How the West Was Fun

How the West Was Fun is a 1994 contemporary western television film starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

How the West Was Fun
Promotional poster for the video release
Genre	Family Western
Written by	Jurgen Wolff
Directed by	Stuart Margolin
Starring	Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen Martin Mull Patrick Cassidy Peg Phillips
Music by	Richard Bellis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Allen S. Epstein Jim Green
Producers	Mark Bacino Adria Later
Cinematography	Richard Leiterman
Editor	David Blangsted
Running time	96 minutes
Production companies	Dualstar Productions Green/Epstein Productions Kicking Horse Productions Ltd. Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	November 19, 1994 (1994-11-19)

Synopsis

Eight-year-old twin girls Jessica and Susie Martin (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) live with their father, Stephen (Patrick Cassidy), in Philadelphia. They have a dream about a man saying, "This town ain't big enough for the three of us" and having a shootout but argue who makes their move first. One day, they receive a letter from their late mother Sarah's godmother, Natty (Phillips), inviting them to a dude ranch. She, not knowing about Sarah's death, wants her to come help at the ranch. She is having financial problems because the ranch has too few paying visitors and, although she has offers, she does not want to sell it. The girls try to ask their dad's uptight boss, "The Dragon Lady" (Ms. Plaskett), for his vacation time, only to get him fired. They lie and say that she said that they could go. They go to the ranch and attempt to help Natty.

As they arrive they meet George Tailfeathers (Cardinal), Natty's friendly but mysterious Native American ranch foreman, and they become fast friends. But Natty's dim-witted son, Bart Gifooley (Mull), immediately condescends to and patronizes the girls. Sarah's horse, Lightning, leads them to her secret hideout. They find half of a stone owl and bear, plus her diary which tells how Bart had once tried to set fire to the ranch, and about his secret hideout in a place called "The Bear's Mouth". As they finish reading, they see smoke and start running towards it, thinking it is another fire, but find it is Bart burning papers. They lie to him that an ember landed on the roof so they can find out what they are. They find out that he has been turning people away from the ranch. Trying to take a letter to Natty to show what he is doing, they are chased by him. He tears up the letter and snarls, "This ranch ain't big enough for the three of us", which brings the girls to a conclusion that he was the one in the dream.

Right before Bart can do any more, George backs them up with a riding lesson. At lunch, despite Bart's orders not to, they convince Natty to fix up the ranch and open it again. Later, Bart finds out that Stephen was fired and is about to tell him the truth, but instead decides to give the girls a chance to tell it themselves. Despite Natty's offers, he turns down her job offerings. Later, the girls find a hidden trap door under a stuffed bear (The Bear's Mouth), go inside, and find out that Bart is selling the ranch to make it into Gifooley Land Theme Park. Before Natty is about to sign the deed to the ranch to him, the girls convince her what he is plotting. Heartbroken, she orders him off her land, or else he would "get a good spanking".

Meanwhile, Stephen tries to get a loan but is turned down. What he does not know is that the bank is already with Bart on the whole deal. That night, the girls ride off to Denver to convince Leo McRugger, the businessman to whom Bart is selling the ranch, to not go through with the deal. Their offers are so interesting, McRugger and his executives decide to come down for a week just to see if it is actually what they are talking about. It is fixed up with the help of George, Stephen, Natty, the girls, and Laura Forrester (Greene), Steven's girlfriend. The activities are set up. However, each is sabotaged by Bart. Just when all appears to be lost, the girls decide to find a lost treasure since they have a map. But first, they trap Bart so he cannot do any more damage. They and everyone else find the gold, which turns out to be fool's gold, but still pleases McRugger and his executives. He agrees to spare the ranch.

As they head to the river, they are confronted by Bart. He tries to escape in a raft. The girls go after him only to be grabbed by him and taken down the river, after kicking his friend, Cookie in the water. He heads them down rapids and then realizes that they are headed for a dam. Down the river, the girls see a rope hanging off a bridge. They grab it and hang on. Bart plunges down the dam and gets severely injured as a result. The girls write their own diary. The movie ends with everyone dancing at the ranch minus Bart who is sitting down.

Cast

• Ashley Olsen as Jessica Martin
• Mary-Kate Olsen as Susie Martin
• Elizabeth Olsen as Girl In Car
• Martin Mull as Bart Gifooley
• Michele Greene as Laura Forrester
• Patrick Cassidy as Stephen Martin
• Ben Cardinal as George Tailfeathers
• Leon Pownall as Leo McRugger
• Peg Phillips as Natty
• Wes Tritter as Cookie
• Georgie Collins as Mrs. Plaskett
• Heather Lea MacCallum as Leona
• Shaun Johnston as Phil
• Daniel Libman as Roger
• Bartley Bard as Mr. Sutton

Reception

Variety said that "young female viewers will no doubt identify with these resourceful sisters, but, for others, the helming is generally routine and doesn’t light up the family/juvenile market."^[1]

Production

The Olsens signed on with an initial agreement of $1 million minimum each, with a larger pay raise of the film was completed underbudget.^[2] The film was filmed in the Canadian Rockies, one hour west of Calgary, Alberta at Rafter Six Ranch Resort. Shots in the city were done within Calgary, including a ride on Calgary Transit's C-Train.

See also

• List of American films of 1994