A magazine writer is assigned a piece on the Old West, so he heads West, taking his lady friend along.
Despite reading warninga of roadside scams offering tours of ghost towns that aren’t, they decide to turn down a desolate road.
They feel scammed after an elderly Indian woman charges them $5 for a chance to see a couple of dilapidated buildings.
They feel doubly so when an elderly man says she doesn’t own the property and charges them another $5 before he’ll let them leave.
But on the way out, the Indian woman regals them with the story of Jud McGraw and Little Moon.
He was a man framed for stage holdups committed by Mimmo and his gang. He left prison determined to get revenge.
She was a pretty girl raped by the men in the town of Black Nola. She’d like to get even too.
They eventually form a partnership. And with the use of their wits, a slingshot, three catapults and a kite filled with dynamite, they strike back.
Odd, odd, odd. Especially since this is the enhanced version of a film called “Gone with the West,” which didn’t include the flashback sequence, the journalist or the narrator.
Just how did someone talk Sammy Davis Jr., James Caan and Stefanie Powers into signing onto a project that resulted in such a crudely made film?
There is a certain camp value here. And Powers is sorta cute as the Indian girl who doesn’t speak English and does everything possible — from looking cute, to doing magic tricks, to doing rope tricks, to balancing a long stick on her nose — to get Caan’s attention.
But as Mimmo’s enforcer, Kid Dandy (the Davis part) does nothing to help him deal with his bigget problem at the moment (Jud). And Caan barely speaks over the course of the film.
If you decide to watch the film, check out this version. It’s the better of the two. The story-telling makes the tall tale easier to swallow and helps explain what’s happening.
Directed by:
Bernard Girard
Cast:
James Caan … Jud McGraw
Stefanie Powers … Little Moon
Aldo Ray … Mimmo
Barbara Werle … Billie
Robert Walker Jr. … Sheriff
Sammy Davis Jr. …. Kid Dandy
Kenny Adams … Artie
Heather Angel … Old Little Moon
L. Andy Stone … Old Jud McGraw
Michael Conrad … Blacksmith
Anne Barton … Blacksmith’s wife
Paul Bergen … Singing cowboy
Elmore Vincent … Jerry
Elizebeth Leigh … Gail
Runtime: 95 min.
aka:
“Gone with the West”
Memorable lines:
Posse member: “They had traps Indians haven’t even thought of yet.”
Posse member #2: “Lost four good men out there. Couldn’t even find ’em.”
Artie: “You ever try findin’ a ghost Mimmo. Well, that’s what up there. Only there must be a hundred of ’em.”
Sheriff, after Jeb intervenes when Mimmo’s men attack the blacksmith: “Wasn’t your fight.”
Jeb: “I was drinking his beer.”
Mimmo: “You had fun at Bitter Creek with a hot iron. Now let’s see how you like it.”