Don Knotts gets one of his most beloved film vehicles here with this amiable remake of the Bob Hope comedy "The Paleface". That master of nervous energy plays Jesse W. Heywood, a Philadelphia dentist in the 19th century who decides that he wants to ply his trade in the Old West. Instead, he gets mixed up with a former outlaw turned government agent (striking, fiery redhead Barbara Rhoades), whose mission is to expose the men selling rifles to the Comanches."The Shakiest Gun in the West" is a cute, if not uproarious, Western comedy. It has enough laughs, production values, and spirited performances to make it a good time. The gags (some of them recycled from "The Paleface") were never quite inspired for this viewer, but they were still worthy of some chuckles. Certainly Knotts is perfectly cast as this tenderfoot who is led to believe that he's handier in a scrap than he really is. Roles like this were his stock in trade for years. Sexy Rhoades is a very fine leading lady, and the supporting cast features a reasonable amount of familiar faces: Jackie Coogan, Don 'Red' Barry, Ruth McDevitt, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Carl Ballantine, Pat "Mr. Miyagi" Morita, Dub Taylor, Dick Wilson, etc.Vic Mizzy, the regular composer for these Universal / Don Knotts comedies, comes up with appropriately goofy music, and a talented crew create a great, classic Western look for the various wacky goings-on.Good fun for Don Knotts fans.Seven out of 10.

There's nothing wrong with the premise of this movie. In fact, the premise is really quite amusing. Jesse Heywood (played by Don Knotts) is a newly graduated bumbling dentist who moves out to the Old West to practice and bumbles his way into being mistaken for a big-time gunfighter. It's quite silly in a fun kind of way. It doesn't have very many uproarious laughs but it keeps you smiling. To me, though, it doesn't have enough substance to be a big screen movie. Don Knotts played the part of Heywood well - he played it basically as Don Knotts would play any part. I like Don Knotts, but really - he's a second banana type who's made for TV. As second banana to Andy Griffith in "The Andy Griffith Show" or to John Ritter in "Three's Company" he added a lot with his own unique comedic style. As leading man in a Hollywood movie (even a silly one like this) he just doesn't have the presence to carry it.This is a bit slow to get started, and in all honesty Knotts struck me as a bit old to be just graduating as a dentist (although that might have been appropriate to the character - Heywood had spent his whole life in his mother's pocket, so to speak, and now was finally branching out on his own against her will.) Once Barbara Rhoades entered the scene as the beautiful stagecoach robber turned government agent it picks up steam a bit, although she also has little screen presence and has been consistently a supporting actress at best, mostly on TV. There's nothing especially wrong with this. I just found that it had trouble filling 100 minutes of screen time.

Don Knotts star in this wacky comedy/western.Knotts plays a Philadelphia Dentist who head west to bring oral hygiene.he gets more than he bargained for,in the process.Dr. Jesse Heywood's penchant for being timid nervous,and bumbling provide some pretty funny moments.Knotts is pretty funny here,but i really Barbara Rhoades as Penny.i loved her spunky,and her take no guff attitude.she is the perfect foil for Knott's Zaniness.while this movie won't change your life,it should make you laugh.even if it wasn't funny,i think it would still work as just a western.for me,The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 7/10

This is one of the most surprising films I have recently seen. I first saw it as a kid and liked it. However, I saw it again recently after one of my students brought it in and asked if his 8th grade history class could watch it. Well, I figured the movie had nothing to do with the class so I made some excuses not to use it. Later in the year, we had a day just before the break and once again he asked if the class could watch it. Well, we were about to do a small unit on the real West, so I reluctantly agreed. The film turned out to be pretty helpful in discussing Hollywood myths about the old West (as it had a few like most Westerns) but I was also VERY surprised to see how much 8th graders today liked the film. This actually says something, because normally these kids would never watch an "ancient" film like this--choosing instead to watch only the latest releases. But the film held their attention and I heard a lot of laughs. It's actually better than I remembered and is far better than a lot of Don Knotts' other films (such as THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET or THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG--yuck).