The Paleface Reviews

A very funny spoof on westerns that wavers between satire and farce, THE PALEFACE did so well at the box office that a sequel, THE SON OF PALEFACE, was made four years later, but it didn't come close to the fun of the original. Almost 20 years later, Don Knotts starred in a remake, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, but it's a pale imitation. Russell, who was the star of Howard Hughes' THE OUTLAW, makes good fun of herself here, playing off the fast wisecracks of Hope. He's a dentist who got his degree by mail and is now hoping to earn a living in the rootin'-tootin' West. He encounters Russell (Calamity Jane), who has been on the run for some crimes she committed before the movie started. Russell is trying to nab the villain who has been selling guns to the Indians in the neighborhood. If she manages to do that, she hopes her prior felonies will be overlooked. To take the heat off her, Russell marries Hope, and then, of course, falls for him. Hope manages to capture the bad guys in an inadvertent fashion and is acclaimed a hero. The movie sat on the shelves for a while, and by the time it came out, one of the tunes, "Buttons and Bows" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, sung by Hope and Russell), was already a hit. The song later won an Oscar. Other songs were "Meetcha Round the Corner" (Livingston, Evans, sung by Iris Adrian) and "Get a Man" (Joseph J. Lilley). Lots of jokes pepper the dialog, and Russell shows she can trade quips with Hope without losing a smidgen of the fun. Whereas DUEL IN THE SUN and THE OUTLAW sought to bring steamy sex to westerns, THE PALEFACE succeeded in making goodnatured fun of the genre.