Waterhole #3 (1967)

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Joseph T. Steck (writer) and
Robert R. Young (writer)

Release Date:

17 November 1967 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

This is the West as it really was. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Milk | Derringer | Desert | Cigar | Sheriff

Cast

James Coburn	...	Lewton Cole
Carroll O'Connor	...	Sheriff John H. Copperud
Margaret Blye	...	Billee Copperud
Claude Akins	...	MSgt. Henry J. Foggers
Timothy Carey	...	Hilb
Bruce Dern	...	Deputy Samuel P. Tippen
Joan Blondell	...	Lavinia
James Whitmore	...	Capt. Shipley
Harry Davis	...	Ben
Roy Jenson	...	Doc Quinlen
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Clerk (George)
Jim Boles	...	Cpl. Blyth
Steve Whittaker	...	Soldier #1
Ted Markland	...	Soldier #2
Rupert Crosse	...	Prince
Jay Ose	...	Bartender
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	...	Cowpoke (as Buzz Henry)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roger Miller	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Graham		(as William Graham)

Writing credits
Joseph T. Steck		(writer) and
Robert R. Young		(writer) (as R.R. Young)

Produced by
Owen Crump	....	executive producer
Joseph T. Steck	....	producer
Ken Wales	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Dave Grusin

Cinematography by
Robert Burks

Film Editing by
Warren Low

Production Design by
Fernando Carrere

Set Decoration by
Reg Allen
Jack Stevens

Costume Design by
Jack Bear

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Nellie Manley	....	hair stylist
Wally Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Clem Beauchamp	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director (as Daniel J. McCauley)

Art Department
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Joe Edmondson	....	sound recordist
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special effects

Stunts
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Farciot Edouart	....	process photographer

Other crew
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	....	special action sequence (as Buzz Henry)

Production Companies

• Geoffrey Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Waterhole No. 3
Waterhole Three (UK)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:Approved | UK:15 (re-rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Geoffrey Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Excluding action during the credits, this film features approximately 665 shots in 5560 seconds - an Average Shot Length (ASL) of about 8.4 seconds.

Quotes:

Lewton Cole: I didn't break any law, Sheriff.
Sheriff John H. Copperud: No? What about stealing my horse, huh?
Lewton Cole: I needed that horse to recover the gold.
Sheriff John H. Copperud: Locking me in my own jail?
Lewton Cole: I wanted you behind me.
Sheriff John H. Copperud: Murder?
Lewton Cole: It was self-defense.
Sheriff John H. Copperud: Raping?
Lewton Cole: Assault with a friendly weapon?

Not a Movie for Dopes

Generally, I don't like it when these comments about movies degenerate to political diatribes, but with the reaction to this movie, I must respond. What the PC crowd doesn't understand about "Waterhole Number 3" is that in it Coburn played an amoral anti-hero who harbored a great degree of cynicism about hypocritical conventions. Therefore, the "horrible rape sequence" that has their panties in such a twist was merely part of his interpretation of how such a man would behave in a lawless environment. It would have been completely out of character for him to suffer an attack of scruples when confronted with a sexy gal alone in a barn. Besides, in the nineteenth century, feminism didn't even exist and women WERE men's playthings, whether Gloria Steinem can handle the concept or not. For them, to be kept barefoot and pregnant was reality, not an archaic state of being ridiculed by glorified lesbians whose primary goal in life is to control their "reproductive rights." Back in them days, folks, pioneer women had up to two dozen kids and lost a good many of the brood to disease, accidents, and murder. The feminine role was well-defined and there was no discussion about it. In point of fact, the "gentle rape" committed by Coburn upon the nubile young woman's tender virginity might not have been considered rape at all simply because he married her afterward. Some other disturbing facts of the era: Gays were not tolerated, let alone allowed to marry, but pistol-whipped merely for thinking their perverted thoughts. Indians, both good and bad, were driven nearly to extinction for daring to believe they had innate rights on the land. Many of the women of today would have been working in whorehouses, not telling the rest of us what constitutes modern standards of morality, either that, or they would have been slapped silly and sent slinking into the corner to mull over the reality of the day. To sit in front of your computer and actually attempt to apply PC hypocrisy to such a wild and lawless era is so absurd that it beyond comprehension.

Furthermore,in the sixties (when this movie was made), a woman couldn't go up to a man's room at 2am, have consensual sex, and the next day claim she was raped, like that broad did to Mike Tyson. Such inherently suspicious bs would have been laughed right out of court. There was no such thing as "date rape," "spouse rape," or "sexual harassment." If a man caught his wife in the sack with another man, he could shoot them both and get off with a temporary insanity plea or not even be charged at all. Neurotic Generation X, with their condoms, Ipods, cell phones, piercings, tats, shaved pubic areas, and shallow, money-grubbing ways weren't even born yet, hence interesting flicks like this one could actually be made and distributed. As for the much ballyhooed rape, something very similar happened in "High Plains Drifter" and who complained then? It's a movie, folks. If you can't separate fact from fiction, perhaps you'd better turn off the set and get a life.

Not one of you mentioned the gunfight sequence at the beginning of the movie, which set the tone for this film and should have sent you scurrying to turn if off. Challenged by some jerk to a gunfight, Coburn steps out the door of the saloon, casually approaches his mount, pulls out his saddle gun, rests it atop his saddle, and unceremoniously drops the dope who is standing in the middle of the street, stupidly believing that such differences of opinion were supposed to be resolved in a certain way. Coburn thumbs his nose at authority, convention, tradition, and all the rest of the hypocritical nonsense to which our woefully misguided country is devoted to today. Now, it's as if the sixties never even happened. We've got the Bible-thumping, hymn-singing, pew-sitting hypocrites on the one hand, constantly extolling the spectre of their children's tender psyches as an excuse for their own intellectual, spiritual, and moral cowardice, and the man-hating, feminist "global warming" advocates on the other hand. Both groups shouldn't be allowed to watch good movies like this. Their extremely fragile belief systems can't take it.