The Frisco Kid (1979)

Whether or not this is supposed to be a comedy or a traditional western is difficult to decipher. Perhaps in somebody's mind the idea of a Western "Road" movie with a Polish Rabbi (Gene Wilder) and a bandit (Harrison Ford) seemed like a winner, but it unfortunately ends up being a western "Ishtar".With the intention of getting to a synagogue in San Francisco with his promised bride to be waiting (he thinks), Rabbi Wilder (87th in the class of 88) heads across the Atlantic and is hoodwinked out of his cash and prized Torah on his way out of Pennsylvania. The thought of confusing Jewish culture with the Amish had crossed my mind as being somewhat humorous, but here, it is stupid and even rather offensive.Then, Wilder combines traditional Jewish dances with those of Indians, and the result is tackier than a cauldron of beans being eaten around a camp fire. With only Wilder and Ford having any name recognition (only Ian Wolfe in a cameo as a monk is anybody familiar to veteran film goers), this is a lonely film for familiar faces. Wilder's bushy hair and wild eyed features seem like he still had make-up on from the black-face sequence in "Silver Streak". At least he is innocent here of any creative input in the film, which was directed by Robert Aldrich, who may be a master of the macabre and melodrama, but someone who knew absolutely nothing about comedy.

I just saw this for the first time (I somehow missed it when it was released) last night. Admiring Gene Wilder (who I most closely associate with Silver Streak and Young Frankenstein, two top comedy favorites), I expected to laugh a lot. I didn't.There were some very funny moments, but this was about 75% drama, with this poor Jewish rabbi having all sorts of serious calamities befall him as he tried to cross the U.S. from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 1850. One early scene has him not just being conned out of $50 trying to help two other men travel west, but as they take him along, they suddenly start beating him up--with a bloodied face of Wilder making this not at all comical--before they take his bags and clothes and throw him off the stage.To make that scene at all funny, you needed no blood and Wilder not being visibly beaten. Maybe a quick scene where the bad guys pull a gun and say, "Now we want the rest of your money" and we suddenly see him sitting on the roadside, in his long underwear, showing the results of their robbery without the unpleasant moments where they rob him.This is the type of thing that seems to dominate this film. Some good comedy, but lots of death-defying serious episodes that take away most of the comedic atmosphere.Other reviewers have gone over the many inaccuracies and illogical portions of this film. They were numerous enough to obstruct my enjoyment--even though I usually overlook things like that in a comedy.Possibly the dumbest scene was where Wilder and Ford have chased away the bad guys (killing one of them) and are now happily swimming and laughing when the remaining bad guys confront them, holding their guns on them. Intent on killing our heroes--for killing the one bad guy's brother--it was idiotic of them to let the good guys get anywhere close to their own guns, just so we could have an extended gunfight. The guns had been left on the beach and the bad guys had the drop on the good guys. The bad guys should have easily been able to grab the guns while the good guys were swimming, or shoot before they could retrieve the guns.Too many poorly-written scenes like this and humor parsed out way too seldom kept me from finding this film worth watching. I think I'll watch Silver Streak again this weekend--it too had some intense drama, but the humor was much more frequent, allowing me to overlook the film's flaws.

This is an excellent film and Gene Wilder, William Smith and Harrison Ford are great. Gene Wilder is always great, in films like Young Frankenstein, The Producers and Blazing Saddles, he shines. He must have had the "X Factor" some people talk about. A sign of a good film is when you watch it lots of times and never seem to tire of it. This may be because of the good acting, good story (human interest) or charismatic actors and this film contains all these qualities. This film proves that over the top special effects and continuous roller-coaster action are not necessarily required for an enjoyable and memorable film. Robert Aldrich was a good director and although he didn't make a lot of films, most of them like "Flight of the Phoenix" were interesting and memorable. This film is worth owning on DVD.

You already know the basic story: Greenhorn rabbi (Wilder), hoping to make it to San Francisco after getting off the boat in Philadelphia from Poland, travels with travails across USA in 1850, and runs into a robber (Ford), who is really the rabbi's guardian angel. Should I give away any more of the plot points? NO!! Is there adventure? YES! Is there excitement? YES! Is there comedy? YES! Are there any hot babes? YES! Is there romance? YES! Are life lessons taught? Yes! Do you feel real good after watching this movie? YES! Wonderful performances by Wilder and Ford, and a great story. Sure, there are some things I would have liked to have seen done differently, but the sum here is greater than its parts. A must see for adults and children (although for kids under 10 years old, parents should probably watch it first to assure themselves that the entire movie is suitable for the kids).A carp: I do not recall the image quality of the theatrical version of this movie. The image quality of the DVD is acceptable, but clearly not great. YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS MOVIE ANY WAY!