The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west "to fight oral ignorance." Meanwhile stagecoach robber Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers.Don Knotts fans will enjoy this one, as it fits right in line with his regular comedy style (more like "Andy Griffith" or "Frame a Figg" and less like "Private Eyes"). There is plenty of physical comedy, especially early on, and if you like a bit of slapstick, this is for you.By today's standards, the film may be considered questionable because of its portrayal of Native Americans. I am not one to be politically correct, but did find the scenes with them to be rather dated. Not offensive, but not really positive either. But I will not dwell on this.Definitely one of Knotts' better films, and a good deal funnier than "Mr. Limpet".

In 1870 Philadelphia, faint-hearted Don Knotts (as Jesse W. Heywood) obtains a license in dentistry, and decides to spread "dental health through the west like a plague." After his stagecoach is held up, Mr. Knotts joins a wagon train. He plays horsey with buxom Barbara Rhoades (as Penelope Cushings) and dresses up as a fetching Indian squaw. Is Knotts' character bisexual? The ending leaves the question unanswered. Gun smugglers Jackie "Uncle Fester" Coogan and Don "Red Ryder" Barry head off an able supporting cast. Vic Mizzy's wild, wild western music resembles his own "Green Acres". All in all, this is a tedious, uncalled for re-make of Bob Hope's "The Paleface" (1948).** The Shakiest Gun in the West (7/10/68) Alan Rafkin ~ Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan

Don Knotts was true to form as a meek and weak man with a little gumption; his historical stereotype. Yes, this movie is a weaker version of a combined " Paleface and Son of Paleface " from earlier times. Barbara Rhodes is a very attractive woman with average acting skills. She is the best looking "cowboy" in her western duds. Her jeans look fabulous on her very shapely figure; she was poured into these pants like liquid wax into a mold. Barbara wears tall , tan ,suede cowboy boots with her jeans tucked inside with matching tan leather gun belt,; very sensual in her disguise as a male outlaw. Barbara, like Jane Russell in both Palefaces , becomes a reformed outlaw and marries the male star.By contrast, I have given " Son of Paleface " a value of 10 out of 10 for its effort in previous reviews. Jane Russell as a " cowboy outlaw "doesn't wear jeans but fancy stretch ski pants as her riding attire, over all Jane Russell is more sensual than Barbara.

It's easy to overlook the societal importance of "Shakiest". Most academics consider it a vapid re-make of a "superior" Bob Hope film. However my consensus is that Hope's movie simply Overemphasized the comedic aspects of the story and downplayed the sociological importance and mythical underpinnings of it. I don't fault Hope since his comedic talents are such that only his fully grasping of the genre and paradigm in its epistemological sense would allow him the proper frame/reference to "dim" his comedic talents enough to let the nuances of the story's deeper meanings emerge. Not so with Don Knotts. His performance is neo-subtle in the sense that he draws attention to the pre-Scorsesian templates of story entwined with yet separated from, meaning, by overexagerating Hope's performance to a Vonnegutian level. Example; his performance as Painless Jesse in the film's opening sequences underscore the relationship of Man the Creator with Man the Destroyer and Man the Dentist. In Barb Rhoades we see an equal but lesser voice representing tenets of Post-modern imperialism as well as Proto-Schwarzeneggerian grandiosity. Yet, it is Knotts, initially passive who redeems himself in the end, triumphing over Rhoades and all she symbolizes as well as echoing the pan-universal theme of the hero transformed by "plumbing" his own depths. This is shown particularly in the mine scene, where we read "mine" as "Subconscious Id". Simply put, not sense "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" has Knotts blended Transformational Mythology with Wellesian Cinematography and Jerrylewisian slapstick. BRAVO!