Naked Gun is a 1956 American western film directed by Eddie Dew and starring Willard Parker, Mara Corday and Barton MacLane.
Plot
American insurance agent Breen Mathews is hired to transport a family treasure from Mexico to the United States. The treasure was stolen from Indians to finance the overthrow the Mexican government. Unbeknownst to Mathews is the curse that has been placed on the treasure. Traveling by stagecoach to San Francisco, Mathews stops at a small town in Texas. As the treasure is too big for a safe, he arranges to have it locked up in the town jail for safekeeping, but the following day discovers that it has been stolen. While in the town, Mathews falls in love with Louisa, one of the saloon girls. He soon suspects the local judge is involved in the theft. Eventually, Mathews finds the chest and kills the judge and several of his accomplices in a fight. He then resumes his journey, along with Louisa, to return the treasure to its rightful owner, the Indians and lift the curse.
Cast
Willard Parker as Breen Mathews
Mara Corday as Louisa Jackson
Barton MacLane as Joe Barnum
Tom Brown as Sonny Glenn
Veda Ann Borg as Susan Stark
Chick Chandler as "Shakey" Wilson
Jody McCrea as Young man
Billy House as Judge Cole
Morris Ankrum as Sheriff Jim Jackson
Rick Vallin as Savage
Production
According to Mara Corday, the movie's name changed several times while being filmed. Originally titled as the Sarazin Curse, it was retitled to The Hanging Judge and then finally to Naked Gun. Decades later, in an interview with Tom Weaver, Corday called the movie "horrible", saying "I knew it was going to be atrocious when the producer said to me 'Do you want to be the ingenue or the heavy?' Right then, I knew I was in trouble."
Primarily a television director, Eddie Dew was hired with the intent of filming the entire movie in five days. Dew was unable to work effectively with the prominent actors starring the film, and his work was subsequently criticized by those involved in the production, with several of the scenes needing to be re-shot after the movie's completion.