The Paleface (1948 film)  The Paleface is a 1948 American Comedy Western film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bob Hope as "Painless Potter" and Jane Russell as Calamity Jane. In the movie, Hope sings the song "Buttons and Bows" (by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans). The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year. The film had a sequel, "Son of Paleface," in 1952. In 1968, Don Knotts remade the film as "The Shakiest Gun in the West". It was filmed at the now defunct Conejo Valley Airport and also at Deerwood Stock Farm, both in Thousand Oaks, California. Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is busted out of a sheriff's jail by a couple of government agents under Governor Johnson (Charles Trowbridge) and Commissioner of Internal Affairs Emerson (Stanley Andrews). Johnson and Emerson wish to hire her to uncover white traitors illegally selling guns to an Indian tribe near Buffalo Flats, one of the frontier areas; because the agents they previously sent to investigate have turned up dead, they instead have conceived a plan to use Jane, both as a woman and skilled gunfighter. In return for her services, Johnson and Emerson offer her a full pardon for her past crimes. The plan is for Jane to meet in Port Deerfield with Jim Hunter, another government agent, pose with him as a married couple, and join a settler's trek to the area where the gun running is taking place. However, the mastermind behind the gun smuggling is revealed to be Jasper Martin (Jackie Searl), Johnson's secretary. Jane finds Hunter dead and herself hounded by assassins. Evading an attempt on her life, she hitches a ride with Peter "Painless" Potter (Bob Hope), a travelling dentist fleeing town following one of his habitual blunders, and marries him to maintain her cover. The gun smugglers also join the wagon train to deliver a stash of dynamite and to track the federal agent sent to thwart them, believing Potter is their target. After mistakenly straying into Indian territory, one part of the trek is attacked by the Indians while taking a rest at a log cabin. Locked out, Potter hides inside a barrel and shoots wildly while Jane secretly takes out several Indians. Potter is credited with this achievement, reinforcing the smugglers' assumptions. After arriving in Buffalo Flats, Jane meets with her contact, Hank Billings (Clem Bevans), and tasks him to find out where the dynamite will be delivered.