The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

Abbott & Costello play two salesman named Duke Egan & Chester Woolley in the old west who, while visiting the rowdy town of Wagon Gap in Montana become famous after Chester is believed to have shot a notorious outlaw. Unfortunately, this means that Chester inherits his wife widow Hawkins(played by Marjorie Main) and his many children of varying ages. Duke is assigned as his guardian, and at first poor Chester is worked to death, but later realizes that, since no man envies his position, makes him the perfect sheriff, since no one dares oppose him for fear of being the new husband! This will change when it is learned the widow will soon be rich... Clever comedy uses an old obscure law for good comedic effect. Result is a most amusing and appealing film from the team, with Miss Main being their near-equal.

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.

Two traveling salesmen (guess who) arrive in the lawless frontier town of Wagon Gap where the outlaw boss Gordon Jones and citizen's committee head William Ching are in a power struggle. Poor inept Costello winds up getting framed for a murder and he and Abbott are both about to be hung when Ching discovers a law in Montana Territory about a man who causes the death of another is responsible for the deceased's debts and family. Costello takes the responsibility.

He soon thinks capital punishment even the extralegal kind might be preferable to dealing with Marjorie Main and her squalling band of kids. Think of Costello inheriting the Kettle clan if Pa Kettle had met his demise at Costello's hands and you have some idea what Costello is going through.

But quite by accident it's discovered that Costello has carte blanche in Wagon Gap because no one wants to see any harm come to him or else they might inherit Marjorie Main. Costello carries a picture of her and the clan close to his heart and it's more valuable than a Sherman Tank would have been. He has a very funny scene cooling down a town drunk played by Dewey Robinson after he's made sheriff.

Marjorie Main with her own brand of rustic humor does not yield the film to Bud and Lou. You might also like the performance of George Cleveland as a judge not unlike Samuel S. Hinds in Destry Rides Again.

In fact the whole film has a lot of similarity to Destry and no surprise there since this was originally supposed to be a more serious story that was to have starred James Stewart. When he passed on it, it was rewritten for Abbott and Costello.

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap should appeal to both fans of the Kettle family and those of Bud and Lou. Between them they accounted for a big portion of what counted as profits for Universal Studios.

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."

When travelling salesmen Duke and Chester are found guilty of a murder they did not commit, they face a choice between hanging or being responsible for picking up all the dead man's debts and responsibilities. Of course they pick the latter but they didn't reckon for the size of the dead man's family or the veracity of his widow. This is the setup for the film and, having seen a lot of "formula" Abbott & Costello recently (the "lead" cast have a romantic plot of sorts while A&C do the comedy parts) I was interested to see a film where they were the main players for all of it.

The result was actually one of their stronger films as the comedy is well mixed with the plot (such as it is). This means we don't have the usual reliance on wooden actors to keep the plot moving or musical numbers to fill the time out (both normal devices in these films). The laughs come from pratfalls, double-takes and clever dialogue and I must confess I was surprised by how easy the film was to enjoy. The plot is not that great but at least it is consistently moving without the stuttering effect that the other formula would often produce (wooden scene followed by funny scene) and it has much more of a flow to it than some of their films. Both Abbott and Costello are on good form and working well together but the real bonus is the casting of Main, who, from the tagline, must have been well known at the time (I know she is Ma Kettle – I just have no idea of those films whatsoever). She is great fun and she works very well with Costello in particular. The support cast are solid as they allow the stars to play off their support and generally everyone does what one would expect from them.

For some reason I had low expectations for this film (perhaps the title and that I'd never heard of it) but the reality was that it was a very enjoyable film from Abbott and Costello. By having them in the front of the plot the stuttering is gone and the film flows much better than some of theirs, while the laughs are fairly frequent and come from a range of types of humour. Definitely one fans will enjoy but also good enough for the casual viewer.