BY LEE PFEIFFER
In Cinema Retro's never-ending quest to analyze relatively inconsequential movies, the trail takes us to Dirty Dingus Magee, one of Frank Sinatra's last starring feature films. The movie shocked critics when it opened in 1970 due to the trivial of the production. Time has done nothing to enhance its reputation and one can only wonder what possessed Sinatra to star in this tepid Western comedy. In reality, Sinatra's passion for movie-making was also tepid. He always preferred to concentrate on his singing career and regarded acting as a time-consuming sideline. His penchant for rarely approving a second take became legendary. Nevertheless, he was undeniably one of the cinema's great icons. Prior to Dirty Dingus Magee, Sinatra had shown good judgment with the majority of the films he made during the mid-to-late Sixties. There were some misguided efforts but Von Ryan's Express, Tony Rome, Lady in Cement and The Detective were all quality productions in which he acquitted himself very well. All the more puzzling as to what attracted him to the MGM Western that seemed cursed from the start.
Seldom has so much talent been squandered on one modestly-budgeted
movie. The film was directed by Burt Kennedy, an old hand at bringing
highly entertaining Westerns to the silver screen. (i.e The War Wagon, Support Your Local Sheriff, The Train Robbers, Hannie Caulder.) The screenplay was co-written by Catch-22 author
Joseph Heller and the talented cast includes George Kennedy, Michele
Carey, Anne Jackson, Jack Elam, Lois Nettleton and Harry Carey Jr. Yet
it all adds up to a lively but inconsequential trifle that would have
been designed for the bottom of double feature bills at drive-ins had it
not been for Sinatra's name above the title. He plays the titular
character, a low-rent outlaw who engages in an endless cat-and-mouse
game with newly-appointed sheriff Hoke Birdsill (Kennedy). The two men
relentlessly track each other down and alternately deceive and rob the
other. The razor-thin plot has something to do with local madam Anne
Jackson trying to start an Indian uprising to prevent the local U.S.
Cavalry unit from relocating, thus ensuring the demise of her bordello.
It's unconscionable that as late as 1970 Native Americans could be
portrayed in such a racist fashion on screen. The dialogue afforded them
is of the "Me-Tarzan, You-Jane" variety and the tribe is presented as a
bunch of childish imbeciles. Michele Carey is cast as Dingus's Indian
maiden love interest but she is relegated to prancing around in a short
buckskin outfit and enduring endless interrupted attempts to get it on
with Dingus. The "palefaces" don't fare much better. Anne Jackson is
channeling Shelly Winters as the obnoxious madam who spends more time
screamin' than screwin'. Even old stalwart Jack Elam is completely
wasted, as are a number of other generally reliable old coots who
populated Westerns during this era. Sinatra seems uncomfortable
throughout. Adorned by a distracting Beatle-type wig, he is constantly
upstaged by George Kennedy, who provides whatever modest pleasures the
film affords. Kennedy has a knack for playing broad, slapstick comedy
that Sinatra never acquired.The movie's cheap production values extend
to some of the worst rear screen projection I've ever seen in a major
movie, and that includes Marnie.
At this point in his career Sinatra said he had grown bored with show
business. He even went into self-imposed retirement for a couple of
years before re-emerging and admitting that doing nothing was even more
boring. He enjoyed remarkable success in the ensuing years and won a new
generation of fans. Sadly, his work in films all but evaporated. After
the poor reception accorded Dirty Dingus Magee, he only had one other starring role- ten years later in the underrated thriller The First Deadly Sin. His
fine performance in that film stands as a stark reminder of what he
could have accomplished in films in the latter part of his career had he
concentrated on challenging projects. Dirty Dingus Magee is worth acquiring on DVD- but only to witness one of the most misguided ventures of Old Blue Eyes' career.
Them region-free DVD contains the original trailer.
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