WANTED! For fracturing the frontier with a Sick-Shooter!

Starring: Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan, Don "Red" Barry, Ruth McDevitt, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Carl Ballantine, Pat Morita, Dub Taylor, Edward Faulkner

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ - good

"Laugh all you like! I'm not a failure. I'm a dentist, a REAL dentist! And I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna spread dental health through the West like a plague!" – Jesse Heywood

Why watch this? Knotts was the master at portraying the coward-to-unlikely-hero role.

Plot Summary: A naive, newly graduated dentist travels from Philadelphia to the American West to establish a practice and is tricked into a sham marriage with a captured female bandit who is working undercover as a government agent. Unbeknownst to him, his new "wife" secretly provides the sharpshooting that saves him during various altercations, leading the timid dentist to gain an undeserved reputation as a legendary gunslinger. This newfound but false reputation forces the unwitting hero to confront real dangers, eventually requiring him to demonstrate genuine courage to rescue his partner and expose the gun smugglers.

Dad's Preview: The films of Don Knotts definitely entertained me as a young lad, still innocent enough to laugh at goofy humor. I still find him funny. This film, and its many Western trope skits, is better than it should be. Of course, the main actor is superb, but the plot, where the gun-toting undercover gal continuously bails our hero out death situations, really holds up. One of my favorite scenes (the unflattering portrayal of Native Americans not withstanding) is Knotts' portrayal of a squaw. It's comedy gold. So, strap on your spurs and take the stage... you're gonna enjoy this Western comedy. 

Edward Montagne; Universal Pictures