George Cukor was one of those classical Hollywood directors who, rather than inscribing his imprint boldly across his films, preferred to subtly burrow into the material, making his unique perspective felt most clearly in isolated scenes rather than in entire films. "Heller in Pink Tights" was his sole attempt at a Western, and it's a very unusual Western indeed, with Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn as members of a traveling theatrical troupe touring the Wild West. The film has these atypical characters stumbling into an archetypical Western tale, complete with gunmen for hire, gamblers, and saloons. But Cukor's interest, of course, is elsewhere, focused directly on the theatrical milieu that always fascinated him, and on the vivacious Loren. Cukor's touch is most evident in a wonderful scene of an Indian attack, when the Indians are distracted from the fleeing actors by the troupe's wagons, which are filled with garish costumes. The Indians abruptly abandon their chase to stage an elaborate party with these costumes and props, with feathers and shreds of cloth flying everywhere, war whoops echoing in the air, and the braves donning masks, dresses, and fancy hats in a wild game of dress-up (not to mention cross-dressing). This scene is indicative of Cukor's method in general, as he briefly diverts from the forward thrust of the plot for a detour into a moment of sexually charged fun. These moments are scattered liberally throughout the film, most notably in a scene where Loren peers through a sliding screen with a painting of a naked woman on it, so that the famous actress seems to emerge, looking sexy as ever, from within another naked body. The "real" sex symbol pokes her head out from the flat representation of a sex symbol. It's a fun and multi-layered image that represents the sexual playfulness and openness of Cukor's cinema. This isn't quite a great Western, but it's definitely a great Cukor comedy.