The Dude Goes West

Director: Kurt Neumann Kurt Neumann

Overview

In this western comedy, a milquetoast gunsmith from the East Coast goes to Arsenic City, Arizona because he has heard that everybody their carries guns. His trip West is an exercise in misfortune. Everything that could go wrong on the journey, does. At least he meets a pretty woman, also en route to Arsenic City. She goes there in search of her late father's gold mine. They fall in love and work together to find her father's killer and reclaim the mine.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/2009
UPC:	0883316126141
Original Release:	1948
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:26:00
Sales rank:	53,447

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Eddie Albert	Daniel Bone
Gale Storm	Liza Crockett
Binnie Barnes	Kiki Kelly
James Gleason	Sam Briggs
Gilbert Roland	Pecos Kid
Barton MacLane	Texas Jack
Douglas Fowley	Beetie
Tom Tyler	Spiggoty
Harry Hayden	Horace Hotchkiss
Chief Yowlachie	Running Wolf
Sarah Padden	Mrs. Hallahan
Catharine Doucet	Grandma Crockett,Grandma Crockett
Edward Gargan	Conductor
Olin Howlin	Finnegan
Francis Pierlot	Mr. Brittle
Tom Fadden	J.J. Jines
Si Jenks	Horse Trader
George Meeker	Gambler
Dick Elliott	Whiskey Drummer
Charles Williams	Harris
Lee 'Lasses' White	Baggage Master
Frank Yaconelli	Train Passenger
Ben Welden	Porgy
Dimitri Tiomkin	Composer

Technical Credits

Richard Sale

Mary Loos

Frank King	Producer,Producer
Ray Mercer	Special Effects
Kurt Neumann	Director
Richard Sale	Screenwriter
Mary Loos	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Director Kurt Neumann is remembered today principally for his science-fiction films, most notably The Fly (1957). But as anyone who has seen The Dude Goes West can attest, Neumann was now slouch in the comedy and spoof departments, either -- this movie may not be quite as broad as, say, Norman Z. McLeod's The Paleface, done at about the same time, nor does it have the high-powered combination of Bob Hope and Jane Russell, but it has a set of virtues all its own. Allied Artists got more than its money's worth from this seemingly modest effort, which actually recalls (and sort of parodies) Destry Rides Again more than it does The Paleface, and suffers not one bit from the seemingly lighter-weight talent of Eddie Albert, in a role that recalls James Stewart from the earlier film. The Dude Goes West doesn't have Marlene Dietrich or anyone like her, but it does display a subtle and engaging sense of humor about itself that crops up in the funniest places -- the flashback structure wasn't really necessary, but it doesn't impede any of the humor or action. Among the actors, Eddie Albert and James Gleason are the most rewarding to watch, while Gale Storm was never more appealing than she is here, and Barton MacLane gets to play more than just a scowling villain and brute in this picture. And there are elements of Albert's performance here, as the wide-eyed enthusiast for the west, that anticipate his sitcom work two decades later -- when his Daniel Bone starts talking about the American Revolution and the Bill of Rights here, one can almost hear the fife that played behind his similar exhortations on Green Acres in the 1960s.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder