Frank Sinatra plays “Dirty” Dingus Magee, an irascible, unkempt finagler who unexpectedly reunites with his old buddy Hoke Birdsill (George Kennedy), a simple oaf, for larcenous adventure in the Old West.
The pair aren’t really friends. Magee is untrustworthy, and Hoke knows it and acts accordingly. But he’s not always prepared.
In fact, at their reunion, Dirty Dingus manages to lure Hoke to an isolated spot and rob him at gunpoint of $400 – all the cash Hoke has in the world.
When Hoke goes into the township of Yerkes Hole, he gets himself deputised as the sheriff to chase down Dingus.
He also gets himself a girlfriend named Belle (Anne Jackson), who is the mayor and the owner of New Mexico’s largest house of prostitution – a favourite relaxing place for the Union troops stationed at nearby Fort Horner.
When the cavalry pulls out of Yerkes Hole to fight belligerent Indians – Brigadier General George (John Dehner) is in a hurry to beat Custer to a place called Little Big Horn – Belle faces economic disaster unless she can promote an uprising of the passive hometown redskins led by Chief Crazy Blanket (Paul Fix).
When the orneriest bandit of them all, John Wesley Hardin (Jack Elam) – who has a $10,000 reward on his head – rides into town, guns start popping all over. He doesn’t realise it’s all been organised by Hoke to get Dingus (who has a $10 bounty on his head).
Dingus, meanwhile, is hiding out with his miniskirted sex-addicted Indian girlfriend, Anna Hotwater (Michele Carey).
Somewhere along the line, a chest loaded with $1 million in precious gems falls off the back of a stagecoach and becomes an object of lust and Dingus and Hoke try to outwit each other for it.
There is much shooting and fighting, but no one really gets hurt.
Dingus Billy Magee
Frank Sinatra Herkimer ‘Hoke’ Birdsill
George Kennedy Belle Nops
Anne Jackson Prudence Frost
Lois Nettleton John Wesley Hardin
Jack Elam Anna Hotwater
Michele Carey Brig. Gen. George
John Dehner Rev. Green
Henry Jones Charles Stuart
Harry Carey Jr. Crazy Blanket
Paul Fix China Poppy
Marya Christen Sergeant
Terry Wilson Ira Teasdale
Willis Bouchey
Belle’s Girls
Mina Martinez
Sheila Foster
Irene Kelly
Diane Sayer
Jean London
Gayle Rogers
Lisa Todd
Maray Ayres
Carol Andreson
Director
Burt Kennedy
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The pair aren’t really friends. Magee is untrustworthy, and Hoke knows it and acts accordingly. But he’s not always prepared.
When the orneriest bandit of them all, John Wesley Hardin (Jack Elam) – who has a $10,000 reward on his head – rides into town, guns start popping all over. He doesn’t realise it’s all been organised by Hoke to get Dingus (who has a $10 bounty on his head).
