Written by: Michael Elias & Frank Shaw

Directed by: Robert Aldrich

BBD Comments:

Time and again I have referred to Movienight’s uncanny ability to elevate the experience of watching films you have already seen. The ceremony and camaraderie of Wednesday night transforms the profane to the sacred, and films you thought you knew are new again when they flicker on the wall in the Back Yard.

‘The Frisco Kid’ is one of the first films I remember seeing on cable television. At that time I was disappointed that Willy Wonka and Han Solo weren’t flying in elevators or spaceships.

It is not a perfect film, and at times it is terribly imperfect. The period this film creates is one that never existed. It is an 1850’s Old West by way of 1950’s movie musicals. All of the sets look fake, and the costuming is so bright and clean (not to mention anachronistically low-cut) you’d swear they were using color film for the first time. And for a story about a journey across America, it sure looks like a trip from Salinas to Zuma beach.

Adding to the film’s imperfection are the jarring insert shots and the poorly synched voiceovers. There is the feeling that at every stage of production people were saying, almost like Ed Wood, “good enough, we got it, let’s move on.” It is rough and rushed and falls far short of a great film.

But this is Movienight, and greatness is not defined by verisimilitude or cinematic polish. Stories are told up on that wall, and ‘The Frisco Kid’ is an excellent and, at times, quite moving story.

While it careens in tone from Mel Brooks movie to buddy film, Gene Wilder roots the film’s heart in the tale of this misfit rabbi Avram, and his mission to find his congregation and deliver the Torah. He has moments of such innocence and honesty that you forgive the film’s faults (a european goyim for an Indian chief?) and engage in the purity of his mission. The scene where he waits for sundown before mounting his horse, to the hysterical vexation of Harrison Ford, is just one example of his devout faith providing comedy, drama, and exposition all at the same time. My favorite of these moments is his arrival at the Amish village where Avram confuses them for other rabbis.

The film is acutely aware of faith. Avram’s connection with the Amish, the Indians, and the secular Tommy,  are all deeply mined as the film investigates the power of faith and decency in the midst of a wild and changing land. Sadly this strength only emphasizes the film’s failure to create a realistic environment in which to set its story.

I must note that I knew this film was coming. My duties as Movienight Archivist include handling our Amazon.com links, and in doing so I saw that ‘The Frisco Kid’ had been purchased through our site. I notified Mr. Wiener that I was aware of his selection, and he was left with the option to stay the course or audible his pick. I am glad he chose the former.

Echoing Wiener in his comments on ‘Let it Ride’ I believe ‘The Frisco Kid’ not a great film, but a great Movienight. Where else would we ever see this movie? Where but here would we ever write about it? We have successfully opened the field in our Selection process, and moved away from only ‘Great’ films. In doing so I think we have come to learn that a movie is not just about what you see - it is about where you see it, and who you see it with.

Nubs Comments:

‘The Frisco Kid’ marked Wiener’s third selection out of four that I have not previously seen (’Papillon’ and ‘Yojimbo’). For this reason and others I applaud Mr. Wiener’s selection. Unlike Coolbaugh and Justine who obviously didn’t grow up with the electronic babysitter like the rest of us, it’s hard to go 75% on unseen selections with me.

‘The Frisco Kid’ has a lot that I look for in a good Movienight pick. It’s a risky pick that could fail miserably or be a slam dunk (harder to achieve without Coolbaugh’s presence). It’s a light comedy, sort of, rather than action packed thriller or intense drama. It is about Jews. It’s unpredictable in that it’s not topical, and doesn’t elevate the integrity of our repertoire:  a true risk. I respect the thought and effort in the pick itself, so it’s of small importance that I didn’t like it.This late 70’s comedy (did Wiener stop going to the movies after 1980? Oh, right he did.) didn’t hold up for me to put it simply. 

You can’t blame Wiener for the selection. You can’t blame Gene Wilder for a remarkably committed performance. He’s simply asked to carry too much of the movie. You can’t blame Harrison Ford. He fills his role perfectly, though he tends to overact in a lot of his arguments with Wilder. You can’t blame the set people who did a bang-up job making the one set of the old west main drag look different each and every time it was used, whether it was some remote town or the booming metropolitan of San Francisco.

So, who is to blame for giving me time to dissect the movie’s faults when I should have been engrossed in the film? My suspicions were confirmed when I IMDB’d the director, Robert Aldrich, and found out he’s dead! Well, he was close to dead at the ripe age of sixty, and he did die three years after ‘The Frisco Kid.’  I have to admit it shows in his lack of effort.

The storytelling is extremely problematic. First off, if it’s a comedy why isn’t it funnier? If it’s a supposed to be a spiritual buddy adventure with meaning, why isn’t it more meaningful? The movie seems to be slowly strolling along through every moral and religious belief that makes up this country, but then spends the last act returning to the bad guys, who we had forgotten about, and their propensity towards gun-wielding and real old west action.

Aside from the story, someone, preferably old man Aldrich, should have told the actors and us which are the important scenes in the movie instead of letting Wilder and Ford scream their way through every scene or rely on wide-eyed close-ups in every other scene. How about framing some scenes with a score that might tell us when something is important? And, finally, how about when they finally reach their destination that’s taken the whole movie, give us that moment and possibly set up the highly anticipated arrival of the rabbi at the home of his future family before he peers through bushes like a werewolf? I understand the movie plays on the contrast between classic western and ‘Yentl,’ but the long drawn out showdown achieves nothing in the end.

I gather from Ben and Ben’s quiet but favorable reactions, that many hold this movie dear to their hearts. I respect that and the decision to bring it to Movienight. It just doesn’t hold up.

I’m sorry I couldn’t enjoy it more.

SELECTOR Comments:

Ben Davis said it best.  ‘The Frisco Kid’ has a lot of heart.  It’s a movie populated by a lot of very good people.  Kindly rabbis.  Understanding Indians.  Forgiving Monks.  Compassionate bank robbers.  The few bad characters are rendered very, very bad in contrast to the good heartedness that defines and surrounds Avram, our hero.  ‘The Frisco Kid’ begins with an hysterical premise the promise of which is never fully delivered.  But it makes for a good time in the Back Yard.

Comedically, this movie is a little confused.  It takes different tones at different times, moving from slapstick to parody, to buddy movie and back again. It’s hard to connect the stylized stage piece that opens the movie to the climactic gunfight near the end.  They feel like parts of different movies from different directors.  And even Gene Wilder seems unsure sometimes about how to play things.  The accent drops in and out.  When talking funny gets a laugh, he uses it.  When we’re focused on the action, it seems to disappear.  Even Wilder’s physical gifts are unevenly deployed.  Instead of building the film around a few brilliant high moments of slapstick, it seems we get some Gene Wilder physical shtick every fifteen minutes, as if that’s some sort of prescription for comedy success.

‘The Frisco Kid’ is 122 minutes.  That’s long for a comedy and you feel it at times.  It’s not like many movies where the scenes to cut are obvious, however.  There’s an overall languidness to the pace of the movie which may get in the way of hilarity.  We’re not exactly bored by the end of many scenes, but when the camera takes us someplace new, we’re definitely ready for the move.

I can pick this film apart a million ways.  But that would be missing the point.  There’s something to be said for films that can simply make you feel good about yourself and the human race.  In the wrong hands, Avram’s faith becomes fanaticism.  But in ‘The Frisco Kid,’ the doctrine is delivered so pleasantly and with so little judgement, we respect the crazy rabbi and his willingness to put himself at any risk to abide by his religion and his promises.  Sorry, Mel Gibson.  ‘The Frisco Kid’ may in fact be the most pro-religious film ever made.  All of the religious figures are portrayed with a sense of reverence, fun, and love.  Whether it’s the ecumenical Indian shaman or the forgiving abbott, wherever Avram’s faith intersects with that of others, we find only love and understanding.

Overall, ‘The Frisco Kid’ is a fun twist on the fish out of water plot married to a Western.  The ‘Blazing Saddles’ comparisons are obvious. And this film is not ‘Blazing Saddles.’  But it delivers laughs.  And it delivers the satisfaction of seeing the good guy get the girl, make a friend, achieve his goal, and become a better person by the end of the film than he was at the beginning.  And if you look at our Movienight selections, we may not have had enough of that.

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