The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West

• Directed by Jack Arnold, Earl Bellamy, Bruce Bilson, and Oscar Rudolph
• August 1, 1976
• Compiled from episodes of the September 11, 1973 to March 12, 1974 syndicated series Dusty’s Trail

A compilation of four episodes of the series Dusty’s Trail. There is a reason it went away after one season.

I wish I could say The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West indicated a forgotten gem of the past but instead it tells us that there are parts of entertainment that should and need to be forgotten. From the four episodes cobbled together here (Tomahawk Territory, Horse of Another Color, There Is Nothing Like a Dame, and The Not So Magnificent Seven) of the one season syndicated series Dusty’s Trail showed a bad series that was painfully derivative of Sherwood Schwartz’s other series Gilligan’s Island.

Stringing together a few different episodes into what is supposed to be a film wasn’t uncommon for a time. Shows were regularly given limited releases in film form. Some worked better than others mostly because in those instances there is at least some story carrying through between the used episodes. Not here beyond the cast being lost.

Each character is a rehash of someone from Gilligan’s Island. Bob Denver in the Gilligan role of Dusty, Forrest Tucker in the Skipper role of Callahan, Ivor Francis in the Thurston Howell III role of Carson Brookhaven, Lynn Wood in the Mrs. Howell role of Daphne Brookhaven, Jeannine Riley in the Ginger role of Lulu McQueen, Bill Cort in the Professor role of Andy Boone, and Lori Saunders in the Mary Ann role of Betsy McGuire. This might have worked better if he just got the old cast back together. Denver and Tucker were talented but not enough to save this.

Goofy scenes go on for far too long. The humor is broad but bland. There is plenty of other stuff from the era that is still funny. Not this and not sure if it ever was. The punchline to a joke is painful obvious before it hits with sight gags often being ripped off directly from Buster Keaton. The scenario that Dusty was given enough authority over the group to get them lost does not work in the scenario they set up. There is no indication Dusty was ever liked or trusted enough. They are often downright abusive to Dusty.

With unfunny jokes and an unconnected narrative for its 92 minutes The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West is really not worth watching because it’s not wacky and it’s not really that funny.