Quackser Fortune has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski) and Tuna

Scoop's comments in white:

Really odd and inexplicably compelling movie.

Gene Wilder plays Quackser, an independent and none-too-bright guy in a working class Dublin family. He does quite a good job in the role. Surprisingly good. I never much liked him away from Mel Brooks's movies, but I have to admit he was just right in this part. I'm no expert on the working class Dublin dialects, but he fooled my ear. I couldn't even tell it was his voice! 
 
Quackser doesn't want to spend his life working in a factory like his dad did, so he creates a profession for himself. He follows the horse-drawn delivery wagons around Dublin, shovels up the horseshit from the streets, and resells it from a pushcart, as fertilizer. ("Get your fresh dung"!) He loves this job, the city loves him for it, and he is generally loved by everyone he meets along the way.

Margot Kidder plays the love interest of sorts, an adventurous American college student who takes on Quackser as a lover, but doesn't really respect him.  She was really college age (21) at the time it was filmed in Dublin, nearly a decade before she hit the big time as Lois Lane. (She was very beautiful). Her character gradually seduces Quackser, and he thinks it's love. For her it's a frolic, which she has already regretted by the time they actually sleep together.

The dramatic conflict is that the modern world is encroaching on the world Quackser has built for himself. The horses are going to be shipped off to unpleasant fates, and Quackser himself seems destined for a similar fate. He's illiterate and has no skills to find another profession.

Just when things look bleakest for Quackser, without job or girl, there is a deus ex machina happy ending.

NUDITY REPORT

Margot Kidder shows her breast and buns in a sex scene.

Tuna's notes in yellow:

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx is one of those quirky comedies that I am so partial to.

Quackser (he made noises like a duck as a baby, and he isn't partial to his given name) is a poorly educated Dubliner (they kicked him out of school because he was getting too big), is now 30, and is still living at home. His father wants him to work in the local foundry, like most of the men in his area, but Quackser would rather work his own job, which is following horse-drawn delivery wagons, collecting the dung, then selling it door to door as fertilizer. Quackser's mother has tried to tell him that Dublin is replacing all of the horses with motorcars, but he is in denial.

DVD info from Amazon

  • widescreen letterbox
Quackser nearly ruins his cart one day when the careless driver of a sports car narrowly misses him. The next day, he meets the girl who was in the car, played by Margot Kidder. She is an American, attending Trinity College, and is fascinated by Quackser. His adventures with Kidder, and the way he copes with the end of the horse draw carts is far more entertaining than it probably sounds.

Your enjoyment of the film hinges on how you relate to the main characters. I find it delightful. Gene Wilder was wonderful in the role of Quackser. What he lacked in education, he more than made up for in heart.

The Critics Vote ...

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The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a C+, as an eccentric small comedy full of quirky characters.

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