Yankee Fakir (1947)

Douglas Fowley, Joan Woodbury, Clem Bevans, Ransom Sherman, Frank Reicher ... see more  , Walter Soderling , Eula Guy , Forrest Taylor , Peter Michael , Elspeth Dudgeon , Ernie S. Adams , Tom Bernard , Ben Corbett , Bud Osborne , Marc Lawrence I

Character actor Douglas Fowley earns a rare starring role in this oddball western comedy produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, the brother of star director Billy Wilder. Fowley plays Yankee Davis, a... read more  traveling salesman who takes it upon himself to solve the killing of a local marshal (Forrest Taylor). To get to the bottom of things, the ingenious huckster sends for ancient prospector Shaggy Hartley (Clem Bevans), who pretends to be his millionaire uncle, Throckmorton. Hoping that "Uncle Throckmorton" will settle down and enrich the community, the townsfolk are soon perfectly willing to squeal on each other. From one of the informers, Charlie (Ernie Adams), Yankee learns of a smuggling ring headed by -- well that is indeed the question. In the end, it is the dead marshal's young son Tommy (Tom Bernard) who solves the mystery and unmasks the true killer. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi