Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, George Kennedy, Anne Jackson, John Dehner, Lois Nettleton, Jack Elam
Release Year: 1970
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Frank Sinatra stars in this bawdy western satire as Dingus Magee, a would-be outlaw who robs Hoke Birdsill (George Kennedy) while Hoke is en route to Yerkey's Hole, New Mexico. Hoke reports the theft to Belle Knops (Anne Jackson), the mayor of Yerkey's Hole and proprietor of the town's biggest business, a brothel favored by the enlisted men at the nearby Army fort. Belle appoints Hoke as the new deputy, and he tracks down Magee as he's enjoying a roll in the bushes with Anna (Michele Carey), a very friendly Indian maid. Hoke brings in Magee, but Anna then helps him escape; Belle uses Magee's unscheduled release to convince the commanding officers at the Army base that an Indian uprising is imminent, and that their planned relocation to Little Big Horn (where they hope to arrive before Gen. Custer and his troops) might be a bit premature (not to mention bad for her business). Soon Hoke is after Magee for robbing a stage and stealing the strongbox (which, of course, he can't open), the Indians are after Magee for running off with Anna, a sexually repressed schoolmarm named Prudence (Lois Nettleton) is after Magee after he awakens the woman within her, and John Wesley Hardin (Jack Elam) is after Magee, well, just because. "Catch-22" author Joseph Heller co-wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
George W. Davis - Art Director, J. McMillan Johnson - Art Director, Yvonne Wood - Costume Designer, Al Jennings - First Assistant Director, Burt Kennedy - Director, Burt Kennedy - Editor, William B. Gulick - Editor, Mack David - Composer (Music Score), Billy Strange - Composer (Music Score), Jeff Alexander - Composer (Music Score), Mack David - Songwriter, Jeff Alexander - Songwriter, Harry Stradling, Jr. - Cinematographer, Burt Kennedy - Producer, Robert R. Benton - Set Designer, Charles R. Pierce - Set Designer, Marcel Vercoutere - Special Effects, Bruce Wright - Sound/Sound Designer, Hal Watkins - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Waldman - Screenwriter, Tom Waldman - Screenwriter, Joseph Heller - Screenwriter, Lynn H. Guthrie - Second Assistant Director, David Markson - Book Author
Dingus Magee (Sinatra) is an outlaw in the old west who undertakes a series of comic adventures with the local sheriff (Kennedy) in pursuit.
Production
Dirty Dingus Magee was filmed under the title Sheriff and the Dirty Scrubber, but the title was changed before release due to legal reasons.[citation needed]
Although the title role was written for a 19 year-old, when Sinatra (then 54) became interested, the character was re-written to be a middle-aged man. Dirty Dingus Magee continued a trend of comic westerns featuring big-name stars.
