The Brothers O'Toole is meant for a vehicle for John Astin to strut his comedy talents and strut he does. He's only one O'Toole brother, the other is Steve Carlson. But Astin is also the wild and crazy bandit living common law with wild and crazy Lee Meriwether.Brothers Astin and Carlson are a pair of city slickers, Astin is a rogue gambler in the Maverick tradition, Carlson is a love 'em and leave 'em type. But Astin is chased out of town and Carlson runs out of town with an angry father with a shotgun chasing him.They arrive at a town named Mollybedamned because some passing geologist said the lead mine that is now played out is full of nothing but this stuff called molybdenum. And the stuff is not really good for anything. Too bad for the town because everybody there has stock in it and the certificates paper the walls, line the spittoons and such.Astin is quite good in his dual roles and a lot of familiar character faces like Hans Conreid, Pat Carroll, Allyn Joslyn, Jesse White, and director Richard Erdman all do their shtick.But essentially the film is built around a one joke premise and it isn't really enough for a great comedy, just a passably good one.

Simplistically, this offbeat concoction may be described as a Western spoof but it is just too uneven to be truly successful as a comedy. This is perhaps explained by the fact that director Erdman was mostly a veteran character actor and only stepped behind the camera a handful of times. The opportunity allowed for fellow character actors to have a field-day can be, likewise, excused as it gives the proceedings a glorified home movie ambiance and does, on occasion, provide the viewers with flashes of amusement.Most prominent in the cast are TV stars John Astin (in a dual role, no less) and Lee Meriwether (as the embittered wife of Astin’s bandido character) but equally notable are Hollywood veterans Jesse White (as the Mayor of a sleepy Western hamlet with an unpronounceable name), Allyn Joslyn (as the Sheriff) and Hans Conried (in a very belated cameo as an oil tycoon); as was to be expected, director Erdman also contrived to give himself a small but fun role as a bemused Judge.The bulk of the narrative sees cardsharp Astin being mistaken for bandido Astin and cardsharp Astin’s no-good younger brother is more often a hindrance to his pleas of innocence than anything else. The incarcerated Astin’s eventual trial, then, requires his alter ego to dress up conspicuously as an old man but this middle section of the film is also where it really drags and sags badly. The film does get back into shape (relatively speaking) with the appearance of Conried and, especially, the climactic foulness contest – where participants of every size and shape are awarded for their prowess in belching, spitting and cussing (don’t ask) – which, for better or worse, only serves to reinforce my afore-mentioned claims of the film’s inherent “home movie” quality.

I happened to see this years ago by accident. Was flicking through TV stations and came across it. I wasn't expecting much because it was clearly a B movie. But I was wonderfully surprised to find it hilarious. I never saw it again, but it has stuck in my memory ever since. From the 'cussin' contest to the town name. Wonderful stuff. John Astin was great, always thought he was unappreciated after I saw this movie.Giving it 7. OK there are some great movies, but original comedy is very hard. Try and name some really good comedies ... short list huh? So a 7 from me. Never seen it on DVD, I should probably get off my behind and find a copy :)

If there were no other single redeeming feature of the movie, John Astin's incredible diatribe reviling every obvious wart of the benighted little town of Molly-Be-Damn as it's known for a truly tortured pun on Molybdenum, would be worth the price of admission.There is a plot, but you don't need to worry about it. Go for Astin's bluster. He appears in a dual role and takes both completely over the top.If you can take a comedy-western on a fairly broad tack, this is a good one. Crank up the popcorn machine, set your brain on farce and relax. And memorize that cussing. Someday you'll need it.