The Frisco Kid

source: The Frisco Kid

Predictable story of befuddled rabbi who sets off across the U.S. on horseback in 1850 to head a congregation in San Francisco. Aldrich doesn't know what he wants here; comedy or western?

Aldrich's penultimate film is an odd and mildly interesting Western which, given its unlikely alliance between Polish rabbi Gene Wilder and young robber Harrison Ford, actually ties in nicely with the various buddy-buddy Spaghetti Westerns I've been going through this past week or so! Still, the two-hour running-time is too great to sustain its rambling but, ultimately, pointless narrative (Wilder goes through many a misadventure, including being mistaken for Ford's accomplice and then having to depend on him for survival, on his long voyage) and few elements of the typical Western fare are utilized in any significant way (despite trains, banks, shoot-outs, posses, Indians, etc.) - though the landscapes are pleasant enough. Wilder's characteristically energetic performance helps a lot; Ford, however, is both too young and too modern for this type of role (according to Wilder's autobiography, it was originally intended for John Wayne!).

This one's a bad one. Gene Wilder always gets graded on a curve. But in "The Frisco Kid" he wears out his welcome. He's actually kind of annoying. Harrison Ford has made a few great movies but he'll never be remembered as a great actor. He's never believable as a cowboy. As a comedy it's not funny. Not at all. As a western it's boring. They throw in almost every western cliche in the book and none of them work. "FK" has quite a few moments that are painful to watch. The only part I liked was the scene where he thanks the Amish people for their kindness. That was a nice moment. There rest is the pits. A premise ( a rabii in the old west) is not a movie. It has to be developed.

Robert Aldrich was a director who made entertaining films throughout his career. He can count his blessings in having had the opportunity to work with one of the best comedians of all times: Gene Wilder. This film is a delight, from beginning to end. Mr. Wilder, as Avram is a man we can't keep our eyes from, as he dominates the screen and makes this film his own. The adventures Avram goes through, coming to a country where everything is so different from the world he leaves behind, is what glues this tale together. A young Harrison Ford is Mr. Wilder's sidekick. This bank robber shows the naive Avram the tricks about how to survive in a hostile environment. Mr. Ford underplays the role, and it works well because the funny lines are meant for Avram, and how he reacts to what he discovers, as he travels west. This film will always be a favorite because it is universal and it reaches the audience with its positive message while laughing and enjoying the great Gene Wilder on the screen.

This is really one sweet-natured fish-out-of-water tale, with a wonderful, winning performance by Gene Wilder as a Polish rabbi who's forced to go it alone from Pennsylvania to San Francisco in 1850. It was a real pleasure to experience the old west through the eyes of this very unlikely hero! Harrison Ford too is fantastic as a young bank-robber who becomes his protector and who's tough exterior masks a heart of gold, which becomes more apparent as he learns the real meaning of friendship through his adventures with the rabbi. The movie's treatment of religion was very refreshing too. Wilder's various interactions with people of different faiths is at times hilarious, insightful, and very touching, never scornful. The warmth and respect they each show one another isn't often shown in films. One thing that had me scratching my head was the rabbi's repeated use of the word "God". As an orthodox Jew, isn't the character prohibited from speaking or writing the deity's name?

I just saw this for the first time (I somehow missed it when it was released) last night. Admiring Gene Wilder (who I most closely associate with Silver Streak and Young Frankenstein, two top comedy favorites), I expected to laugh a lot. I didn't. There were some very funny moments, but this was about 75% drama, with this poor Jewish rabbi having all sorts of serious calamities befall him as he tried to cross the U.S. from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1850. One early scene has him not just being conned out of $50 trying to help two other men travel west, but as they take him along, they suddenly start beating him up--with a bloodied face of Wilder making this not at all comical--before they take his bags and clothes and throw him off the stage. To make that scene at all funny, you needed no blood and Wilder not being visibly beaten. Maybe a quick scene where the bad guys pull a gun and say, "Now we want the rest of your money" and we suddenly see him sitting on the roadside, in his long underwear, showing the results of their robbery without the unpleasant moments where they rob him. This is the type of thing that seems to dominate this film. Some good comedy, but lots of death-defying serious episodes that take away most of the comedic atmosphere. Other reviewers have gone over the many inaccuracies and illogical portions of this film. They were numerous enough to obstruct my enjoyment--even though I usually overlook things like that in a comedy. Possibly the dumbest scene was where Wilder and Ford have chased away the bad guys (killing one of them) and are now happily swimming and laughing when the remaining bad guys confront them, holding their guns on them. Intent on killing our heroes--for killing the one bad guy's brother--it was idiotic of them to let the good guys get anywhere close to their own guns, just so we could have an extended gunfight. The guns had been left on the beach and the bad guys had the drop on the good guys. The bad guys should have easily been able to grab the guns while the good guys were swimming, or shoot before they could retrieve the guns. Too many poorly-written scenes like this and humor parsed out way too seldom kept me from finding this film worth watching. I think I'll watch Silver Streak again this weekend--it too had some intense drama, but the humor was much more frequent, allowing me to overlook the film's flaws.

I began this movie hopeful. I was expecting to see a western comedy with two fantastic lead actors. Instead I got a two hour blood libel about how people who aren't the chosen people are by and large criminal, mean spirited, weak willed, cowardly, unprincipled, hypocritical, opportunistic, undisciplined, et cetera.... et cetera. I can't believe such a hateful film was actually made. The laughs are far and few between. What action there was likewise few and far between. Instead it's scene after scene after scene of raw naked moralizing in favor of the special people. very disappointing.

I agree with a few of the other commenters who say this is an overlooked film. I think many people gave up on it because the first 45 minutes or so are VERY slow. After that, the pace picks up nicely and the film becomes quite humorous. Gene Wilder stars as a Rabbi sent from Europe to San Francisco. He must traverse the entire US and has several adventures and misadventures along the way. He also meets up with Harrison Ford, who portrays a bank robber. There are a few scenes where there is some violence. The film is a combination of western drama and comedy, with elements of both in about equal amounts. As I said earlier, give this film a chance...suffer through the first 45 minutes or so. The remainder of the film is well worth it.

Whether or not this is supposed to be a comedy or a traditional western is difficult to decipher. Perhaps in somebody's mind the idea of a Western "Road" movie with a Polish Rabbi (Gene Wilder) and a bandit (Harrison Ford) seemed like a winner, but it unfortunately ends up being a western "Ishtar". With the intention of getting to a synagogue in San Francisco with his promised bride to be waiting (he thinks), Rabbi Wilder (87th in the class of 88) heads across the Atlantic and is hoodwinked out of his cash and prized Torah on his way out of Pennsylvania. The thought of confusing Jewish culture with the Amish had crossed my mind as being somewhat humorous, but here, it is stupid and even rather offensive. Then, Wilder combines traditional Jewish dances with those of Indians, and the result is tackier than a cauldron of beans being eaten around a camp fire. With only Wilder and Ford having any name recognition (only Ian Wolfe in a cameo as a monk is anybody familiar to veteran film goers), this is a lonely film for familiar faces. Wilder's bushy hair and wild eyed features seem like he still had make-up on from the black-face sequence in "Silver Streak". At least he is innocent here of any creative input in the film, which was directed by Robert Aldrich, who may be a master of the macabre and melodrama, but someone who knew absolutely nothing about comedy.