The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)

*** (out of 4)

Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) and Chester Wooley (Lou Costello) go to a small Western town that is nothing but non-stop fights and shootings. The two buy some guns even though neither know what they're doing and when a man falls dead out from the sky they're blamed for it. To set a new policy, the judge orders Wooley to take care of the man's widow (Marjorie Main) and her wild children.

THE WISTFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP has always been one of my favorite non "Meet" movies from Abbott and Costello because of all the hilarious jokes scattered throughout the picture. The duo did quite a few movies set in the old West but this one here is clearly head and shoulders above the rest due to some very well-written jokes and it also giving Costello a chance to act big and tough.

The highlight of the picture happens early on at a dinner sequence where Costello is trying to eat a bowl of soup but the widow's kids have put a frog in it. The back and forth between Costello and the (fake) frog was priceless and the timing was right on the mark. Another hilarious scene is the card playing one where the boys think they've came up with a good way to cheat. Also, a running gag has everyone in town afraid to kill Costello because they'd then have to take over the widow. This allows Costello some great gags where he plays it tough and pushes people around.

The performances are a major plus with both Bud and Lou doing a very good job and playing off each other nicely. Main is also extremely good as the loud and obnoxious widow. Audrey Young, Gordon Jones and George Cleveland are also quite good and you can look for Glenn Strange who had just appeared with the boys in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, playing the monster of course.

THE WISFUL WIDOW OF WAGON GAP is without question one of the duo's best and funniest films.

This is one of my favorite Abbott and Costello movies and one of their best. There really isn't that much interplay between Abbott and Costello, despite the basics, as Marjorie Main consumes (or inhales) a lot of the attention. The classic and time consuming routines are also few and far between. The script is one of the tightest in the team's movies and there aren't really any dead spots. The supporting characters are very strong and Abbott and Costello don't have to scene steal to be effective. The plot is thus: Abbott and Costello come to Wagon Gap and shoot off a gun to make a statement. A man falls dead and, faster then you can say "railroad", Costello is made the sole supporter of the dead man's family. Marjorie Main plays the less then weeping widow. She's actually a very talented comedian, her gruff, manly demeanor aside. The townsfolk are seedy vigilantes and provide a hostile setting. The humor is great, with some great, subtle lines and a very funny routine where Costello gets smacked with paint while painting a fence. The best plot twist is Costello being named sheriff because no one will touch him (much less shoot him) as they would have to provide for the gruff and nagging Main. The typical hurricane ending is less chaotic and more pleasing then the regular. A lot of fun and one of my favorite Abbott and Costello movies.

This Abbott & Costello outing is definitely a very much formula Comedy Western done in the late 1940's when all the movies were pretty much formula. Director Charles Barton who worked with the boys more than any other director does pretty well here. Barton never became a household name as a director but anyone who is a fan of the team knows his name was the most frequent one with them.

The best thing about this film is Marjorie Main. She is a major addition to a cast which includes Gordon Jones. Marjorie does comedy well including her Ma Kettle films but in this one she plays off and supports A&C just fine. She is the Widow here and as in the case of the Kettles has a big household of young ones. This is very much in her element of comedy.

While Abbott & Costello do not get a lot of verbal comedy in this, there is enough of them for their fans. Some of the special effects used we OK then but look dated now. At least there is not a lot of musical interruptions to annoy the viewer in this one. Overall, this one is much better than their worst outings.

A pretty fair romp of a comedy western, "The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap" showcases the veteran comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello to winning effect. While the dialogue could be sharper, the boys make the most of a cleverer-than-usual plot where the hangman's rope and the killer's gun mean nothing next to the protection of a formidable widow.

Chester Wooley (Lou) and Duke Eagan (Bud) are travelling salesmen in the Old West who wander into Montana's most lawless community, Wagon Gap. A lucky (or unlucky) shot makes Chester the killer of one of its toughest citizens - and inheritor of his even tougher widow and seven bumptious children. Widow Hawkins (Marjorie Main) gives Chester an ultimatum: Marry her or be her slave. It's a job no sane man would want. Once Chester figures this out, he becomes not only sheriff of Wagon Gap but pretty much untouchable.

Abbott & Costello were still box-office draws in 1947, but their standard formula was getting stale and their odd detours into sentiment - including the under-appreciated "The Time Of Their Lives" - were draining their stature. "Wagon Gap" is a return to their comedy-first form, but like plantonrules points out in a 2009 review here, a decided change-up from prior, routine-laden outings.

You do get some bits recognizable from prior movies. In one, Chester battles a persistent frog in his soup much like the oyster routine he did in "Here Come The Co-Eds." Another is a rehash of the dice-shooting scene from "Buck Privates," except this time the game is poker and Main's the one who knows more than she lets on.

Most of the laughter this time rides on the situation itself, as well as some fresh exchanges of illogic between Duke and Chester, like when Chester discovers Duke is packing a pistol with a longer barrel.

"Yours is much longer than mine," Chester whines.

"So what?" Duke replies. "All you have to do is stand closer to whoever's shooting at you."

While A&C at this time are often described by film historians as waiting for the green arms of Frankenstein to raise them out of the ruts, Main provides a decided lift. Baleful yet somehow endearing, she's every bit as formidable as Bela Lugosi would be, especially when putting the moves on her unwilling beau.

"I'm not a forward woman," she explains. "All my life I've been shy and bashful. Just a rosebud, afraid to bloom. But now, I'm takin' the bull by the horns!" She does, too, alternately threatening and cajoling Chester with the help of a dog who not only can stop a getaway, but spell it, too.

There's also Duke to contend with, true to form resting on a hammock and letting his buddy do all the work. Watching Lou turn the tables on Bud is one of the most satisfying parts of this satisfying film. Bud and Lou may have been having their behind-the-scenes problems, but here they work in tandem quite well, whether Lou is being taken advantage of or else lording it over Bud.

Director Charles Barton knew well the core of what made Bud & Lou funny, and he seems to have fun with the writers (also experienced A&C hands including John Grant, who is usually blamed for pushing too many of the team's standard routines into their films) in exploiting this to novel effect. No time-killing musical numbers this time, and the romantic subplot with the secondary players is kept to a bare minimum, which are welcome reliefs.

Yet I don't think "Wagon Gap" makes the greatest Bud & Lou showcase. At its best, it's more amusing than the kind of laugh-fest you wish it would become, too often leaving it to Lou to make cute faces at the camera in lieu of a good exit line. The ending leaves too many loose plot strands unwrapped for a lame payoff shot.

Still, any fair-minded viewer will see much to smile at, and hardcore Abbott & Costello fans like me will relish the way "Wagon Gap" tinkers with the formula while keeping its central elements intact and sometimes quite fresh. There was still life in these guys six years after their first giant splash on screen, even before they had their famous "comeback."

The prologue on this film, gives one an idea of what's ahead in "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap." It reads, "Montana, in the days when men were men - with two exceptions." I agree with those reviewers who find this as one of the better films of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, along with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

The boys play a couple of peddlers working their way to California in this comedy Western. The advertisement on their suitcase reads, "Eagan & Wooley, Household Specialties, 'Our Specialty", Home Office, Patterson, N.J." But once in the stopover town of Wagon Gap, their means of livelihood changes over night.

This film has the usual comical antics and horseplay that mark Abbott and Costello films, and it's quite funny. It has a couple of very good original scenarios (e.g., the dinner table and a frog in Lou's soup). But the best comedy comes from a script that is peppered with very funny lines. The premise of the plot drives most of the humor here.

Costello plays Chester Wooley who is charged with providing for the widow and family of a man he's accused of shooting on arriving in town. One has to see this very early scene to even comprehend that. The Widow Hawkins is played superbly by Marjorie Main who would become known in the future for her starring roles opposite Percy Kilbride in the 1950s' series of Ma and Pa Kettle films. Since every sober man (and even those who aren't) in Wagon Gap dreads such a prospect for himself, Chester becomes fearless and very successful when he is made sheriff.

Bud Abbott is mostly a sidekick to Costello and Main who carry this film. There's a little anomaly with Abbott's character - in the spelling of his name. The only time it's written in the film, it's spelled Duke Eagan on their suitcase. But the credits that role on the film, spell his last name without the first "a" - as Egan.

This is a fun film that most people should enjoy.