The Outlaws Is Coming

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The Outlaws Is Coming
Outlaws-is-coming poster.jpg
Film poster
Written by Norman Maurer
Elwood Ullman
Directed by Norman Maurer
Starring Moe Howard
Larry Fine
Joe DeRita
Adam West
Nancy Kovack
Mort Mills
Don Lamond
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Norman Maurer
Cinematography Irving Lippman
Running time 88:12
Distributor Columbia Pictures

The Outlaws Is Coming (stylized as The Outlaws IS Coming!) is the sixth and final theatrical feature film starring The Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly Joe"). Like its predecessor, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, the film was directed by Moe's son-in-law, Norman Maurer. The supporting cast features a pre-Batman Adam West, Nancy Kovack, and Emil Sitka.

Plot[edit | edit source]

In 1871, Rance Roden (Don Lamond) plans to kill off all the buffalo and thus cause the Indians to riot. After they destroy the U.S. Cavalry (his real enemy), Rance and his gang will take over the West. Meanwhile, a Boston magazine gets wind of the buffalo slaughter and sends editor Kenneth Cabot (Adam West) and his associates (Moe, Larry and Curly Joe) to Casper to investigate. Once there, Ken's shooting skills (secretly aided by sharp shooter Annie Oakley (Nancy Kovack)) earn him the job of town sheriff. Rance has his band of bad guys called in to have the lawmen wiped out, but the Stooges sneak into the gang's hideout while the gang is asleep and glue their firearms to their holsters. When Ken confronts the bad guys, the bad guys decide that a life of justice is better than crime. Meanwhile, Rance and Trigger attempt to sell firearms to the Indians, including an armoured wagon containing a Gatling Gun and cannon in a turret, but the Stooges foil this plan by snapping a picture of them making the sale.

Production notes[edit | edit source]

Upon release of The Outlaws IS Coming, a number of English teachers expressed displeasure over the movie's grammatically incorrect title.[1] The title itself was a satire of Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds, which featured the tagline "The Birds is Coming".[2] The film satirises many 1960's fads, films and television commercials as well as the Western.

In a nod to television's key role in the resurgence of the Stooges' popularity, the outlaws were played by local TV hosts from across the U.S. whose shows featured the trio's old Columbia shorts.

On A&E's Biography, Adam West spoke about his involvement with the film and with the Stooges:

Following The Outlaws IS Coming, the team made only two more appearances: in the promotional short Star Spangled Salesman (as part of an all-star cast) and Kook's Tour, a television pilot that was disrupted when Larry Fine suffered a stroke during production.

Primary cast[edit | edit source]

The Outlaws

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Pyatte, Steve (2005). Harlow Hickenlooper: Introducing Hal Fryar. Retrieved on 29 December 2009.
  2. p.83 Kapsis, Robert E. Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation University of Chicago Press

External links[edit | edit source]



Category:1965 films Category:Western (genre) comedy films Category:Films set in 1871 Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:The Three Stooges films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:American black-and-white films