Along Came Jones (1945)

A mild mannered cowpoke (Gary Cooper) and his companion (William Demarest) are mistaken for a notorious gunman (Dan Duryea) and his uncle. The gunman's girl (Loretta Young) comes to his rescue and helps him escape but the posse still pursues him under the impression he is the gunman. Based on the novel USELESS COWBOY by Alan Le May (THE SEARCHERS) and directed by Stuart Heisler (THE GLASS KEY). Cooper produced the film which satirizes his cowboy image. Cooper's Melody Jones can't shoot to save his life and he's not the brightest bulb in the West. In fact, it's the feisty Loretta Young (at her most appealing) who can sharpshoot and has the smarts and is forever saving Cooper from the bad guys, the law and himself. For most of the film's 90 minute running time, this enough to amuse but Cooper eventually overplays the doltish aspect and his stupidity becomes annoying. But comedy westerns were still pretty rare in the 1940s so I give it a pass. With Frank Sully and Ray Teal.