JohnLeeT While this is a made-for-TV movie, it is nothing less than one of the greatest Western comedies ever produced for any medium, and perhaps one of the funniest movies of any genre. John Astin gives the performance of a lifetime and demonstrates clearly that he is much, much more than Gomez Addams. He is absolutely brilliant in this role and Dick Shawn is superb in a comic gem of a part. The supporting cast of well-known talents are hilarious in their respective roles as well. The script is intelligent yet has its share of slapstick humor that works magnificently. The dialog is laugh-out-loud funny and the sight gags are so well done that you will never forget them. The humor never lets up and there is never a down moment in this high energy take-off on westerns and even television. Evil Roy Slade is an example of what a great creative team is capable of producing for television, the very definition of side-splitting comedy, and an accomplishment that all involved should be proud of. One must return again to the wonderful performance of John Astin, an actor who did stunning dramatic work on the television series Insight and was a comic delight on "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster." He should have been given roles more deserving of his talent on a regular basis, but what he has done over the course of his career is amazing and in each part he's played, his gifts as an actor have shined brightly. Without him, Evil Roy Slade would not be the brilliant comedy film it is.

bbbaldie I saw this when i was twelve years old in 1972, and loved it. I don't believe I saw it again until last night.Now I've been disappointed a few times by movies and TV shows that I thought were wonderful once upon a time when I viewed them later in life. But this flick is simply excellent. John Astin is one of our great comedic actors, and he was at his best here.While it's a tame made-for-TV movie, that doesn't hurt its comedy at all. E.g. the blacksmith was a black man named Smith. Very Blazing Saddles. ;-) Watch this movie if you love humor, and watch it with your kids or grandkids, because it has the added plus of being squeaky-clean. It's only a little over 90 minutes, you'll love every second.

bkoganbing Before there was Blazing Saddles, Garry Marshall took the same satirical pen to the old west and the old western that Mel Brooks did and manage to fashion Evil Roy Slade. With John Astin in the title role, the film is about an outlaw who no matter how hard he tries just can't seem to change his lawbreaking ways. Even with the incentive of schoolmarm Pamela Austin and a marriage promise, Astin is unredeemable.This film seems like a mini reunion of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World with key roles in the comedy going to Edie Adams, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Shawn. Rooney has some good scenes as the railroad tycoon who Astin keeps robbing, especially with Henry Gibson playing Rooney's not too bright son. Very similar to how Mel Brooks cast himself as the governor in Blazing Saddles.Shawn also in the end may prove to be the last singing cowboy ever to grace the big screen. Check in his scene how one of those early RCA phonographs is playing a modern LP of Shawn warbling some cowboy ditties. Shawn is the retired marshal who Rooney lures out of retirement to get Astin. Very good work by him as well. Sad to say that Evil Roy Slade was put into the shade somewhat by the better known and bigger budgeted Blazing Saddles. Still this is a very funny film with a lot of talented people at their best.

Woodyanders Mean hombre Evil Roy Slade (marvelously played with deliciously dastardly relish by John Astin) embarks on a merry crime spree in the Old West. Sweet young lady Betsy Potter (winningly played by the fetching Pamela Austin) becomes determined to reform Roy after meeting and falling in love with the ornery cuss during a bank robbery. Meanwhile, ruthless and vengeful railroad baron Nelson Stool (Mickey Rooney in fine spirited form) hires vain and ostentatious singing cowboy Marshall Bing Bell (a gloriously campy portrayal by Dick Shawn) to take Roy down. Director Jerry Paris, working from a witty script by Jerry Belson and Gary Marshall, ably milks the infectiously broad and wacky humor for maximum belly laughs while maintaining a snappy pace and zany tone throughout. The hysterically funny dialogue (favorite line: "My in-laws want me to hire outlaws") frequently hits the sidesplitting bull's eye. Moreover, there are plenty of inspired nutty touches, such as Roy calmly conversing with a pack of vultures, an ambush complete with pistol-packin' midgets, and a wedding ceremony that degenerates into a wild shoot-out. The cast attack the goofy material with great zeal, with stand-out contributions from Edie Adams as brassy floozy Flossie, Milton Berle as antsy shoe salesman Harry Fern, Henry Gibson as the cowardly Clifford Stool, and Dom DeLuise as patient, helpful psychiatrist Logan Delp. Popping up in nifty small roles are Penny Marshall as a bank teller, Pat Morita as Bing Bell's servant Turhan, Luana Anders as the cheery Alice Fern, Billy Curtis as a dwarf cowboy, and Ed Begley, Jr. as a dumb hick. Patt Buttram provides the amusingly wry narration. Both Murray MacLeod's jaunty score and the folksy country soundtrack do the harmonic trick. Sam Leavitt's crisp cinematography makes neat occasional use of fades and dissolves. A total riot.