SAM WHISKEY

US, 1969, 96 minutes, Colour.
Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickenson, Clint Walker, Ossie Davis.
Directed by Arnold Laven.

Sam Whiskey is a routine western from the late 1960s. Burt Reynolds was emerging as a popular star at this period and the 1970s were very favourable for him. Angie Dickinson had been popular in many films from the late 1950s. They are an enjoyable pairing. He is a talent for hire. She is a widow who wants to transport the gold bullion stolen by her husband to the mint before it is noticed. The supporting cast includes Clint Walker and a comic Ossie Davis.

1. Was this an enjoyable film? Why? How good a ballad of Sam Whisky was it? How much of a hero was he? How sympathetic? A man of the West? How effective was the story told during the credits? The visual communication of the story and creating Sam as a hero? How ironic was the follow up to this presentation of a hero?

2. Was the film a good comedy? How good humoured was it? What best illustrates this?

3. Was it a good Western? What conventions of Westerns did it best use? How important was the ironic tone of the screenplay? How important was the reversal of the bank robbery theme? The return of the money to the safe rather than stealing it? How funny did this make the film? What comment on Westerns did it make? What comments on justice? What attitudes of justice and attitudes towards Westerns did the film presuppose in its audience?

4. How did the humour of the bath sequence at the beginning offset the tone of the film? How did it show that Sam Whisky was non-heroic?

5. Jedadiah? What kind of person was he? Black blacksmith? How necessary was he for the project? What help did he offer for the job? Why were he and Sam such friends?

6. Bandy: How humorous a character was he? His inventions? How ingenious and humorous were they? The fact that he was dumb? How was he essential to the project? His friendship with Sam?

7. Laura: typical romantic heroine of a western? The personality of Angie Dickinson? The irony of her proposal? Her concern for following it through? Her relationship with Sam? Her contribution to the working out of the plan?

8. How ingenious was the plan to raise the money and return it? The irony of spending so much ingenuity in getting the money back?

9. How did the film use the journey to the money and the journey back as giving a tone to the film? How was the tone enhanced by Sam Whisky’s song? Was this important for the impact of the film?

10. The sequence of the getting of the gold? How successful? The comment on violence and greed in the ambush and the attack?

11. How did these people contrast with the group trying to get the gold back? How entertaining were the sequences where the gold was returned, in all the complexity, Sam taking the inspector's place, the accidents that happened with the mint, the close shaves?
12. How happy was the ending? Did they deserve a happy ending? How enjoyable a film was this?