The Frisco Kid

It might have something to do with being Jewish in America, but this is my favorite movie. A Rabbinical School graduate from Poland (Gene Wilder) travels across America to become the Rabbi for a new Congregation in San Francisco in something like 1870 (CA Gold Rush time).

The Rabbinical School in Poland picks him for the job because ".. out of 88 graduates in your class you graduated a close 87th!", and you get the feeling they don't know what else to do with him. When he asks how does he get to San Francisco, the Head Rabbi says ".. go to New York and ask.". That's the first 5 minutes of the movie.

He makes friends with a bank robber (Harrison Ford) along the way and they have adventures. He gets robbed and beat up, learns to ride a horse, meets Amish and Indians, and Catholic Brothers, and gets in a gun fight. He sees more of America than I have.

I waited a long time to get this movie on DVD. Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford have a great chemistry as a comedic duo, and both of them give a superb and hilarious performance.

This movie is just plan fun. It was great to see actors before their heads got to big. I am not talking about Gene Wilder. What was that other guys name? Ha!Ha! I have loved this movie since I was a kid.

This is a great comedy that you don't need to Jewish to enjoy. There are no slow parts, to this movie, just good clean wholesome fun. The movie focuses more on friendship and the building of relationships rather than the typical no plot comedy movies of today. It's an endearing movie. This is a great movie for all ages. A smart, terriffic comedy.

Seeing 60 reviews all giving this a 5 start rating, I eagerly anticipated viewing this movie. It did not come close to a five star in my system. I want to see a five star again and again to see what I missed. I was barely able to finish watching this movie once.

I recall only one belly laugh and quite a few times that I chuckled a bit. It was cute but not exceptional in any way. M*A*S*H or City Slickers or Dave are comedies with wit and wisdom, that leave you laughing. After seeing the reviews on this site, that is what I expected. I was quite disappointed.

This had some cute spots but was v-e-r-y slow to develop. This doesn't even fit in the same class as most of the spaghetti westerns that to me were much more fun.