b'A Peek Into Watsons Hat Shop COMEDY IN WESTERNSis No Laughing MatterBy Charlie LeSueurCharlie LeSueur, AZs Official Western Film Historian. Encore Fellow @ Western Spirit,Scottsdales Museum of the West. azfilmhistorian@gmail.com, silverscreencowboyz.comT he old stage and lm adage,above and is one of those rare dying is easy, comedy isEastwood westerns with ahard, denitely applieshappy ending.to the sub-genre known as the comedy-western. The humor can be subtle likeOther examples of lms with There was a Crooked Man, or it can be over the top like,subtly structured humor, prone to Pardners, but there had better be some comeuppance formoments of ruckus humor, include the bad guys by the fadeout. Along Came Jones, with Gary Cooper, Destry Rides Again, with Marlene Films like Burt Kennedys Support Your Local SheriffDietrich and a young James Stewart, (1969) and its follow-up, Support Your Local Gunfighter,Cheyenne Social Club again with (1971) have well-structured scripts in which the humorStewart, and Henry Fonda, Shirley is built into the script by a succession of screenwritersJones, and directed by Gene Kelly, and script doctors; although the structure could changeBig Hand for a Little Lady, with during the course of production. Fonda, Joanne Woodward and Jason Robards, North to Alaska, with John Comedy, action, and drama must come together to setWayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs the tone; of course, charismatic actors like James Garner,and Fabian, McLintock with the great Walter Brennan, Harry Morgan, Bruce Dern and, justteam of Wayne and Maureen on the cusp of a rebirth in comic roles, Jack Elam, didntO Hara, as well as The Frisco hurt the production in the least. Kid, in which Gene Wilder is supported by the up and Burt Kennedy had experimented with this type ofcoming Harrison Ford.action/humor blend six years prior to Sheriff in 1964 with Mail Order Bride, starring Buddy Ebsen, KeirComedy in westerns comesDullea, and Lois Nettleton. Mail Order Bride, was a in many forms and satises very well-crafted western which could easily turn vastly different tastes from from humor to drama in the blink of an eye, and Goin South, to A MillionBurt made it work. Ways to Die in the West and well explore some of them A stronger sense of winking at the audience whilenext month. letting them know were having fun is Cat Ballou, (1965) with Jane Fonda (insert your Fonda comment here), and Lee Marvin, in his star-making, Oscar-winning role. Their co-stars are a well-known (at the time) lighter fare duo, Michael Callan and Dwayne Dobie Gillis Hickman who acquit themselves very nicely; truth be told, I went to the movie because I was a fan of Mr. Hickman.One brilliant touch in Cat Ballou is having iconic singer Nat King Cole and popular musical stage and lm actor Stubby Kaye in the roles of traveling minstrels who show up where ever the action is and just in time to provide important plot points through song.One of my two favorite Clint Eastwood westerns is Two Mules for Sister Sara. Co-starring with Shirley MacLaine this has all the elements mentionedThe old stage and film adage, dying is easy, comedy is hard, definitely applies to Clockwise from top: Destry Rides Again; Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones, James Stewart, Cheyenne Social Club the sub-genre known as the ; There was a Crooked Man Mail Order Bride A Big ;; Hand for a Little Lady Along Came Jones comedy-western.; Gary Cooper, ArizonaRealCountry.com May 2019 33'