Deadwood '76 (1965)
4/10
A stab at higher budget filmmaking by the Halls...
8 January 2023
... -that being Arch Hall Jr. & Sr. - goes awry, mainly due to the unbelievably ridiculous script and lousy acting of the cast.

After five minutes of riding his horse around Custer National Park (where the movie was partially filmed), Billy May (Hall Jr.) discovers an old man named Tennessee (Jack Lester) and his covered wagon. Tennessee has been attacked by five bloodthirsty(???) Sioux. He tries to shoot his rifle, but finds he forgot to load it. He makes a remark that he did the same thing at Shiloh. The Sioux leader looks into the covered wagon and find--a litter of house cats! Tennessee says he's taking them to Deadwood and will sell them and get rich. The Indian chief picks up one and calls it a skunk. Billy then tells the Sioux to leave, and the Sioux leave. This is the first ten minutes of the film.

Other absurdities include a character named Fancy wearing his glued-on mustache upside down; one song with twenty some verses goes through the whole film (mercifully, the singer is not Hall Jr.); the seven cats are indeed sold in Deadwood, and fetch around two hundred dollars; Billy's father, who supposedly died in the Civil War, is alive and well and ready to lead the Sioux nation to kill all of Deadwood and make the Confederacy rise again.

This seriously crazy film seems determined to fit in as many Western cliches as possible and is worth a watch for bad movie lovers.
4 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed