The Sheriff was a Lady (1964)

German singing star Freddy Quinn is Black Bill, a deadeye with a gun who’s returning to his hometown of Moon Valley.

He’s looking forward to a reunion with the Daniels family that raised him and with young Anita Daniels, the girl he knew as a sister.

But plenty is afoul in Moon Valley.

The good news: The ranchers have found gold. The bad: Someone is burning them out of their homes and, in some cases, killing them to get that gold.

And those bandits have just hit the Daniels’ ranch, kidnapping father Ted.

Anita escaped, and has pinned on a deputy’s badge in hopes of finding her dad and making the bandits pay.

She doesn’t know that the stranger in town is her old friend, and he has the same mission in mind.

Review:

Freddy sings lots of songs and the whole thing is entertaining in a campy sort of way, mostly because no one involved takes themselves too seriously. For instance, Black Bill has three sidekicks who provide comic relief.

Mamie Van Doren plays a saloon singer named Olivia. She has eyes for Black Bill. Saloon owner Perkins, the man behind the trouble in Moon Valley, seems to think he owns her, too.

So Black Bill soon has two pretty blondes vying for his attention. But this is a no foolin’ around sort of guy who isn’t about to get sidetracked.

When Mamie flashes her pretty eyes on him in one scene, Black Bill warns her not to look at him like that. After all, he has lots of work to do.

Directed by:
Sobey Martin

Cast:
Freddy Quinn … Black Bill / John Burns / Freddy
Rik Battaglia … Steve Perkins
Beba Loncar … Deputy Anita Daniels
Mamie Van Doren … Olivia
Carolo Croccolo … Sheriff Micky Stanton
Trude Herr … Joanne Stanton
Josef Albrecht … Ted Daniels
Otto Waldis .. Old Joe
Ulrich Huls … Buck
Klaus Dahlen … Harry

aka:
In the Wild West
Freddy und das Lied der Prarie
The Wild Wild West

Score: Lother Olias

Runtime: 94 min.

Memorable lines:

Black Bill to Olivia: “A woman’s worse than a gun. A well-aimed shot can kill a fellow all right. But if you fall in love, that can pain you for a lifetime.”

Joanne, sheriff’s sister: “If you threw a lasso around this town, you’d find enough bandits to fill up the jail.”

Joanne, sheriff’s sister: “Menfolk in this town are fraid of two things, guns and marriage. Bunch of lousy cowards.”

Perkins, after Black Bill has watched Olivia perform: “You like her?”
Black Bill: “Sure do. I’d be plumb crazy if I didn’t.”

Black Bill: “Who are you afraid of? That fella Perkins?”
Olivia: “How’d you know?”
Black Bill: “Ah, he’s got shifty eyes. Can’t be much of a gentleman, I figure.”
Olivia: “Gentleman? He’s a skunk.”

Ted Daniels, marveling over his daughter’s handling of a rifle: “I thought you’d come back (from Virginia) a perfect lady.”
Anita Daniels: “Even a perfect lady defends herself when she’s shot at.”

Trivia:

Freddy Quinn was a popular singer and heartthrob in Germany, where he scored 10 number one hits between 1956 and 1966. His German version of Dean Martin’s “Memories are Made of This” was named “Heimweh” (Homesickness) and sold 8 million copies.

Mamie Van Doren was discovered by Howard Hughes at age 15 when she won the Miss Palm Springs title. They dated for five years. She took her stage name “Mamie” from First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. She was 34 when this film was released. Seven years later, she would star in a Filipino Western named “Arizona Kid” with Gordon Mitchell.

Sobey Martin is a pseudonym used by director Carlo Croccolo, who also plays a major role in the film, that of forever-drunk sheriff.