Review of The Frisco Kid (1979) by Stuart K — 15 Jul 2009
From the great Robert Aldrich, who made so many great films in his era, (from What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? to The Dirty Dozen to Too Late the Hero), comes his penultimate film, a friendly comedy western, a different kind of western at that.
With one great comic actor and one actor on the verge of superstardom making a winning combination. It begins in 1850 in Poland, and it has novice Rabbi Avram Belinski (Gene Wilder), who is sent to America to work in a San Francisco synagogue.
Not a good traveller, he is the victim of 3 con men in Philadelphia, Avram then works on the railroads to make money, and he bumps into roving bank robber Tommy Lillard (Harrison Ford), who decides to help Avram get to San Francisco, encountering Red Indians, Snowy Mountains and Devout Monks.
It's a good little film, maybe a little too long for it's own good, but even in the form it's in, it feels like it was cut down from a much longer length. It's a good travelogue of the grand vista's of America's West.
Wilder makes a good lead, a naive and trusting Rabbi who is enthralled with the land he's now made home, and Ford is very good with a rugged charm, it was this role that got Ford the part of Indiana Jones!! :D.
This review of The Frisco Kid (1979) was written by Stuart K on 15 Jul 2009.
The Frisco Kid has generally received mixed reviews.
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