Taming of the West

Wild Bill Elliott made his first of three films as knight of the plains Wild Bill Saunders in The Taming Of The West. Let no one think the entire west was tamed in this film, just a small portion of it where outlaws are running rampant.

Elliott arrives as the pleasant and peaceable stranger, in fact in many films are Red Ryder, Bill Hickok, etc., Elliott always said he was a peaceable man. It became one of the great western catchphrases back in the day.

Almost on a dare from Iris Meredith he takes a job as the new marshal and starts rounding up Dick Curtis and his band of cutthroats. But these guys are getting some heavy duty protection because they've got juice in some high places. The trick is to find the real brains behind these outlaws.

The Taming Of The West was the first of three films where Elliott played Wild Bill Saunders. He also played Wild Bill Hickok several times and was forever billed as Wild Bill in his films. Elliott films could be violent, a bit more so than the Saturday matinée crowd was normally given.

This one is not bad for a B western and Elliott is easy to take as a cowboy hero.

Bill Elliott stops the evil cattle rustlers, who use up sheriffs like disposable razor blades. Instead of the customary gun battles, Elliott was known for his fisticuffs action and so he uses his knuckles to clean out the bad guys and win the heart of Iris Meredith.

I preferred the working title of 'sundown in Helldorado' as it sounds more imaginative than "the taming of the west". Wild Bill Elliott certainly does some taming in this lively western. Iris Meredith as a trigger happy cafeteria girl called Pepper is fun to watch, and is a very spirited character. Her chemistry with Elliott is really good. There's the usual murderous schemes of the villains and some good action. It's familiar town taming story but fun with some good humour.

Lively little matinée programmer, thanks to some spirited dialog and the two leads. Elliott shows a larger range of moods than usual, while Meredith makes a convincing tomboy. Their chemistry together remains engaging for this type movie. Also, Taylor's comedy relief is subdued and doesn't intrude on the story. Note too that veteran baddie Charles King plays a good guy (a rancher), for a change.

This may be the only oater I've seen where one girl (Meredith) hard rides and shoots in order to save another girl trapped in a run-away wagon. At the same time, the predictable crash is spectacular. Too bad, however, the action never leaves the scrubby LA area, even though the rocky locations are well used by director Deming. All in all, it's a better than average matinée western with that gritty cowboy lead, Wild Bill Elliott, in charge.