Fistful of Giggles - The Five Funniest Westerns
Friday, October 21, 2011 at 9:29PM Tweet By Bennett Owen
Mae West and W. C. Fields in My Little Chickadee. Credit: FadedVideoLabels
No strangers to controversy, the My-West staff has compiled THE definitive list of funniest westerns ever. Accept no substitutes.
We're not talking films with humorous elements. We mean movies that start out with a side order of smiles and finish off 90 minutes later with a full plate of sore ribs. Here we go:
Number 5 - Texas Across the River - 1966 - Dean Martin, Alain Dellon, with Joey Bishop as an Indian (not so) Brave with a Yiddish-sounding name - Kronk. In my favorite scene Kronk fires his pistol and two marauding Indians fall from their horses. Out of ammunition he THROWS the pistol...and again two Indians topple over. Here's the trailer:
Number 4 - Support Your Local Sheriff – 1969 - James Garner steals the show. A cowboy headed for Australia stops long enough to clean up a gold rush town, aided only by his sixth sense and a dim but loyal sidekick played by Jack Elam. In this classic scene, the Sheriff puts a bad guy (Bruce Dern) in a jail cell that has no bars:
Number 3 - The Three Amigos – 1986 - An underrated comedy but with Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin the laughs are guaranteed. Three washed-up silent movie stars help a Mexican village face down some real life banditos:
Number 2 - My Little Chickadee – 1940 - WC Fields and My-West namesake Mae West star in this romp about a Con Man and a show girl. It’s funny from start to the very finish when “The End” flashes up on West’s wiggling posterior.
Money Quote: Fields: My heart is a bargain, will you take me?
West: (eyeing bag full of money) I'll take you and how...
In this clip "Sheriff" Cuthbert J. Twillie finds himself tending bar...and contending with a pint-sized powder keg.
Number 1 - Blazing Saddles - 1974 - What else? This movie is so utterly irreverent that there is no way it could be made today but Mel Brooks made movie history with the best genre spoof of all time. The belly laughs begin with the theme song and linger on long after our heroes ride off into the sunset...in that stretch limo. In this scene Mexicans, the Klan and the Vatican all get the treatment …
So there you have it, the definitive list…at least until the Lone Ranger remake comes out!