The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) *** (out of 4) Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) and Chester Wooley (Lou Costello) go to a small Western town that is nothing but non-stop fights and shootings. The two buy some guns even though neither know what they're doing and when a man falls dead out from the sky they're blamed for it. To set a new policy, the judge orders Wooley to take care of the man's widow (Marjorie Main) and her wild children.THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP has always been one of my favorite non "Meet" movies from Abbott and Costello because of all the hilarious jokes scattered throughout the picture. The duo did quite a few movies set in the old West but this one here is clearly head and shoulders above the rest due to some very well-written jokes and it also giving Costello a chance to act big and tough.The highlight of the picture happens early on at a dinner sequence where Costello is trying to eat a bowl of soup but the widow's kids have put a frog in it. The back and forth between Costello and the (fake) frog was priceless and the timing was right on the mark. Another hilarious scene is the card playing one where the boys think they've came up with a good way to cheat. Also, a running gag has everyone in town afraid to kill Costello because they'd then have to take over the widow. This allows Costello some great gags where he plays it tough and pushes people around.The performances are a major plus with both Bud and Lou doing a very good job and playing off each other nicely. Main is also extremely good as the loud and obnoxious widow. Audrey Young, Gordon Jones and George Cleveland are also quite good and you can look for Glenn Strange who had just appeared with the boys in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, playing the monster of course.THE WISFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP is without question one of the duo's best and funniest films.

Abbott & Costello play two salesman named Duke Egan & Chester Woolley in the old west who, while visiting the rowdy town of Wagon Gap in Montana become famous after Chester is believed to have shot a notorious outlaw. Unfortunately, this means that Chester inherits his wife widow Hawkins(played by Marjorie Main) and his many children of varying ages. Duke is assigned as his guardian, and at first poor Chester is worked to death, but later realizes that, since no man envies his position, makes him the perfect sheriff, since no one dares oppose him for fear of being the new husband! This will change when it is learned the widow will soon be rich... Clever comedy uses an old obscure law for good comedic effect. Result is a most amusing and appealing film from the team, with Miss Main being their near-equal.

Aside from ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, this might just be one of Abbott and Costello's best films, though it represents a great departure from their earlier films. The early films followed a clear formula in which Bud and Lou did their comedy (often reprising old Vaudeville bits), there was a romance between two pretty but bland supporting characters and lot and lots of singing--and often in the form of huge and silly production numbers. As a result, the script was rather superficial and the story was driven by these three elements. However, by the time THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP came along, a newer (and in my opinion, often better) style emerged. Gone (thank goodness) were the songs, the romantic subplot was de-emphasized and Bud and Lou now appeared in character-driven plots--and their old routines were all but gone. Getting rid of the routines was a good idea, as by this film, the team kept repeating themselves--doing many versions of "Who's on First", "7x13=21" and Bud (or someone else) cheating Lou as they count out money.This film is in many ways like combining a traditional Western with an Abbott and Costello comedy and this mix worked quite well. Much of this credit is due to the writing but I think a big part of this also was having Marjorie Main in a big supporting role. She was always a funny bit player in films and here she gets more to do (like she would in her "Ma and Pa Kettle" films). Plus, I appreciate just how game she was--as many of the jokes poked fun at her homely appearance. Poor lady! It all begins with Bud and Lou coming to a Western town. Soon after arriving, Lou is accused of killing a man, though it's obvious to the audience that Lou's shot probably had nothing to do with this. The townspeople want to string him up, but in court he is saved by an obscure law that calls for the surviving person in a shootout to assume the debts and take care of the victim's family! So now, Lou is spared a hanging, but is stuck with Main and seven kids! Main wants marriage--Lou just wants to work to take care of them and just hopes everything works out somehow.Later in the film, the plot takes a funny twist. You see, all the men in town really feel sorry for Lou, as Main and her brood aren't exactly much of a catch. When Lou realizes this is an insurance policy of sorts, he realizes no one will ever try to kill him. So, he volunteers to become sheriff and is almost fearless in his duties--after all, what does he have to lose?! Seeing this change is quite funny as is the entire film. In fact, it's nice that the film actually gets better as it goes and saves some of the best stuff for last.Overall, an excellent film and quite an improvement in the series. The only prior film that seemed to come close to THE WISTFUL WIDOW in quality and fun is WHO DONE IT!--and this, also, because it abandoned the singing and stuck with comedy.

Abbott and Costello managed to wreak havoc in virtually every type of movie genre, and the Western was no exception. They did it the first time in 1942's "Ride 'Em Cowboy", and came back once more in "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap". The boys are traveling salesmen for all of about five minutes in the film's introduction, before Lou's character Chester Wooley fires a gun into the air, claiming a victim by the name of Hawkins. When members of a hastily called jury arrive with nooses to determine his fate, Wooley is saved by a Montana law that requires the victor in a duel to provide for the departed's widow and family. In this case the widow Hawkins is Marjorie Main, not terribly upset by her new unmarried status, but determined to wed once again.Perennial Costello foil Gordon Jones is on hand here as outlaw gang leader Jake Frame, and as usual is largely ineffective in reigning in his nemesis. Eventually Chester is appointed sheriff to clean up Frame and his gang, on the assumption that no one will shoot him because then the wife and child support duties will in turn fall to them. Chester plays it to the hilt with a picture of Mrs. Hawkins and her brood close to his heart, or in his back pocket as it were, lending formidable support to his cause.If you've seen much of Abbott and Costello in other films, you'll sense something missing here. Their early films tended to include a host of musical numbers, and physical comedy punctuated by at least three or four well choreographed routines. The finale usually turned into a frenetic thrill ride on some appropriately misguided missile appropriate to the movie's theme, in "Ride 'Em Cowboy" it was a stampeding bronco. In this movie you find yourself leaning forward for the payoffs, but they're fewer and further between. The frog in the soup routine is the one recognizable bit, and he comes back for a quick cameo later on.Besides Marjorie Main, there's not much of a supporting cast here either. "Ride 'Em Cowboy" featured a pair of legitimate "B" Western movie stars in Johnny Mack Brown and Dick Foran. The best this film can do is give us a glimpse of gang members Glenn Strange and Rex Lease, with George Cleveland as Judge Benbow who by film's end winds up with the widow's hand in a Bud Abbott film flam that turns out to be real.Don't be put off by my lukewarm recommendation here, "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap" is an enjoyable vehicle for A&C fans, but they've been better in other vehicles. So was the frog.