verbusen
I had never heard of this until a few days ago (usually not a good sign) and found it on Encore Westerns the same week (also usually not a good sign). But it had Coburn, O'Connor, and Akins in it so I was thinking for the best. I briefly read the summary and that it was a comedy or at least kind of light hearted western so I went in to get a uplifting feel from it. I also looked at Coburn's filmography and this was released in between his Flint sequel, In Like Flint, and one of my favorite Coburn films The President's Analyst, so hey it's 1957 and it's Coburn at his peak right? THEN, I started watching this and the credits say Blake Edwards! Oh wow this is a sure thing! And Roger Miller is singing? Oh wow! Well Edwards only produced it which mean he watched the money, he didn't make it. And Roger Miller is singing way too long so thats not too good, he sounds like he's been on hard times, hard livin times. Anyway It's OK I guess but it's not really humorous or exciting. But it was OK to watch but that ending is stupid beyond belief for a film that really isn't outrageous before. I'd say watch only for a Coburn, O'Connor, or Akins completest's. I think they killed off the best character, Harry Davis, way too early at the start to make it half way interesting. And of course Timothy Carey is playing an unstable guy but really not used to great effect like he could have been. And I'm sure most of the reviews are talking about rape and I totally agree, the women in the audience must have been revolted. I mean I was and I'm a man. 6 of 10 and that's being generous. Film has little going for it outside of curiosity.
p Karie
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.
ma-cortes
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.
bensonmum2
The plot in Waterhole #3 seems lifted straight from one of Leone's Spaghetti Westerns - a group of people search for stolen Army gold. Finding the gold doesn't prove to be too difficult. But hanging onto it certainly does.Other than one major flaw, Waterhole #3 is a reasonably entertaining comedy/Western that's sometimes very funny and sometimes...well...a Western. While the story may not be very originally, most of the cast does does an excellent job. James Coburn and Carroll O'Connor work well together. I've become quite the fan of Coburn and in Waterhole #3, he doesn't disappoint. Although he appears to basically be playing himself, he's entertaining enough to watch. In contrast, O'Connor has never been a favorite of mine, but his "bad" sheriff routine really works.The one major flaw I mentioned, however, kept me from completely enjoying Waterhole #3 and giving it a better rating. The flaw concerns the treatment of the sheriff's daughter who is basically raped by Coburn. I'm no prude, but there's just no place for this in a light-hearted comedy. And the fact that the her father, the sheriff, does nothing about it and even makes jokes with Coburn over what happened is out of place and out of line. A little sexual innuendo, a peck on the cheek, or Coburn making a pass at the daughter might have worked much better, but rape takes it way too far.
AD
