Set in 1882 San Francisco, the Dirtwater Fox (George Segal) is a slick gambler who wants to hold on to the $40,000 he's stolen from a gang of outlaws. The Duchess (Goldie Hawn) is a scheming hooker who wants to become a "real lady". But once they team up, they begin to realize what they really want is each other. Directed by Melvin Frank (A TOUCH OF CLASS). Perhaps it looked good on paper but the resultant movie is a misfire. Star power can go only so far in a mediocre movie and the film defeats both Segal and Hawn, normally excellent comedy actors. In fact, I've never seen George Segal so unappealing. Hawn works overtime trying but she really has only one good scene where she teaches a group of Mormon children a rather risque song. It's only fitfully amusing and I suspect the screenwriters were hoping to make a comedy western along the lines of BLAZING SADDLES but it's no where near as audacious. The film stops cold a couple of times: a Jewish wedding sequence that goes nowhere and a ride along the river accompanied by a Bobby Vinton song called Lemon Drops, Lollipops And Sunbeams that seems influenced by the Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head sequence in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. With Richard Farnsworth, Conrad Janis, Pat Ast and Thayer David.
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