The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin

Release Date: June 15, 1967

Watch Date: January 21 – January 24, 2025

“Boston proper meets the Wild West as Roddy McDowall, Suzanne Pleshette and Karl Malden star in this fish-out-of-water comedy. To restore his family’s lost wealth, a young Boston lad named Jack stows away on a ship bound for the California Gold Rush. When the family’s very proper butler gives chase and reunites with Jack in San Francisco, all roads lead to nonstop adventure, wild and woolly characters and a lucky punch that leads to a bonanza of belly laughs.”

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   I can’t really explain why I like this movie so much, I just…do.

   There’s not really an ending. Do Griffin and Arabella end up together? What happens to Judge Higgins? And if Griffin designs the new plans for the city of San Francisco, that’s cool, but still what happens to him? Where do he and Jack and Arabella live, if they do live together? What about their actor friend?

   It’s kind of shot in the style of the original Davy Crockett movie, with musical interludes explaining to us what is actually happening in the plot, but it’s got more of a cartoony feel. In that there are actual cartoon-esque sequences. Little cupids flying in front of people’s faces. People literally turning green. A man sent flying via gold filled glove. But that just makes it feel like a lighthearted gold rush adventure, which everyone needs.

   Was there some racism? Definitely. How are you going to make a movie about the California gold rush without including the Chinese immigrants who came to strike it big. And all wore the exact same clothes, didn’t speak english, had the same facial hair, and who are generally derided by the Caucasians that come across them? And what about the Mexican “banditos”? With their ponchos, thick accents, and general disregard for law and order? Have to stick those guys in there too.

   To be fair though, everyone is made fun of in this film. Griffin and his friends are the only civilized people in the whole film. Miners are dirty and stupid. The capitalists who are taking advantage of them are all conmen. But, at least the gold rush town of San Francisco feels like at true melting pot of cultures and peoples. Everyone’s invited to the party, and pretty much everyone recognizes the likelihood of actually walking away with something worth your time is incredibly low.

   It’s a goofy, fun film that you shouldn’t watch if you’re easily offended by racial stereotypes but if you can take it with a grain of salt and remember the time period in which it was produced, it’s makes for a pretty enjoyable and lighthearted evening.