The Frisco Kid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 1935 western film starring James Cagney, see Frisco Kid.
| The Frisco Kid | |
|---|---|
 Video cover for The Frisco Kid |
|
| Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
| Produced by | Mace Neufeld |
| Written by | Michael Elias Frank Shaw |
| Starring | Gene Wilder Harrison Ford Ramon Bieri Val Bisoglio George DiCenzo |
| Music by | Frank De Vol |
| Cinematography | Robert B. Hauser |
| Editing by | Jack Horger Irving Rosenblum Maury Winetrobe |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 13, 1979 |
| Running time | 122 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Frisco Kid is a 1979 movie directed by Robert Aldrich. The movie is a Western comedy featuring Gene Wilder as Avram Belinski, a Polish Rabbi who is traveling to San Francisco, and Harrison Ford (originally the part was planned for John Wayne) as a bank robber who befriends him.
[edit] Plot
Rabbi Avram Belinski arrives in Philadelphia from Poland in route to San Francisco where he will be the new Rabbi. He has with him a Torah scroll for the San Francisco synagogue. Avram, an innocent, trusting and inexperienced traveler, falls in with three con men who trick him into helping pay for a wagon and supplies to go west, then leave him and most of his belongings scattered along a deserted road.
Avram is determined to make it to San Francisco. He fends for himself on foot for a while, spends a little time with some Pennsylvania Dutch (whom he takes for Jews at first), and manages to find work on the railroad. While trying to spear fish in a stream (to no avail), he is befriended and fed by a stranger on horseback named Tommy Lillard (Ford). They travel together, make it through the snowy mountains, experience Native American customs and hospitality, and learn a little about each other's culture:
- Tommy: "Don'tcha have a word you use when you're kinda took by surprise?"
- Avram: "We say oy gevault."
- Tommy: "Well, that's what 'shee-it' means."
- Avram: (slapping his forehead, trying it out): "Oy shee-it! ...Yes, that works."
Unfortunately, it turns out Tommy is a bank robber by profession, not only problematic for Avram from a moral point of view, but problematic for Tommy when he robs a bank on a Friday, then finds that Avram (an orthodox Jew) doesn't ride on the Sabbath - even with a posse on his tail. They stick together somehow, meet and defeat the villains who originally robbed and beat Avram in Philadelphia, and make it to San Francisco. Avram then must deal with the changes his journey has wrought in his faith and his purpose in life.
[edit] Cast
Gene Wilder .... Avram Belinski
Harrison Ford .... Tommy Lillard
Ramon Bieri .... Mr. Jones
Val Bisoglio .... Chief Gray Cloud
George DiCenzo .... Darryl Diggs (as George Ralph DiCenzo)
Leo Fuchs .... Chief rabbi
Penny Peyser .... Rosalie Bender
William Smith .... Matt Diggs
Jack Somack .... Samuel Bender
Beege Barkette .... Sarah Mindl Bender
Shay Duffin .... O'Leary
Walter Janovitz .... Old Amish man (as Walter Janowitz)
Joe Kapp .... Monterano
Clyde Kusatsu .... Mr. Ping (railroad work crew)
Clifford A. Pellow .... Mr. Daniels (as Cliff Pellow)
