Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39386 in DVD
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English, Yiddish

Amazon.com
Gene Wilder takes his most unusual role, a naive 19th-century rabbi sent from his native Poland to the fledgling Jewish community in San Francisco, in this warm-hearted comic adventure. The trusting soul is easy prey for the con men and criminals who prey on the immigrants arriving in the Philadelphia port and the rabbi, beaten but unbowed, continues his trek West solo: broke, underequipped, and hopelessly lost. Harrison Ford, fresh from Star Wars, is the roguish outlaw who adopts the determined traveler and the two become unlikely friends as they make their way through one scrape after another. Wilder makes a sincere and sympathetic hero, his faith and courage seeing him through one crisis after another, and fresh-faced Ford makes an endearing scamp of a bank robber. The meandering adventure, overlong at two hours, takes its time as the duo traverses the gorgeous American countryside and end up in the bustling Barbary Coast San Francisco of the Gold Rush era. Legendary hard-edged action director Robert Aldrich (Kiss Me Deadly, The Dirty Dozen) brings a gentle touch and easygoing humor to this family-oriented adventure, but old habits die hard. While staying within PG parameters, Aldrich adds a little grit to the Old West fistfights and gunfights. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Even if you don't like westerns, you'll like this one!
"The Frisco Kid" didn't do much at all at the box office when it came out. The movie-going world was still reeling from the impact of the previous year's offering of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and a western comedy just didn't have the drawing power.

If you take the time to watch this show, however, you will find that it is a real treasure!

A young student at a rabbical in Poland is enamured with the American west. When he graduates he is given the assignment of his dreams...to take a copy of the Torah with him, sail to America, and lead the fledgling Jewish community in the "village of San Francisco." Where is that? he asks..."By New York."

The casting of Gene Wilder as the young rabbi, and Harrison Ford as a rough and tumble, carrousing, card playing, bank robber clicks.

The gullible young rabbi is fleeced as soon as he hits American soil, but he is still determined to recover what is his, and to make the cross-country journey to California. One thing leads to another, and the rabbi and cowboy meet up. The best parts of the movie are the conversations the rabbi has with himself, as if he were teaching himself.

From mishap to misadventure, this is a real "keeper."

I highly recommend this show...it rings authentic in many respects, and has truly funny parts in it. One of my favorite bits is when the rabbi will not ride his horse until the end of the Sabbath, even though there's a posse on their trail. You'll see one perturbed Harrison Ford in that scene.

5 stars through and through.

My all-time favorite Jewish comedy!
This is one of the few films where an Orthodox rabbi isportrayed as a real human being with some depth to him instead of justa stereotype. It's a comedy, yes -- but so much more than a comedy. This film shows us REAL Jewish values -- honesty, devotion, compassion, trust in God, and of course, a sense of humor. I absolutely LOVE this film!

Long Lost Comedy Gem
I am sure there are those of you out there that remember this comedy-western form the late 70's. For those of you that don't, I highly recommend this movie. Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford star as an unlikely pair traveling across America in the Old West. Gene Wilder plays a rabbi trying to get to San Francisco for his own wedding. On the way he is robbed by some two-bit thieves. He teams up with Harrison Ford and the two embark on a series of humorous mishaps as they try and get back the rabbi's stolen goods including his Torah. The movie really has some funny moments and even if you are not a big western fan this movie will leave you highly entertained. It will leave you with a "feel good" attitude when the end credits roll. The dance number with Gene Wilder and some Indians is absolutely classic. The movie is a must for Gene Wilder fans. I feel this is one of his best movies. Watch The Frisco Kid today!