Waterhole #3

A gambler and a sheriff team-up to steal gold bullion

This is a quirky Western comedy in the tradition of "McLintock," "Cat Ballou" and "Texas Across the River” with the obsessive lust for lucre being inspired by “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” It’s about on par with “McLintock” and superior to “Cat Ballou,” but not on the level of "Texas Across the River,” at least in my opinion. The best part is the amusing teaming-up of James Coburn (the gambler) and Carroll O'Connor (the sheriff). Claude Akins, Timothy Carey, Bruce Dern and James Whitmore are also on hand.

Blonde beauty Margaret Blye is a pleasure on the female front. There’s a controversial scene of her character being taken advantage of in her barn and her attitude afterward, but the people who take offense need to remember that this is a comedy that intentionally turns morality inside out for laughs, including scenes involving deadly gunfights and venal authority figures. You’re supposed to roll with it and have fun, not psychoanalyze it.

It runs 1h 35m and was shot in Oct-Nov 1966 in southeastern California (Alabama Hills, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cerro Gordo and Mojave Desert) and western Arizona (Cibola, Bouse, Hope and Mojave Desert).

GRADE: B-