Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Shakiest Gun in the West Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 18, 2018

The Shakiest Gun in the West isn't exactly a Western parody, but it certainly has a lot of fun putting its clumsy hero, played by the venerable comedian Don Knotts (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Andy Griffith Show), into a number of familiar situations that he usually bumbles and stumbles his way through, and usually not too worse for wear. Directed by Alan Rafkin, who had previously worked with Knotts in Chicken and would direct him again in 1971's How to Frame a Figg, understands the talent he has working in front of the camera and, for the most part, allows Knotts to shape the film with his physical antics. From dimwitted dentistry to dusty duels, The Shakiest Gun in the West is a showcase for Knotts' talents within the film's vast and diverse landscape that practically extends from sea to shining sea.

Philadelphia, 1870. Jesse Haywood (Knotts) is a dental student on the cusp of graduation. As absentminded and goofy as he is, it’s a miracle he receives his degree, but receive it he does. After graduating, he decides to head West, to leave his family behind because “the West needs dentists” and Philadelphia has no more room for others with his skill set. His travels lead him on a great adventure that sees him scared stiff, battling bandits and Indians, getting married to the beautiful but deceiving Penelope Cushings (Barbara Rhoades), and forced to discover his mettle -- whatever small trace of mettle he may have -- if he’s going to come through his various encounters alive en route to bringing healthy gums and teeth to the Wild West.

The movie thrives on Knotts’ performance and the numerous one-off gags that he sells with his trademark wide-eyed worry. At one point, the first time he comes under fire when bandits attack his coach, his Haywood literally becomes scared stiff, transformed into a rigid, wide-eyed weakling. In another scene, he is so deeply asleep in his hotel room that no amount of noise, poking, and prodding can rise him from his slumber when his “medical expertise” is required to help a man who has been shot downstairs. Of course, when the sleepy-eyed and frazzled Haywood finally makes it downstairs, he promptly passes out when he realizes he’s to treat a bloody gunshot wound, not save a man from a painful wisdom tooth.

Things change for Haywood when he finds himself with no choice but to “fight off” a band of attacking Indians. He’s outnumbered with nothing but his trusty six-shooter and a guardian angel, his wife-in-title-only, watching over him. He believes that, despite his fears, he’s a crack shot when he supposedly saves the day, slaying all of the attackers. He gains confidence in his abilities as a gunslinger and the adoration of his colleagues on the wagon train, who are as surprised as he that he managed to fend off the attackers. His newfound swagger lands him in hot water when he’s forced to square off against a real, professional gunslinger who has been hired to kill him in an underhanded deal for a thousand dollars. But Haywood is Haywood, no matter the façade, and the movie always keeps him on his toes, with fear in his eyes and that reliably shaky six-shooter in his hand.

The film's secondary cast is a strength, playing off Knotts with, generally, a more serious rather than comedic bend, allowing him to rightly hog the spotlight in each of the film's funniest moments. The beautiful Barbara Rhoades makes for a terrific foil to Knotts. She's more street-smart and real-world savvy than he. She's taller, more refined, and everything he is not on the battlefield. Her evolution is the movie's dramatic high point as she marries him out of need but gradually comes to care for him as a man, not just as a prop to get her where she needs to be.

The Shakiest Gun in the West Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Shakiest Gun in the West delivers a surprisingly steady and true 1080p transfer. Universal may not be known for consistency with its catalogue releases, which range from extremely poor to very good. Fortunately, The Shakiest Gun ion the West favors the latter. It's impressively filmic, with a modest but consistent grain structure presenting a fairly handsome cinematic appearance. There's a pleasing sense of depth to the image, and textures remain essentially firm and stable for the duration, whether more urban brick and concrete details in Philadelphia exteriors at film's start or more dusty terrain and woods and fabrics en route to the West. Facial and clothing textures are stout, and the image never struggles to maintain sharpness and reveal finer features on humans and the clothes they wear (with a range that includes Indian garb, dusty cowboy pants and vests and hats, and resplendently complex poofy dresses). The image provides some beautiful colors, including fresh natural greens, various garments, brown horses, and blue skies. The palette is impressively vibrant within the movie's context and there's never a feel of fading. The print is not free of blemish. Various pops and speckles appear intermittently, but lightly, throughout. Otherwise, this is a very good presentation from Universal.

The Shakiest Gun in the West Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The included DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack offers limited range but adequately clear and detailed sound elements. Dialogue, the dominant sonic factor in play, images nicely to the center and presents with good, dependable clarity, with few exceptions, notably tinny, hollow, echoing reverb around the 19-minute mark. Gunshots are loud, not particularly clear and played up for some mild action and comedic effects alike, at times, but the movie's large-scale shootout offers some modestly impressive bangs. Mild atmospherics, focused in the middle as well, set the scene for several locales, including a nighttime camping ground in chapter five or some gusting winds in chapter seven.

The Shakiest Gun in the West Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Shakiest Gun in the West contains no top menu, no extras, no DVD copy, no digital copy, and no slipcover.

The Shakiest Gun in the West Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Shakiest Gun in the West sees Don Knotts doing what he does best, acting the goofball in a world in which he doesn't belong but somehow, someway, makes work. The film has fun dropping him in various Western tropes and relishes his responses to each and every one of them, and the actor essentially plays himself and plays to his surroundings. This is a fun little escape with plenty of replay value. Universal's featureless Blu-ray does deliver very good 1080p video and perfectly fine two-channel lossless audio. Recommended, but wait for a price drop to around the ~$10 range, which is a bit more palatable for the presentation Universal has released.