How the West Was Fun

How the West Was Fun
Directed by Stuart Margolin
Produced by Mark Bacino
Adria Later
Written by Jurgen Wolff
Starring Mary-Kate Olsen
Ashley Olsen
Martin Mull
Patrick Cassidy
Peg Phillips
Music by Richard Bellis
Cinematography Richard Leiterman
Edited by David Blangsted
Distributed by - USA -
American Broadcasting Company
Warner Bros.
- Germany -
ProSieben Television
Release date
  • November 19, 1994 (1994-11-19)
Running time
 96 min
Country United States
Language English

How the West Was Fun is a 1994 TV movie starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Synopsis

Twin girls Jessica and Suzy Martin (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) live with their father, Stephen (Patrick Cassidy), in Philadelphia. They have a dream about a man saying, "This town ain't big enough for the three of us" and having a shootout but argue who makes their move first. One day, they receive a letter from their late mother Sarah's godmother, Natty (Phillips), inviting them to a dude ranch. She, not knowing about Sarah's death, wants her to come help at the ranch. She is having financial problems because the ranch has too few paying visitors and, although she has offers, she does not want to sell it. The girls try to ask their dad's uptight boss, "The Dragon Lady" (Ms. Plaskett), for his vacation time, only to get him fired. They lie and say that she said that they could go. They go to the ranch and attempt to help Natty.

As they arrive they meet George Tailfeathers (Cardinal), Natty's friendly but mysterious Native American ranch foreman, and they become fast friends. But Natty's not-too-bright son, Bart Gafooley (Mull), immediately condescends to and patronizes the girls. Sarah's horse, Lightning, leads them to her secret hideout. They find half of a stone owl and bear, plus her diary which tells how Bart had once tried to set fire to the ranch, and about his secret hideout in a place called "The Bear's Mouth". As they finish reading, they see smoke and start running towards it, thinking it's another fire, but find it's Bart burning papers. They lie to him that an ember landed on the roof so they can find out what they are. They find out that he has been turning people away from the ranch. Trying to take a letter to Natty to show what he's doing, they are chased by him. He tears up the letter and snarls, "This ranch ain't big enough for the three of us", which brings the girls to a conclusion that he was the one in the dream.

Right before Bart can do any more, George backs them up with a riding lesson. At lunch, despite Bart's orders not to, they convince Natty to fix up the ranch and open it again. Later, Bart finds out that Stephen was fired and is about to tell him the truth, but instead decides to give the girls a chance to tell it themselves. Despite Natty's offers, he turns down her job offerings. Later, the girls find a hidden trap door under a stuffed bear (The Bear's Mouth), go inside, and find out that Bart is selling the ranch to make it into Gafooley Land Theme Park. Before Natty is about to sign the deed to the ranch to him, the girls convince her what he is up to. Heartbroken, she orders him off her land, or else he'd "get a good spanking".

Meanwhile, Stephen tries to get a loan but is turned down. What he doesn't know is that the bank is already with Bart on the whole deal. That night, the girls ride off to Denver to convince Leo McRugger, the businessman whom Bart is selling the ranch to, to not go through with the deal. Their offers are so interesting, McRugger and his executives decide to come down for a week just to see if it is actually what they are talking about. It is fixed up with the help of George, Stephen, Natty, the girls, and Laura Forrester (Greene), Steven's girlfriend. The activities are set up. However, each is sabotaged by Bart. Just when all is lost, the girls decide to find a lost treasure since they have a map. But first, they trap Bart so he can't do any more damage. They and everyone else find the gold, which turns out to be Fool's Gold, but still pleases McRugger and his executives. He agrees to spare the ranch.

As they head to the river, they are confronted by Bart. He tries to escape in a raft. The girls go after him only to be grabbed by him and taken down the river. He heads them down rapids and then realizes that they're headed for a dam. Down the river, the girls see a rope hanging off a bridge. They grab it and hang on. Bart plunges down the dam and gets severely injured as a result. The girls write their own diary.

Cast

Production

The film was filmed in the Canadian Rockies, one hour west of Calgary, Alberta at Rafter Six Ranch Resort. Shots in the city were done within Calgary, including a ride on Calgary Transit's C-Train.

References

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