The Brothers O'Toole

• Director: Richard Erdman
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Western
• Movie Type: Comedy Western, Slapstick
• Themes: Cons and Scams
• Release Year: 1973
• Country: US
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

This barely released western spoof stars John Astin and Steve Carlson as the con-artist title characters, at large in 1890 Colorado. The comedy is on a "Little Rascals" level, while the action highlights, centered around a gold hunt, are compromised by uncertain staging. Hans Conried provides some of the film's brightest moments as a bombastic, slovenly politician. Erdman himself plays a small role, sharing screen time with such reliables as Jesse White, Pat Carroll, Lee Meriweather and Allyn Joslyn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

The 1960s and 1970s produced a number of memorable comedy westerns, such as Cat Ballou and Blazing Saddles, but it also produced a number of misfires in this genre, such as The Brothers O'Toole. Brothers wants to be a zany laugh riot, but it mistakes silliness and sloppiness for wit and ingenuity. There are some moments that do ring true, but there are many more -- such as the spitting and belching contest -- that don't hit the humor mark in the way intended. The blame for Brothers' failure is evenly divided between the screenwriters and the director. The screenplay is weak, but with a more experienced and inventive director than Richard Erdman, it might have proved the basis for a substantial amount of visual gags and been infused with enough of a bizarre comic atmosphere to work. Or if Erdman had been handed material that didn't require Herculean efforts to make it palatable, the film might have been a decent enough diversion. At least the cast is generally good, with John Astin especially working hard to mine comedy out of the script and coming close to succeeding on a number of occasions. Even better are character actors Jesse White and Hans Conreid, who perhaps benefit from the fact that they don't have to try to carry the picture as Astin must. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Cast

John Astin - Michael O'Toole; Steve Carlson - Timothy; Pat Carroll; Hans Conried; Allyn Joslyn; Lee Meriwether; Jesse White; Richard Erdman

Credit

Paul Fieberg - Associate Producer, Richard Erdman - Director, Bud Molin - Editor, Dennis Clappier - Executive Producer, Don Piestrup - Composer (Music Score), Allen Daviau - Cinematographer, Charles E. Sellier, Jr. - Producer, Marion Hargrove - Screenwriter, Tim Kelly - Screenwriter

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