In the Wild West (1964)

good back-story, and good acting

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

It seems like there is not a single European country that hasn't made a western. This German offering is a musical too, starring deep voiced Schlager star Freddy Quinn. He looks like the infamous Black Bill, dresses like Black Bill but claims to be plain old Freddy from Virginia (yeag right), who's been away from home for years. That calls for a song by the campfire. Not surprisingly, the other three cowboys, whom he only just met, make for a decent backing group. Unfortunately the way it's edited, it looks like he's singing it to his horse. Oh no, one of those disembodied ghostly female voices also joins in.Next we are introduced to Anita (Beba Loncar), who has not seen Fred since she was eight. When the ranch is attacked at night by bandits's looking for Uncle Teddy's gold, only the girl escapes and nobody sings. By the time Freddy finally arrives, the house has been burned to the ground. So our hero heads for Moon Valley, a very fake looking western town, looking for his niece. The Dixie Girls are performing on stage and of course we have to sit through their entire number, as well as four men imitating them to the sound of riotous German laughter. The line between drama and entertainment is awfully thin in this musical: one moment an old tied up man and being questioned by bad men, the next three funny waiters perform a silly song in the saloon.Freddy, now knows as 'The Greenhorn', meets Anita (now dresses as a man) and of course she fails to recognize him. Actually, he's more interested in the Dixie Grils' main attraction Oliva (Mamie van Doren) now, just like all the other men in the bar. After many scenes filled with dialog, we finally get a brawl, but only stunt men participate while Freddy watches and Anita pretends not to notice. Eventually Freddy pretends to be Black Bill (bet you never saw that one coming) to take Oliva away with him. He robs a stagecoach (that is obviously standing still in every close up) and guess what? Olvia is already on there. Now all remains is to sort things out with his niece, and sing a couple more songs (in static close ups for three minutes straight).5 out of 10