Martha Jane Canary-Burke and Ernestine Jane Russell not only had the same middle name but also preferred to be known by it. It was therefore perhaps appropriate that one of them should have played the other in this comedy Western. Ms Canary-Burke was also portrayed in (among other films) "Calamity Jane" where she was played by Doris Day, but Ms Russell's interpretation is very different. Although the script of "Calamity Jane" tells us that the heroine is a tough frontierswoman she is played by the ultra-feminine Day (in a deliberate piece of miscasting for comic effect) as a sweet young thing who looks far more at home in a pretty dress than in her buckskins. Here she is certainly physically attractive (what character played by the fair Ernestine could ever be anything else?), but also rough and hard-bitten.
The film opens with Calamity in jail, charged with some unspecified offence. She is offered her freedom if she can perform a task for the government, namely to discover who's been illegally selling guns to Indians. In this task she has the assistance of Peter "Painless" Potter who has been trying to earn a living out west as a dentist, despite an almost total lack of aptitude for that profession. (His self-awarded nickname is far from appropriate). Painless's professional incompetence is only equalled by his cowardice and general ineptitude, so he is perhaps not the most suitable companion for Jane in her mission. Nevertheless, Painless acquires the reputation of a crack shot and brave hero because Jane (who needs to keep her identity a secret) allows him to take the credit for her own deeds. For reasons too complex to go into here, Jane and Painless end up married to one another and (in the best romantic comedy tradition) they of course fall in love.
As with most comedy Westerns, this one relies for a lot of its humour on its ability to send up classic Western situations. That duel between Painless and a local ruffian is a comic version of every Western in which a fearless lawman cleans up a lawless town, such as "Dodge City" and "My Darling Clementine" which had come out two years earlier. I am not particularly familiar with Bob Hope's work in the cinema, having previously seen only a handful of his films, but he was clearly a talented comic actor, and his sense of timing and his facial expressions both contribute a lot to the humour, making lines or scenes seem funny even when they would not seem very amusing on the printed page. He also receives good support from the lovely Jane Russell in only her third film.
The film was made in Technicolor, but unlike many colour Westerns from this period and the following decade (such as, for example, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon") it was not filmed on location but in a studio. As a comedy it has stood the test of time fairly well, except in one important respect. For a humorous film there is a surprisingly high death toll as Calamity ruthlessly guns down her enemies, with Painless taking the credit. With a few exceptions such as the aforementioned ruffian, most of the dead are Native Americans or, as they would have been referred to in 1948, Indians, who are mocked as comically savage villains, (and who can therefore safely be shot dead even in a comedy without anyone worrying). To say this is not anachronistic political correctness. By the late forties Hollywood's attitude towards Indians was starting to change, they were being portrayed with more respect and dignity (again "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" is a good example) and "Broken Arrow", that great pro-Indian Western, was only two years away. The way they are shown in this film is, to say the least, regrettable and the main reason I feel unable, despite some genuinely funny scenes, to give it a higher mark. 6/10
The film opens with Calamity in jail, charged with some unspecified offence. She is offered her freedom if she can perform a task for the government, namely to discover who's been illegally selling guns to Indians. In this task she has the assistance of Peter "Painless" Potter who has been trying to earn a living out west as a dentist, despite an almost total lack of aptitude for that profession. (His self-awarded nickname is far from appropriate). Painless's professional incompetence is only equalled by his cowardice and general ineptitude, so he is perhaps not the most suitable companion for Jane in her mission. Nevertheless, Painless acquires the reputation of a crack shot and brave hero because Jane (who needs to keep her identity a secret) allows him to take the credit for her own deeds. For reasons too complex to go into here, Jane and Painless end up married to one another and (in the best romantic comedy tradition) they of course fall in love.
As with most comedy Westerns, this one relies for a lot of its humour on its ability to send up classic Western situations. That duel between Painless and a local ruffian is a comic version of every Western in which a fearless lawman cleans up a lawless town, such as "Dodge City" and "My Darling Clementine" which had come out two years earlier. I am not particularly familiar with Bob Hope's work in the cinema, having previously seen only a handful of his films, but he was clearly a talented comic actor, and his sense of timing and his facial expressions both contribute a lot to the humour, making lines or scenes seem funny even when they would not seem very amusing on the printed page. He also receives good support from the lovely Jane Russell in only her third film.
The film was made in Technicolor, but unlike many colour Westerns from this period and the following decade (such as, for example, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon") it was not filmed on location but in a studio. As a comedy it has stood the test of time fairly well, except in one important respect. For a humorous film there is a surprisingly high death toll as Calamity ruthlessly guns down her enemies, with Painless taking the credit. With a few exceptions such as the aforementioned ruffian, most of the dead are Native Americans or, as they would have been referred to in 1948, Indians, who are mocked as comically savage villains, (and who can therefore safely be shot dead even in a comedy without anyone worrying). To say this is not anachronistic political correctness. By the late forties Hollywood's attitude towards Indians was starting to change, they were being portrayed with more respect and dignity (again "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" is a good example) and "Broken Arrow", that great pro-Indian Western, was only two years away. The way they are shown in this film is, to say the least, regrettable and the main reason I feel unable, despite some genuinely funny scenes, to give it a higher mark. 6/10