Oh dear!
The movie poster says it all really. The names and photos of the two stars - Kenneth More and Jayne Mansfield - are featured prominently. And they are just about the only good things in the movie. Though to be fair, Robert Morley is as wonderful as ever for the 5 minutes he is on screen.
The plot is not entirely unbelievable. It concerns The dilletante heir [Kenneth More] to the Tibbs Firearms factory and fortune being ordered by his aging uncle [Morley] to stop fooling about and join the company and work for a living. More is then packed off to the Wild West where guns are in great demand to sell the company's products. He arrives in the remote cattle town of Fractured Jaw and promptly stumbles into a range war being waged between two rival ranch owners - both of whom mistakenly think he works for the other. By hapless mischance More becomes the sheriff. He meets the owner of the local saloon and dance hall [Mansfield] and strikes up a friendship with her that gradually blossoms into romance. The local tribe of "injuns" then takes a hand. The whole thing culminates in a grand three-way shoot out between the warring ranchers and the tribesmen. With More marrying Mansfield and settling down to a new life in the West.
If this all seems rather unlikely for a British film, it was based on a Canadian novel and financed by 20th Century Fox - to whom Mansfield was under contract.
The main interest lies in the performances of More and Mansfield. Both of them display a neat touch for light comedy and slapstick. And some of their dialogue as they fall in love is amusing and nicely written.
But the rest of the movie is pretty dire. Stereotypes are on display in large measure and are so crude as to be embarrassing. The tribesmen - and their womenfolk - are the grossest of caricatures while the cowboys are flat and two dimensional. There is one entertaining moment when the town drunk lurches into view and is revealed to be none other than Sid James sporting an unconvincing American accent.
If you are a fan of More and/or Mansfield give it a go HERE. Otherwise, don't bother.
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