Shotgun Mike Munger

I found an old letter from my Dad to me, when I was in college (late 1970s). In some boxes full of books and notebooks.

He mentioned they had gone to a drive-in (!), and had seen "Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town."

In that movie, there is a character named (my dad swore) "Shotgun Mike Munger."

I had forgotten about the letter, and knew even less about the movie. But I went and checked, and darned if it isn't so.

In particular, this movie contains the following bit of dialogue:

Pa Kettle: I thought you might be a traveling salesman. A lot of them visit farms, you know.

Shotgun Mike Munger: Yeah, I've heard stories about them.

I read a review of the movie. The review claims:

Ma and Pa Kettle Go To Town seamlessly picks up where The Further Adventures of Ma and Pa Kettle leaves off.

Oh, those cliff-hanging sequels. No point starting in the middle. Now I have to watch the whole series just to see where "Shotgun Mike Munger" gets his motivation.

Now, it DOES get better. Shotgun Mike was played by Charles McGraw. And Charles McGraw played "The Preacher" in "A Boy and His Dog," one of the finest movies in history. So Charles McGraw had two highlights to his acting career: playing the Preacher, and playing Mike Munger. Who would have believed it.

Thanks, Dad. And thanks to Charles McGraw. Here, "Shotgun Mike Munger" is shown grabbing "Front Porch Anita Ekberg."