Really Surprised!

best movie i've ever seen.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A pleasant western farce, with Brit Kenneth More as Johnathan Tibbs, who shakes up the little Wild West town of Fractured Jaw. He just wanted to sell some British-made guns to the locals, but ends up shanghaied into becoming the latest in a series of recent sheriffs, the others having died by violent means....... Is Tibbs likely to fare any better? Well, many of the locals initially have a strong prejudice against him because he's obviously a Brit of good breeding, talking and acting: very different from the other men of this town, and probably a tinhorn when it comes to sheriffing. As Jane Mansfield(Kate), as the proprietor and singer of a saloon and boarding house discovers, he's less than handy at shooting firearms. And as the local Indians discover, he's never ridden a horse and, again, shows little aptitude in mounting or staying on a horse. But he has 2 assets that help him: He's not afraid to approach armed men, Including Indians) and talk to them. Also, he has a derringer up his sleeve, attached to his arm, that impresses everyone, who often submit to him after seeing it. Seeing this makes Kate change from acting surly toward him to deciding that maybe he is her ticket out of this forgotten town into the wide world of sophistication and urbanites......Kate lip-syncs to 3 songs sung by Connie Francis, and composed by Harry Harris. Two("Strolling Down the Lane with Bill", and "If the San Francisco Hills Could Only Talk") were sung as part of stage shows, with dancers in the background. The third: "In the Valley of Love", probably the best, was sung while accompanying Tibbs on a buckboard ride through a canyon, where the walls supposedly echoed her singing, enhancing it. Connie also sang this during the opening credits. Kate lost her strong Southern lingo, when singing......Although first billed, Robert Morley, as well as Robert Squire and David Horne, were only present in the rather brief beginning, when we supposedly are in the UK....William Campbell serves as Keeno, who has some hostile encounters with Tibbs....Henry Hull, as Mayor Masters, exhibits his signature bombastic personality, similarly seen in "Jesse James" 1939, for example.... Sidney James is the drunk in the initial stagecoach ride. .....Jonas Applegarth serves as the Indian Chief(Running Deer), who has a number of interactions with Tibbs, and serves as Kate's substitute father in her wedding to Tibbs....Charles Irwin serves as the undertaker, who is waiting for Tibbs to be shot dead......The climax involves a 4 -way battle in the boondocks, between the cowboys of the Lazy S and the Box T, who are gunning for each other, as well as for Tibbs, who is defended by Kate and her rifle. Eventually Tibbs' blood-brother Indians show up to tip the battle in Tibbs' favor. The two groups of cowboys agree to forget their differences, and behave in town....I enjoyed the film, for the most part. More and Hull, especially, are appropriately amusing, and Jane provides some serious eye candy, endearing sassiness and charm, whatever her deficiencies in acting might be. See it at YouTube.

Copyright 1958 by Daniel M. Angel Productions. Released through 20th Century-Fox. New York opening at the Paramount: 13 March 1959. U.S. release: January 1959. U.K. release: 21 December 1958. Australian release: 30 April 1959. Sydney opening at the Embassy. 9,900 feet. 110 minutes. (Cut to 102 minutes in Australia and the USA).SYNOPSIS: In the mid-19th century, the English gunsmith house of Tibbs is in a state of near-bankruptcy. Consequently, Jonathan Tibbs decides to save the family business by journeying to that part of the world where guns are most popular — the American West. Armed with samples and confidence, he arrives in the lawless town of Fractured Jaw, checks in at Kate's Hotel and Saloon, and confounds one and all with his impeccable attire and speech, his tea-drinking habit, and his incredibly fast draw.NOTES: Number 7 of the ten top attractions at the U.K. box-office for 1959.Although credited only for her rendition of the title tune, Connie Francis looped Miss Mansfield's songs as well.COMMENT: Heavy-handed but mildly funny western spoof, this variant of "Ruggles of Red Gap" and/or "Fancy Pants" received mixed reviews from the line-up of professional critics. I felt the movie offers little that's fresh or new, but (at least in its American version) it moves at a reasonable clip and is nothing if not enthusiastically enacted — especially by the colorfully costumed Jayne Mansfield.OTHER VIEWS: Scarcely anything has been added to the old, old tune, and the few variations attempted show little inventiveness and quite a lot of dawdling. The result is that most of the humor is forced and the effect is pretty much that of a man laughing at his own joke. — Paul V. Beckley in the New York Herald Tribune.Not to be missed... Who ever greenlighted the starring combo of Jayne Mansfield and Kenneth More has done themselves and filmgoers a good turn. These two effervescent personalities merge like bacon and eggs, and the result is a wave of yocks... Walsh has directed this cheerful skit about the wild, woolly west with vigor and pace... Miss Mansfield gives More hearty support, looks attractive in a big, bosomy way and sings two or three numbers very well. — Variety.

A British comedy Western filmed in Spain, starring a bastion of English acting (Kenneth Moore), an American sex-bomb (Jayne Mansfield) and directed by the man who brought us High Sierra & White Heat (Raoul Walsh}. Yes that's quite a hodge-podge of elements and it's no surprise to find that that's exactly what the film is; a mixture of fun froth and cringe inducing oddities.The film is adapted by Howard Dimsdale from a short story written by Jacob Hay. The plot centres around Jonathon Tibbs (Moore), the young son of a family of English gunsmiths. He travels to the American West in the 1880s to sell firearms to the locals. While on stagecoach route he survives an Indian attack purely by stiff upper lip British luck, and then he inadvertently acquires a reputation of quickness on the draw due to his wrist mounted Derringer style weapon. Sensing an opportunity to finally clean up Fractured Jaw, which is in the middle of a war between The Lazy S & Box T factions, the mayor bluffs Tibbs into becoming the sheriff. Cue hilarity as the hopelessly ill equipped Englishman starts to clean up the town with the help of buxom saloon owner Kate (Mansfield) and his new family; the Indians.The problems with the film are many, the over used fish out of water formula, the budget restrictions being over obvious and the glaringly blatant lack of chemistry between the two oddly casted leads-are just the ones that first spring to mind. Then you can add the bad idea to include the likes of Robert Morley and Sid James in your film, and give them next to no time on screen. So yes it's not too harsh to say that The Sheriff Of Fractured Jaw is a weak film in many ways. Yet it is funny, something that comes quite often with the fish out of water formula if the writing is clever enough. Mercifully Dimsdale's screenplay sets up a number of humorous set pieces and Walsh, tho long past his best, professionally puts them together.Moore gives the whole British tenderfoot act his complete gusto, and Mansfield looks terrific; every inch the sex-bomb befitting her legacy. Some fine support comes from Henry Hull & Bruce Cabot, while the tunes (Mansfield dubbed by the brilliant Connie Francis), notably the gorgeous theme song "In The Valley Of Love," keep the film brisk and firmly footed in the light entertainment department. It's a film that if you dwell on it too much could drive you to distraction, but as time fillers go in the comedy Western sub-genre, it just about finishes above average and is recommended for like minded adults on a very rainy day. 6/10

Kenneth More, the British Comedian stars in his first Hollywood movie with Jayne Maynesfield, the blonde bombshell in this spoof of westerns where a man who would rather drink tea than pick a gun tames the west. The film is well-directed by the veteran Michael Curtiz, is mildly amusing to extremely funny in parts. Jayne sings some songs, especially a catchy one with echoes. What else to say, good fluff.