits led by Akim Tamiroff and Larry Storch. There is also a hero, who is romancing Kim, played by Clint Walker. These various elements, which also include Atkins' sidekick Elisha Cook Jr. and Ruth Warwick, simply do not jell. There are moments that are amusing, but more that are simply stupid. The robbery itself is not as good as the destruction of the theater by Zero, Gene Wilder, and Kenneth Mars in THE PRODUCERS, and that sequence only took five minutes of film (originally - now it's been cut to three minutes). The most notable point about it was the getaway (in a balloon).But there was one bright spot - not Zero but Claude. Atkins was always a good actor, usually as heavies (even in INHERIT THE WIND he was the fundamentalist reverend who turns against his daughter for supporting Bertram Cates). Another typical role was in THE DEFIANT ONES, when he is the man who would turn Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis over to the Sheriff (Theodore Bickel) because of his racism. But in this film he was allowed to be unique. He is the most moralistic gunfighter I know of in film. Every time he faces one of the questionable characters in the film, he starts referring to them as "scum" or "scum of the earth". It becomes like a moralistic mantra. He is a man with a hot temper, as Cook discovers to his cost, but he can show a nice sense of remorse afterward. His over-the-top moral bad-guy is the best thing in the film. As a result watch it for that. But otherwise it was a dismal failure for everyone else involved.