Waterhole #3

source: Waterhole #3

I had never heard of this until a few days ago (usually not a good sign) and found it on Encore Westerns the same week (also usually not a good sign). But it had Coburn, O'Connor, and Akins in it so I was thinking for the best. I briefly read the summary and that it was a comedy or at least kind of light hearted western so I went in to get a uplifting feel from it. I also looked at Coburn's filmography and this was released in between his Flint sequel, In Like Flint, and one of my favorite Coburn films The President's Analyst, so hey it's 1957 and it's Coburn at his peak right? THEN, I started watching this and the credits say Blake Edwards! Oh wow this is a sure thing! And Roger Miller is singing? Oh wow! Well Edwards only produced it which mean he watched the money, he didn't make it. And Roger Miller is singing way too long so thats not too good, he sounds like he's been on hard times, hard livin times. Anyway It's OK I guess but it's not really humorous or exciting. But it was OK to watch but that ending is stupid beyond belief for a film that really isn't outrageous before. I'd say watch only for a Coburn, O'Connor, or Akins completest's. I think they killed off the best character, Harry Davis, way too early at the start to make it half way interesting. And of course Timothy Carey is playing an unstable guy but really not used to great effect like he could have been. And I'm sure most of the reviews are talking about rape and I totally agree, the women in the audience must have been revolted. I mean I was and I'm a man. 6 of 10 and that's being generous. Film has little going for it outside of curiosity.

Writerascritic went on a diatribe, but he has as many "authenticity" holes as the movie. Historically, it was actually rare for a woman to be raped in the west and if she was, the man was usually killed as soon as he was located. Women were rare in the raw west and were protected accordingly. Women were not just kept barefoot and pregnant. They had children, but how many was a result of social standing. Poor farmers may have needed farm hands, but children still had to be fed and that could be tough. Few women had "dozens" of children because many died in child birth. Why gay issues were brought into his review other than the fact that writerascritic is obviously a hate monger is a mystery to me. I have read his other reviews and it's obvious that he is homophobic and his reviews should be monitored for useless, hate filled content. Poor writerascritic can't contain his hate just toward gays and women who want to be treated decently, but also religious folk. What's funny is during the era the movie was supposedly set in, 90% plus of the white population of the United States was strongly Christian and practiced the faith ardently. It's obvious that the subject matter is a reflection not of the story's time, but of the era of the movie production when Hollywood was resisting the idea that women should have rights. This was and is due to the fact that Hollywood makes far too much money exploiting women and anyone else not white male to readily change movie styles. This movie is just as mediocre as most made during the 60's, humorous at times with a weak script. Good actors put to waste with a singer narrator reiterating the existing story line. Thankfully, times have changed and if you want to see how much in the last 60 years this is the movie to see.

The best parodies are ones that are in the form of what they are parodying. This is one such parody. It is in the form of a spaghetti western (more specifically a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western), and it is a parody of a spaghetti Western. The hero would save the life of a stranger. Superficially, he appears to be a conventional strong silent highly moral hero. But in all matters that are less than life or death he is quite the opposite. Yet he remains appealing. Embedded in this wonderful parody is some of the funniest individual scenes in any movie. Fans of Parody and Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns are the most likely to love this movie.

This is one of my two favorite westerns. Years ago, I bought the soundtrack album, with narration by Roger Miller. It is one of the first things that Dave Grusin, fresh from Colorado U. did. Many of the verses in the ballad are unforgettable, and help me to recreate the best movie scenes in my mind. Lewton Cole is the prototypical Anti-Hero. (Whenever somebody uses that term, I think of Lewton.) "This tale has a hero, his name...Lewton Cole They say he was born with an ace in the hole! They nursed him on bourbon, they teethed him on steel, And his first words were "shut up and deal!" Everyone gets het up about the rape, but ultimately, Billee gets over it. Roger says "Billee decided that she'd already lost everything she was going to, so she decided to go after her man." And the last verse of the ballad, sums up the anti-hero riding off into the sunset. "Old Mexico lies just ahead, so Gambler, move along! They ain't nobody there to care if you done right or wrong. You shot a thief, you found some gold, You stole a kiss or two... And the world's a better place because of you."

Entertaining Western/comedy in which follows the misadventures of two soldiers ( Claude Akins , Timothy Carey ) and a cobbler who rob Union Army a fortune in gold and bury it in desert waterhole . An astute thief named Cole (James Coburn) , a roguish gambler just passing through aware about the gold . As Cole attempts to profit from the fortune after a dispute with Doc Quinlan (Roy Jenson) . A beautiful girl ( Margaret Blye ) and rambunctious temperance daughter of the sheriff (Carrol O'Connor ) out to stop Cole en route to thirsting desert. Delightful Western parody in which the grifter Coburn steals the show using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as he relentlessly kills, robs and rapes . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise . Seemingly endless list of character players includes a good support cast as Carroll O'Connor as unlikely sheriff , Bruce Dern as inept deputy and James Withmore as Northern officer . Furthermore adds sparkle other actors as Joan Blondell as a likable Madame and the villainous Claude Akins and Timothy Carey . The film follows in the wake of ¨ Hallelujah trail (65) ¨ by John Sturges ¨ Support your local sheriff ¨ and ¨ Support your local gunfighter ¨ by Burt Kennedy and of course but later ¨ Blazing saddles (74) ¨ by Mel Brooks , all of them are engaging Western satire and pretty bemusing . Colorful cinematography by Robert Burks and atmospheric musical score by Dave Grusin full of ballads sung by Roger Miller . The film is produced by Blake Edwards and well directed by William A. Graham . None of William Graham's later movies have topped this one for sheer belly laughters . He's usually TV director and occasionally for cinema , film-making several Western as Montana (90, Billy the Kid (89) , Last day of Frank and Jesse James (86) and Harry Tracy (86) and several others . Rating : Riatous Western spoof in which there's too much silly comedy and enough excitement.

I have to laugh at the girlie "men" so indignantly panning a movie from 50 years ago. Grow up, you wimps, and take notes. This is what men were like 150 years ago, and even 50 years ago. Frankly, I found this quite entertaining for what it was intended to be! - after all, Blake Edwards produced it, not Elizabeth Warren. I kept seeing parallels to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!" from five years previous, wherein many disparate parties all catch wind of a hidden treasure, and friendships/alliances/allegiances constantly shift until all parties converge upon the treasure...at which point the party watching all the silliness absconds with the loot. This flick just adds an extra twist after THAT point. Nice way to kill two hours!

If you ever want to see a film that has hilarity throughout the entire film, then you've got to see this one. "Waterhole # 3" is one of the best western comedies ever made as it has nearly all the classic clichés written into it. It is the Code of the West which makes this film flow from beginning to end. It says, do onto others, before they do it onto you. When the producers selected the actors for this film, they struck gold. Herein we have handsome, broad smiling and ever so crafty James Coburn as Lewton Cole. He's a gambler who learns of a shipment of Gold hidden somewhere near a watering hole and all he has to do is outwit, the outlaws who have it, the Army who wants it back and the lawmen who get in his way. Carroll O'Connor plays Sheriff John H. Copperud, a law officer who believes when it comes to rape, 'a man picks his fruit from the nearest tree.' Claude Akins is MSgt. Henry J. Foggers, who trades his career for a chance to be rich. Bruce Dern plays Deputy Samuel P. Tippen. James Whitmore plays 30 year Capt. Shipley and Roy Jenson is superb as dangerous Doc Quinlen. ****

How does a mean of 7.5 and a median of 8 give an "average" of 6.1? The other popular measure of central tendency, the mode, is 10. In any case, a very amusing movie. Of westerns, it and and Cat Balou are the only ones I ever enjoyed; therefore, it must be a 10. If it weren't a western, it would be only an 8.5, as it would have more competition.

Maybe this is a movie Hitchcock saw before directing his 1972 picture "Frenzy". In that film, there's a scene of a businessman discussing the story's 'necktie murders' which also involve rape, and he says "I suppose it's nice to know every cloud has a silver lining", as it relates to a victim who was raped before being killed. I couldn't believe it then and I can't believe it with this movie, the attitude taken by the screen writers and director in taking an approach that brushes the subject off as just one of those things. OK, I can understand the parody aspects to the picture as it moves along, but that message of tolerance for a despicable act unnerves me even as I write about it. And to see such talented actors as James Coburn and Carroll O'Connor involved in the denigration of Sheriff John's (O'Connor) daughter was a bit hard to take. Granted, 1967 was a half century ago and I don't mean to go totally PC about it, but it did a lot to detract from this viewer's enjoyment of the picture. Not to mention the way it tarnished the actual comedic moments in the story.