A book documenting the story of Dr. Gatling’s 1861 sinister invention, the Gatling Gun, has recently been published. Foreshadowing the rapid technical advance in weapons of warfare, this device, first used in the Civil War, fired continuous rounds of bullets using a manual crank, and is considered the first “machine gun”. An unfortunate side effect of the weapon’s dark legacy was the tepid 1973 western “The Gatling Gun”, which, among other failings, featured a dreadfully miscast Phil Harris.
Phil was a burly, boozing bandleader/singer from the Bing Crosby generation who spoke in a hepcat, jazzy slang. He did not bother to alter this style for the film. As I remember it, Phil had the Gatling crank in one hand and a tumbler of scotch in the other, mowing down hordes of confederate soldiers while yelling “Come and get it, baby!”
Reason enough to rent the film. And if this performance touches you, may I suggest viewing the “Lucy Show” episode (please note, not “I Love Lucy”, but its shark-jumped successor) featuring Phil. He sings a love song to Lucy -- something to the effect of : “You were the moon, I was out of tune, You were the stars, I was drivin’ cars”. The song is so desiccated, it dries the tomato soup right off Lucy’s lips. Phil is so taken by his own drivel that he actually starts crying. My God, this is great stuff!
Phil was a burly, boozing bandleader/singer from the Bing Crosby generation who spoke in a hepcat, jazzy slang. He did not bother to alter this style for the film. As I remember it, Phil had the Gatling crank in one hand and a tumbler of scotch in the other, mowing down hordes of confederate soldiers while yelling “Come and get it, baby!”
Reason enough to rent the film. And if this performance touches you, may I suggest viewing the “Lucy Show” episode (please note, not “I Love Lucy”, but its shark-jumped successor) featuring Phil. He sings a love song to Lucy -- something to the effect of : “You were the moon, I was out of tune, You were the stars, I was drivin’ cars”. The song is so desiccated, it dries the tomato soup right off Lucy’s lips. Phil is so taken by his own drivel that he actually starts crying. My God, this is great stuff!
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