When asked about his 1969 film Sam Whiskey, Burt Reynolds called it a movie “way ahead of its time”, because he was “playing light comedy and nobody cared”. Hard to believe, I know, considering Reynolds would, in later years, be known for his comedic performances, notably the films he made with longtime pal, director Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, The Cannonball Run). With Sam Whiskey, we get a hint of things to come, of the Burt that made audiences flock to theaters in the ‘70s and ‘80s and transformed the actor into a box-office sensation.
Set in the old west, Sam Whiskey stars Reynolds as the title character, a gambler and womanizer who’s had some scrapes with the law. He is approached by wealthy widow Laura Breckenridge (Angie Dickenson), daughter of a prestigious Midwest businessman, who wants Sam to help her out of a sticky situation.
It seems Laura’s late husband, a crooked politician, stole $250,000 worth of gold bars from the U.S. Mint in Denver, a theft that won’t be discovered until the government’s next inspection. To save her family name, Laura wants Sam to retrieve the gold from a sunken steamboat in the Platte river, then break into the Mint and replace the phony bars her husband left behind with the real deal, all before the authorities realize what’s happened.
Confused by this strange request but intrigued by her promise of a hefty reward, Sam agrees to help the lovely Miss Breckenridge, and recruits blacksmith Jed Hooker (Ossie Davis) as well as old pal O.W. Bandy (Clint Walker) to help pull off this crazy caper.
What the trio doesn’t know is that they are being followed by Fat Henry Hobson (Rick Davis), an accomplice of Breckenridge’s husband who wants the gold for himself.
For Sam Whiskey, director Arnold Laven assembled a solid supporting cast. Ossie Davis’s Jed Hooker is the film’s straight man, a quiet observer of the chaos who, when the chips are down, can be relied on to get the job done. Though primarily known for action / adventure westerns like More Dead Than Alive and Yuma, Clint Walker here proves himself a gifted comedian, getting a few laughs as the strong but subtle O.W. And while Angie Dickenson isn’t given much to do short of providing story exposition and hopping into bed with Sam, the chemistry between she and Reynolds makes their scenes together enjoyable.
That said, it’s the guy these talented actors are “supporting” who steals the movie. With Sam Whiskey, we see the beginnings of what would become the trademark Reynolds character, the wise-cracking but amiable rogue whose carefree attitude masks an inner decency which, more often than not, would make its way to the surface before the end credits. From early on, when he tries to steal a bath from Jed, to the final act set inside the Mint (a sequence that also features a handful of suspenseful moments), Reynolds combines the physicality and charm that would, in the coming years, see him canonized as his generation’s Cary Grant.
To watch Reynolds doing comedy nearly a decade before his Hal Needham era proved a treat, and Sam Whiskey is a movie that any fan of Burt’s must check out.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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