The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

A half-decade after "Laugh-In" and a half-decade before "Private Benjamin," Goldie Hawn reveals that she not only has beautiful thighs (which the director takes very opportunity to remind us) but that she can act. Hawn herself takes every opportunity to develop a well-rounded character given a script that doesn't invite it - she exhibits a wide range of responses that the director doesn't really ask of any other actor.Otherwise, the film is a confused mess. Beautiful location photography, and not much else. The story-line is a real jumble. If I cared about the characters I might have invested more in following it, but there's no reason to care about these lowlives, they have no direction and no motivation beyond greed.At one point George Segal squeezes Hawn's breasts publicly and exclaims 'honk honk!" First, this is anachronistic (it references automobile horns not yet in use in the movie's culture), second, it is degrading, and third - most importantly - it is not funny. It needs a "topper," some remark that would give it comedic relevance. Director Frank's attempt at a topper is for Segal to repeat the line twice. I am not amused.A botched job, only interesting for Hawn fans.

Although the music may be a little dated now, I believe any fun-minded viewer will find this offering to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp. George Segal and Goldie Hawn are at their best and deliver one delightful comic situation after another, much like, and in my opinion, better than, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster in the also enjoyable but more recent "Maverick." I wouldn't be surprised if Mel and Jodie, not to mention the "Maverick" producers, wisely drew on this film for inspiration as the chemistry is interchangeable between the two movies. One of many moments not to be forgotten is in the excellent turn of Conrad Janis as the blissfully unaware mark or the sidesplitting pig-Latin (pig-German?) argument Hawn and Segal develop in his presence. I would very much like to see this film again and so will you.

Saw this in the theaters when I was like 10. I snuck in after watching The Bad News Bears I think, and even then I knew this movie stunk. Watching it now coincidentally on the same day I pay my cable bill is like soap in my eye. I've asked this question many times, but What were people thinking back then? I mean how can you even throw a movie like this together? Don't the performers and producers know how bad it is? Maybe this is the kind of stuff you learn only after you die. As viewing films like this brings me ever nearer to death, perhaps I haven't long to wait. One final note, this film's movie poster contains a startling example of sexual subliminal placement. Check it out, if you glance quickly, or stare at it long enough, Goldies elbow is actually photographed for your brain to see a bare b***t. But the movie still stinks.

The 'comedy' western is a bit like a situation comedy with horses and six shooters thrown in and a bit of action in case the laughs are thin on the ground. and in this movie the laughs (and the thrills) are as thin on the ground as grass in a desert.George Segal tries hard in the 'lovable rogue' lead - a sort of bargain basement 'Maverick' but he is undercut by a poor script and the millstone of Goldie Hawn - who does little beyond flash her red undies at the camera at every opportunity as if this might distract the viewer from the meagre contribution she makes to the movie.This is the West That Never Was beloved of peddlers of cliche and writers of cheap 1960's and 70's TV series, with the intendedly humourously amoral lead duo pursued about a pretty landscape by the gang that couldn't shoot straight and sundry other less than menacing foes.Notable is the lack of 'name' supporting players any of whom might have upstaged Ms Hawn by showing comedic talent, rather than legs. Rating: A sonorous 3 out of 10