The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
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| The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap | |
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 The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Charles Barton |
| Produced by | Robert Arthur |
| Written by | John Grant Frederic I. Rinaldo Robert Lees |
| Starring | Bud Abbott Lou Costello Marjorie Main Audrey Young |
| Music by | Walter Schumann |
| Editing by | Frank Gross |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 8, 1947 |
| Running time | 78 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $750,000 |
| Preceded by | Buck Privates Come Home (1947) |
| Followed by | The Noose Hangs High (1948) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.
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[edit] Plot
Chester Wooley (Lou Costello and Duke Egan (Bud Abbott) are two travelling salesmen. They make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana, while on their way to California. While they are there a notorious criminal, Fred Hawkins, is killed and they are charged with his murder. They are quickly tried and convicted and sentenced to die by hanging. However the head of the citizen's committee, Jim Simpson (William Ching) recalls a law whereby the survivor of a gun duel must take responsibility for the deceased's debts and family. This saves them from death, but now Chester is responsible for the widow Hawkins (Marjorie Main) and her seven children. They head to her farm and Chester is worked from morning to night by Mrs. Hawkins. Her plan is to wear him down until he agrees to marry her. In addition, once it is too dark to work the farm, Chester must also work at the saloon to pay off Hawkin's debt to its owner, Jake Frame (Gordon Jones).
Chester quickly finds out that no one will harm him, for fear that they will have to take over for him and support Mrs. Hawkins and her family. Simpson, also aware of that fact, makes Chester the sheriff in the hopes that everyone's fear of him will help clean up the lawless town. For protection, Chester carries around a photograph of Mrs. Hawkins and her kids. For awhile it works, and Chester is heralded as a hero. Meanwhile Duke still has plans to go to California and tries to get Judge Benbow (George Cleveland) to marry Mrs. Hawkins and free him and Chester from this town. He starts a rumor that Mrs. Hawkins is about to become rich once the railroad buys her land to lay a track through it. The rumor takes on a life of its own and everyone is now out to get Chester in the hopes that they will marry Mrs. Hawkins and gain a piece of that fortune. Frame eventually confesses to Hawkins' murder, and Duke and Chester are cleared of the charges and allowed to leave, but not before they admit that they story was made up by them. Benbow still wants to marry Mrs. Hawkins, and she agrees. Then she tells him, and everyone else, that the railroad did offer her money and she is now rich.
[edit] Trivia
- It was filmed from April 29 through June 20, 1947.
- On May 3, during production of this film, Costello dedicated the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in memory of his son in Los Angeles. Less than a week later, on May 9 his father, Sebastian Cristillo, died of a heart attack. Costello blamed their agent, Eddie Sherman for upsetting his father the night before and fired him. The team went without an agent for two years.[1]
- The first issue of the Abbott and Costello comic book, published in February 1948 by St. John Publishing, was an adaption of this film. Out of forty issues that were published between 1948 and 1956, this was the only one that was based on one of their films.
[edit] Routines
- Included is a variation on the Oyster routine used previously in 1945's Here Come The Co-Eds, this time using a frog.
[edit] DVD Release
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[edit] Reference
- ^ Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-51605-0
