The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Absolutely the worst movie.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Who has seen all 32+ Abbott and Costello Movies? Certainly not me, but this is one of my favorites. An almost bloodless "Western". Marjorie Main is the "wistful" widow no one wants to marry. Costello has to take care of her after he is mistakenly blamed as her outlaw husband's killer. Similar to her famous "Ma Kettle role", she is cantankerous and has seven kids. The first half of the film is all about Bud and Lou's farm life. The widow's German Shepard Dog keeps the boys in line! The old "Oyster in the soup" vaudeville gag is very well-done as "The Frog in the Soup". Lou does all the chores and mending and Bud sits around "on his brains" due to his fake heart condition. (How ironic, as Lou really had one.) The widow wants to marry Lou. So cliché, but it all works great as a comedy Western. Plenty of shootin' up the town and the saloon. Lou plays a "fearless" sheriff and is very good at it! One of the daughters is beautiful, so naturally she falls in love with "the good guy". She becomes a dance-hall girl. (Remember, this is a family film.) The widow saves the day with her own fancy shootin' and riding. (By the stuntman) In the end, the town's women take control and stop all the violence and bloodshed. Lou misses his chance of a lifetime when the railroad actually does make an offer to buy the widow's land and she marries the crooked judge! As they both leave for California in a buckboard, Lou throws away his rifle and that riles up the Indians. As Bud explains: "You never do anything right, do you?" Great fun.

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) *** (out of 4) Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) and Chester Wooley (Lou Costello) go to a small Western town that is nothing but non-stop fights and shootings. The two buy some guns even though neither know what they're doing and when a man falls dead out from the sky they're blamed for it. To set a new policy, the judge orders Wooley to take care of the man's widow (Marjorie Main) and her wild children.THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP has always been one of my favorite non "Meet" movies from Abbott and Costello because of all the hilarious jokes scattered throughout the picture. The duo did quite a few movies set in the old West but this one here is clearly head and shoulders above the rest due to some very well-written jokes and it also giving Costello a chance to act big and tough.The highlight of the picture happens early on at a dinner sequence where Costello is trying to eat a bowl of soup but the widow's kids have put a frog in it. The back and forth between Costello and the (fake) frog was priceless and the timing was right on the mark. Another hilarious scene is the card playing one where the boys think they've came up with a good way to cheat. Also, a running gag has everyone in town afraid to kill Costello because they'd then have to take over the widow. This allows Costello some great gags where he plays it tough and pushes people around.The performances are a major plus with both Bud and Lou doing a very good job and playing off each other nicely. Main is also extremely good as the loud and obnoxious widow. Audrey Young, Gordon Jones and George Cleveland are also quite good and you can look for Glenn Strange who had just appeared with the boys in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, playing the monster of course.THE WISFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP is without question one of the duo's best and funniest films.

Abbott & Costello play two salesman named Duke Egan & Chester Woolley in the old west who, while visiting the rowdy town of Wagon Gap in Montana become famous after Chester is believed to have shot a notorious outlaw. Unfortunately, this means that Chester inherits his wife widow Hawkins(played by Marjorie Main) and his many children of varying ages. Duke is assigned as his guardian, and at first poor Chester is worked to death, but later realizes that, since no man envies his position, makes him the perfect sheriff, since no one dares oppose him for fear of being the new husband! This will change when it is learned the widow will soon be rich... Clever comedy uses an old obscure law for good comedic effect. Result is a most amusing and appealing film from the team, with Miss Main being their near-equal.

This Abbott & Costello outing is definitely a very much formula Comedy Western done in the late 1940's when all the movies were pretty much formula. Director Charles Barton who worked with the boys more than any other director does pretty well here. Barton never became a household name as a director but anyone who is a fan of the team knows his name was the most frequent one with them.The best thing about this film is Marjorie Main. She is a major addition to a cast which includes Gordon Jones. Marjorie does comedy well including her Ma Kettle films but in this one she plays off and supports A&C just fine. She is the Widow here and as in the case of the Kettles has a big household of young ones. This is very much in her element of comedy.While Abbott & Costello do not get a lot of verbal comedy in this, there is enough of them for their fans. Some of the special effects used we OK then but look dated now. At least there is not a lot of musical interruptions to annoy the viewer in this one. Overall, this one is much better than their worst outings.