''The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap'' is a 1947

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of

Abbott and Costello Abbott may refer to: People *Abbott (surname) *Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist * Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act Places Argentina * Abbott, Buenos Aires United States * Abbott, Arkansas ...

. It was released on October 8 and distributed by

Universal-International Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

Plot

Chester Wooley and Duke Egan are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana while en-route to California. During the stopover, a notorious criminal, Fred Hawkins, is murdered, and the two are charged with the crime. They are quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to die by hanging. The head of the local citizen's committee, Jim Simpson, recalls a law whereby the survivor of a gun duel must take responsibility for the deceased's debts and family. The law spares the two from execution, but Chester is now responsible for the widow Hawkins and her seven children. They go to her farm, where Chester is worked by Mrs. Hawkins from dawn to dusk. To make matters worse, Chester must work at the saloon at night to repay Hawkin's debt to its owner, Jake Frame. Her plan is to wear Chester down until he agrees to marry her. Chester quickly learns that no one will harm him, for fear that they will have to support Mrs. Hawkins and her family. Simpson makes Chester the sheriff in hopes that the fear of him will help clean up the lawless town. For protection, Chester carries around a photograph of Mrs. Hawkins and her kids. The approach works for a while, and Chester is heralded as a hero. Meanwhile, Duke still plans to go to California and tries to get Judge Benbow to marry Mrs. Hawkins, in order to free him and Chester from their obligations. He starts a rumor that Mrs. Hawkins is about to become rich once the railroad buys her land to lay tracks. The rumor takes on a life of its own, with everyone trying to kill Chester in hopes of marrying Mrs. Hawkins (and becoming wealthy in the process). Frame eventually confesses to Hawkins' murder; Duke and Chester are cleared and allowed to leave town, but not before they admit that the railroad rumor was fabricated by them. Benbow still wants to marry Mrs. Hawkins, and she agrees. She then announces that the railroad actually did offer her substantial money, and she is now wealthy.

Cast

Bud Abbott William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New ...

as Duke Egan *

Lou Costello Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First? ...

as Chester Wooley *

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and ...

as Widow Hawkins *

Audrey Young Audrey Young (October 30, 1922 – June 1, 2012) was an American film actress and a big-band singer who was most active in the 1940s. She was the wife of director Billy Wilder. Early years Young was born in Los Angeles, California, Her father, ...

as Juanita Hawkins *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stag ...

as Judge Benbow * Gordon Jones as Jake Frame *

William Ching William Brooks Ching (October 2, 1913 – July 1, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous films and on television during the later 1940s and 1950s. Ching may be best known for his supporting role in Rudolph Maté's 1950 f ...

as Jim Simpson *Peter M. Thompson as Phil (as Pete Thompson) *Bill Clauson as Matt Hawkins *Billy O'Leary as Billy Hawkins *Pamela Wells as Sarah Hawkins *Jimmy Bates as Jefferson Hawkins *Paul Dunn as Lincoln Hawkins *Diane Florentine as Sally Hawkins * Glenn Strange as Lefty *

Rex Lease Rex Lloyd Lease (February 11, 1903 – January 3, 1966) was an American actor. He appeared in over 300 films, mainly in Poverty Row westerns. Biography Lease arrived in Hollywood in 1924. He found bit and supporting parts at Film Booking O ...

as Hank *

Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...

as Cowboy (uncredited) * Charles King as Gunman (uncredited) * George J. Lewis as Cowpuncher (uncredited) *

Emmett Lynn Emmett Earl Lynn (February 14, 1897 – October 20, 1958) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Early life Lynn was born in Muscatine, Iowa. When he was nine years old, Lynn became a song plugger in Denver, Colorado. From that ...

as Old Codger (uncredited) *

Kermit Maynard Kermit Maynard (September 20, 1897 – January 16, 1971) was an American actor and stuntman. Early years Born in Vevay, Indiana, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Maynard and a lookalike younger brother of actor Ken Maynard; they were ...

as Posse Member *

Zon Murray Zon Murray (April 13, 1910 – February 2, 1979) was an American actor. Filmography He appeared in the films: ''The El Paso Kid'', ''Ghost of Hidden Valley'', '' Song of the Sierras'', '' Jack Armstrong'', ''Rainbow Over the Rockies'', '' West ...

as Cowpuncher (uncredited)

Production

The film was based on a story by Bill Bowers and Buc Beauchamp which was based on a true life law from Montana that if you killed a man, you were responsible for their widow and children. Bowers says they worked on it for two hours, envisioning it as a vehicle for James Stewart and Marjorie Main, and sold it to Universal for $2,500. ''The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap'' was filmed from April 29 through June 20, 1947. The film was budgeted at $750,000 - a new lower figure set for Abbott and Costello movies. It went $28,000 over. 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 (triggering the heart attack) and fired him. The team went without an agent for two years.Furmanek, Bob and Ron Palumbo (1991). ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood''. New York: Perigee Books.

Comic book

The first issue of the ''Abbott and Costello'' comic book, published in February 1948 by St. John Publishing, was an adaption of the film. Out of the forty issues published between 1948 and 1956, this was the only one that was based on one of their films.

Routines

Included is a variation on the ''Oyster'' routine used previously in 1945's ''

Here Come the Co-Eds ''Here Come The Co-Eds'' is a 1945 American comedy film starring the comedy team Abbott and Costello. Plot Oliver Quackenbush, Molly McCarthy and her brother Slats who acts as her publicity agent work for the Miramar Ballroom as taxi dancers. Sla ...

'', this time using a frog.

Home media

Universal first released the film on VHS tape in 1992 and then on DVD through two releases. The first time, in ''The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume Two'' set, on May 4, 2004, and again on October 28, 2008 as part of ''Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap, The 1947 films 1940s Western (genre) comedy films Abbott and Costello films American black-and-white films American Western (genre) comedy films Films set in Montana 1940s English-language films Films directed by Charles Barton Films scored by Walter Schumann Universal Pictures films 1947 comedy films 1940s American films