User reviews

Produced by Blake Edwards' company, Geoffrey Productions, "Waterhole #3" shows the hand of Edwards in its nod-and-a-wink approach to sex. Although it could never be made today, because of our PC environment and the film's loose treatment of (maybe) rape and casual sex, this film nevertheless stands the test of time because of a fine cast, a good soundtrack and a witty script. The only negative comment I can make concerns the atrocious continuity and editing mistakes. They really hurt an otherwise funny film. One of James Coburn's best.

Entertaining Western/comedy in which follows the misadventures of two soldiers ( Claude Akins , Timothy Carey ) and a cobbler who rob Union Army a fortune in gold and bury it in desert waterhole . An astute thief named Cole (James Coburn) , a roguish gambler just passing through aware about the gold . As Cole attempts to profit from the fortune after a dispute with Doc Quinlan (Roy Jenson) . A beautiful girl ( Margaret Blye ) and rambunctious temperance daughter of the sheriff (Carrol O'Connor ) out to stop Cole en route to thirsting desert.

Delightful Western parody in which the grifter Coburn steals the show using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as he relentlessly kills, robs and rapes . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise . Seemingly endless list of character players includes a good support cast as Carroll O'Connor as unlikely sheriff , Bruce Dern as inept deputy and James Withmore as Northern officer . Furthermore adds sparkle other actors as Joan Blondell as a likable Madame and the villainous Claude Akins and Timothy Carey . The film follows in the wake of ¨ Hallelujah trail (65) ¨ by John Sturges ¨ Support your local sheriff ¨ and ¨ Support your local gunfighter ¨ by Burt Kennedy and of course but later ¨ Blazing saddles (74) ¨ by Mel Brooks , all of them are engaging Western satire and pretty bemusing . Colorful cinematography by Robert Burks and atmospheric musical score by Dave Grusin full of ballads sung by Roger Miller . The film is produced by Blake Edwards and well directed by William A. Graham . None of William Graham's later movies have topped this one for sheer belly laughters . He's usually TV director and occasionally for cinema , film-making several Western as Montana (90, Billy the Kid (89) , Last day of Frank and Jesse James (86) and Harry Tracy (86) and several others . Rating : Riatous Western spoof in which there's too much silly comedy and enough excitement.

Waterhole #3 is a unique western, one made truly without any cowboy heroes. It is a film full of scoundrels.

Sergeant Claude Akins has decided to quit the army in style when he and two others decide to rob an army gold shipment. One who buries it has a map drawn to find it. But he loses it and his life to gambler James Coburn who is one unique kind of rogue.

So is sheriff Carroll O'Connor who led a life of crime himself before taking the badge. In fact as sheriff upholding law and order he's brought a Tammany Hall/Chicago machine style to the job. He's also got an interesting set of morals after Coburn fleeing from him takes advantage of his daughter Margaret Blye.

I won't even go into the plot and definitely won't go into who wound up with the gold. It has to be seen to be believed.

Scoundrels abound in Waterhole #3 along with many laughs.

"The place Arizona, the year eighty-four," the song tells us, and James Coburn is on a relaxed hunt for stolen gold. There are plenty of actors in this comedy western whose faces you know but can't put a name to. Lewton Cole (Coburn's cool, ironic hero) is a blatant imitation of Clint Eastwood's screen cowboy persona. Indeed, the whole film shows the strong influence (in its look and its style of humour) of the Spaghetti Westerns.

I came to this movie determined to dislike it, but found that I couldn't. There is an excellent shot of Cole inspecting Quinlen's corpse, shot from ground level against a terrific sunset, but this lyricism is all too brief. Thereafter, it is all wacky scampering in pursuit of the gold. Coburn holds the screen effortlessly and his amiable performance sets the tone.

Timothy Carey, the tough guy in Kubrick's "Paths of Glory", turns up here as a likeable villain, and shows a distinct talent for comedy. TV's Arch Bunker, Carroll O'Connor, plays Sherriff John. Margaret Blye is Billee, the sherriff's babe daughter. A very young Bruce Dern pops up in a nice cameo, and an ageing Joan Blondell is unrecogniseable as Lavinia.

The shoot-out in the cathouse is well done as these things go, but beyond that there is little more to say.

Verdict - Mildly entertaining nonsense.

Waterhole #3 is a darn funny movie. It seems everyone is a crook or a crook wannabee.

A series of ongoing blunders by each character moves this comedy western along with a smile. Each time you wonder what could possibly go wrong, something does.

It's unfortunate the P. C. Crowd is too overly woke to appreciate this humor. But then again, humor escapes them.

Waterhole #3 is good enough to watch again in order to catch any innuendos that slipped by unnoticed on your first viewing.

Good character acting & funny. A side of Claude Akins I've never seen. James Coburn is in top form with his signature smile.

Well, at least a cult of my friends, who saw this movie at least a dozen times at the drive-in during 1967-68, and learned the dialogue by heart. I finally got a copy of the film (and the soundtrack) about 10 years ago, have viewed it a few times since, and it is still to me one of the great overlooked comedies and westerns. Not comedy-western, which was so overdone in the 60's, but it stands tall in both genres. And it is the film that I watched when I heard of Carroll O'Connor's death. He is nothing short of wonderful in this pre-Archie role. And Coburn as Lewton Cole: perfect, another of his great sly characters.

Yes, "Waterhole #3" is sexist and cynical, and also hilarious and a bold statement of the true "Code of the West," its theme that is brilliantly told by the troubadour, Roger Miller, in song and narration. It can be rightly accused of misogyny, because it dares to show and lampoon the attitudes of the macho old west toward women and not just the pseudo-heroic male violence that was the narrow theme of countless western films. Put in the context of 1967 and the radical changes being ushered in in terms of sexual identities and expressions, I think this film was, if anything, progressive in its provocation. That's sure how we took it. And its cynicism about greed and self-interest was a warning and not an anti-heroic celebration.

But the main thing is that it's a great comedy, with an outstanding ensemble of dramatic character actors dipping their toes in comedic waters to great result: James Whitmore, Tim Carey, Claude Akin, Joan Blondell, and Bruce Dern ("Sure left us bare, ain't that right, John?")

From a true cultist: 10 out of 10

"Waterhole #3" always hits the spot. It's fast moving and has a lot of laughs. It is well acted by a very good cast. James Coburn is good (as always). Carroll O'Connor is very good (as he often is) but the stand-out is Claude Akins. Akins gives a terrific performance. It's probably his best work. Another plus is Tim Carey. It's always great when he shows up in a movie.. It's also a beautiful looking movie and it has a great musical narration. "Waterhole #3" is a good, light-hearted western.

My God, what an awful "dreck" this movie is!! I guess this must be the proverbial "one-joke-movie", but I couldn't find that one joke. :-( Why has this movie been made after all? And how did it get THIS cast ???? I usually LOVE to watch James Coburn, but seeing him in this pile of unfunny *beep* makes me cry.

The only possible answer I got to me asking, why in Gods name anybody turned a script as unfunny as this one into a movie is that probably someone tried to repeat the success of CAT BALLOU from two years ago (1965), but to be honest "Cat Ballou" wasn't that funny either (but still mucho better).

After that they finally (thanx!) dumped the lame idea of having a movie commented by a song, which sounds as someone sitting at the toilet having problems getting it out (until "There's Something About Mary" came along 20 years later, where it worked a bit better).

Does this movie have any defenders? If so, where did you laugh? I'd really love to find out where I missed a joke (if there was one)!

zero out of ten!

James Coburn is a total hoot as Lewton Cole, a slick gambler who comes into possession of a map. This will lead whoever has the map to a large stash of gold stolen by some sleazy Confederates. Determinedly pursuing Cole is John Copperud (Carroll O'Connor), a sheriff who's been repeatedly embarrassed by Cole already. And yet, they're obliged to team up in dealing with the cretins (among them, Claude Akins and the great screen psycho Timothy Carey) who stole the gold in the first place.

Some viewers may find "Waterhole # 3" to be too blatantly silly, but I thought it was a pretty ingratiating (and VERY un-P. C.) comedy-Western that's played to perfection by its cast. It's the kind of scenario where there are precious few true "innocents", who may end up utterly screwed due to the machinations of all the scoundrels in this story. It serves up double crosses, plot twists, action, irreverence, and breathtaking desert scenery, complete with an often goofy music score by Dave Grusin and omnipresent narration by balladeer Roger Miller.

Coburn is such a charismatic rascal that it's hard to really hate him, despite Coles' treatment of leading lady Billee Copperud (the lovely Margaret Blye), the Sheriffs' daughter. Carey is a hilarious standout in a strong cast also including Bruce Dern, Joan Blondell, James Whitmore, Harry Davis, Roy Jenson, Robert Cornthwaite, and Ted Markland.

Directed by William A. Graham ("Together Brothers", 'Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones'), this amiable film isn't anything special, but it isn't trying to be, either. It's just good, straightforward entertainment.

Seven out of 10.

Writerascritic went on a diatribe, but he has as many "authenticity" holes as the movie. Historically, it was actually rare for a woman to be raped in the west and if she was, the man was usually killed as soon as he was located. Women were rare in the raw west and were protected accordingly.

Women were not just kept barefoot and pregnant. They had children, but how many was a result of social standing. Poor farmers may have needed farm hands, but children still had to be fed and that could be tough. Few women had "dozens" of children because many died in child birth.

Why gay issues were brought into his review other than the fact that writerascritic is obviously a hate monger is a mystery to me. I have read his other reviews and it's obvious that he is homophobic and his reviews should be monitored for useless, hate filled content.

Poor writerascritic can't contain his hate just toward gays and women who want to be treated decently, but also religious folk. What's funny is during the era the movie was supposedly set in, 90% plus of the white population of the United States was strongly Christian and practiced the faith ardently.

It's obvious that the subject matter is a reflection not of the story's time, but of the era of the movie production when Hollywood was resisting the idea that women should have rights. This was and is due to the fact that Hollywood makes far too much money exploiting women and anyone else not white male to readily change movie styles.

This movie is just as mediocre as most made during the 60's, humorous at times with a weak script. Good actors put to waste with a singer narrator reiterating the existing story line.

Thankfully, times have changed and if you want to see how much in the last 60 years this is the movie to see.

This movie incorporated some good dialogue, enjoyable scenery, and a nice job on the title song and narration by Roger Miller. One of the most memorable scenes involves the old standard gunfight which most definitely will generate some laughs if you've seen one too many shootouts. I thoroughly enjoyed this western and gave it a Waterhole #8.

This movie was slow-going and I was frequently distracted. It's a yawner for sure. I don't find a bit of it funny, and I have liked other movies by the same director.

Boring movie! Boring! Boring!

Doing taxes would be more exciting than watching this movie. Watching a mumbling, bumbling speech by Potus Biden is more funny than the tired jokes in this movie.

The only two things good about this movie are the scenery, and finally seeing the end credits roll.

If you are suffering from insomnia, watching this movie will be the cure.

There are many more westerns that are really funny. Sadly, this one isn't one.

I have to laugh at the girlie "men" so indignantly panning a movie from 50 years ago. Grow up, you wimps, and take notes. This is what men were like 150 years ago, and even 50 years ago. Frankly, I found this quite entertaining for what it was intended to be! - after all, Blake Edwards produced it, not Elizabeth Warren.

I kept seeing parallels to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!" from five years previous, wherein many disparate parties all catch wind of a hidden treasure, and friendships/alliances/allegiances constantly shift until all parties converge upon the treasure...at which point the party watching all the silliness absconds with the loot. This flick just adds an extra twist after THAT point.

Nice way to kill two hours!

The most lazy screenwriting I've ever seen. Nothing any of the characters do makes any sense, so that you completely don't care what happens next. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem, were the movie funny. Alas, the only joke in the movie is the screenwriters. Thankfully, they haven't done anything since.

P.S. And I like movies from the 60s and I like immoral movies. This one is just bad.

If you ever want to see a film that has hilarity throughout the entire film, then you've got to see this one. "Waterhole # 3" is one of the best western comedies ever made as it has nearly all the classic clichés written into it. It is the Code of the West which makes this film flow from beginning to end. It says, do onto others, before they do it onto you. When the producers selected the actors for this film, they struck gold. Herein we have handsome, broad smiling and ever so crafty James Coburn as Lewton Cole. He's a gambler who learns of a shipment of Gold hidden somewhere near a watering hole and all he has to do is outwit, the outlaws who have it, the Army who wants it back and the lawmen who get in his way. Carroll O'Connor plays Sheriff John H. Copperud, a law officer who believes when it comes to rape, 'a man picks his fruit from the nearest tree.' Claude Akins is MSgt. Henry J. Foggers, who trades his career for a chance to be rich. Bruce Dern plays Deputy Samuel P. Tippen. James Whitmore plays 30 year Capt. Shipley and Roy Jenson is superb as dangerous Doc Quinlen. ****