Movie

The Shakiest Gun in the West

1968 · 101 min

A gentle, silly western romp where the joke is a nervous city dentist bumbling into hero status he never earned.

Directed by: Alan Rafkin
Genres: Comedy, Family, Western
Starring: Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan

Tagline: He's so bad he was scalped by a cigar store Indian!!
Overview: Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise. Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid".

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Free in the UK

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Directed by: Alan Rafkin
Genres: Comedy, Family, Western
Starring: Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: whimsicalstrength 2 of 3
lightstrength 3 of 3
campystrength 2 of 3
satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: identity
deception
love
justice
found family
Places: wilderness
small town
road trip
Era: period
Audience: family
Form: ensemble
Content intensity: Gore none
Language none
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	4
Horror	0
Humour	8
Realism	4
Romance	4
Tension	3
Darkness	2
Complexity	2
Emotional weight	2

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Where to watch in the UK

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Details

Genres: comedy, family, western
Directed by: Alan Rafkin
Written by: James Fritzell, Everett Greenbaum
Starring: Don Knotts, Barbara Rhoades, Jackie Coogan, Ruth McDevitt, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Carl Ballantine, Pat Morita
Music: Vic Mizzy
Cinematography: Andrew Jackson
Runtime: 101 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English

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The Shakiest Gun in the West

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