Wagon Train Compatriot: “You’ve got the courage of a lion, doctor.”
‘Painless’ Peter Potter: “It’s nothing – brave men run in my family.”
Originally meant to be a satire. . . though of a film very few have ever seen nowadays, the Norman Z. McLeod western comedy The Paleface (1948), written by Frank Tashlin about 1929’s Virginian, infuriated the man in how it was directed (as a more generic spoof of the western). . . but funnily enough, despite the screenwriter’s opinion, until Blazing Saddles (1974) came out, it was the highest grossing western parody of all-time and spawned a sequel in Son of Paleface (1952), while it was also remade as the Don Knotts vehicle The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968).
After government agents tasked with tracking down an illegal gun smuggling ring turn up dead, the infamous Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is secretly broken out of jail by Gov. Johnson (Charles Trowbridge) with the hope that she will take a pardon for going undercover to get to the bottom of this rebel-rousing (similar to rabble-rousing) gang in the frontier land.
At the same time, timid dentist ‘Painless’ Peter Potter (Bob Hope – My Favorite Blonde; The Ghost Breakers) has had about enough of the west and is more than ready to head back to the civilized east. Funnily enough, as these things do, Calamity takes the deal but finds the government liaison she is supposed to meet up with dead. . . she sneakily partners up with the tooth puller. . . duping him into believing she is madly in love with him and wants to journey further into the frontier land with him.
With a most outrageously funny premise, Calamity and Painless join a wagon train heading into the wild west, the dame effectively fending off the happily in love man as they enter the Buffalo Flats tribe land. At the same time trying desperately to keep her mission a secret, she makes the blunderer look like an elite government sharpshooting hero to draw those ever watchful eyes off of her.
As his legend grows, when they finally arrive in the town of Buffalo Flats, his ego is so inflated, he’s in risk of floating away. Drawing the attention of those mysterious group of rebels, will Calamity be able to cause some cataclysm with these gun and dynamite smuggling criminals? If so, might it blow back on the haplessly in love, so called gun slinger dentist? And, perhaps even funnier, might the rough around the edges Calamity turn into more of a plain Jane thanks to her ‘man’ and his loving influence?
Though some of the more jokey jokes fall a bit flat (though Hope’s response to every native tribesman saying ‘háu’ being, “I’ll let you know” works wonders), there is no denying that the premise is very comedic, with the lily-livered dentist somehow believing all the hype that he is a master killer. . . you’ll notice how every time he tells of his heroics, he adds one more number to his kill tally (the classic male exaggerator). With a beautiful opposite like Jane Russell, the pair works well, with it being wholly believable as to why he has fallen head over heels for her. . . he thinks that she is such a good kisser that he faints every time it happens – in fact, she simply knocks him out on the back of the head during every smooch.
Though certainly not perfect, The Paleface has enough going for it that it makes for a fun adventure. Throwing in some physical comedy along with the one-liners and kitschy premise, it spoofs enough of the western stereotypes, allowing plenty of the laughs to stick – making it an enjoyable foray. Some might be surprised to learn that this one actually won an Academy Award for Bob Hope’s rendition of the Jay Livingston and Ray Evans tune “Buttons and Bows”. So, hitch your wagon to this classic comedy, it will certainly pull you along for the ride.