A Frenchman moves to Arizona in the Wild West era and discovers he is the exact image of a notorious local outlaw, Dynamite Jack. From that resemblance, Dynamite Jack turns mistaken identity into a run of comic complications, with Fernandel playing both the outlaw and the newcomer, Antoine Espérandieu.

How it was made

The film is a French-Italian co-production directed by Jean Bastia. The screenplay was written by Jack Ary and Jean Manse, and the cast includes Adrienne Corri, Jess Hahn and Eleonora Vargas. Roger Hubert shot the film, and the sets were designed by art director Robert Giordani. It works as a spoof of the western, leaning on misunderstandings and on its star's comic performance rather than on action.

Reception and legacy

The sources available say little about its critical and commercial reception, so any assessment should be treated with caution. It belongs to the wave of European comic westerns of the early 1960s, and today its main interest lies in Fernandel, one of the great comic performers of French cinema.

Stills

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.