The Man Behind the Gun

Randy is an army deserter (or is he?--not terribly original plot point but workable)involved with separatist gun runners out to control the water supply & thereby the whole of Southern California. The exact time frame is uncertain: after the Mexican War & before California became a state, General Zachary Taylor is mentioned (his picture hangs in Phil Carey's office) in the present tense but not his being president--so who knows & who cares. This isn't a history lesson; it's a Randolph Scott western where everybody carries a six-gun (even if at that time--most did not) and the Cavalry are wearing the completely wrong uniforms. Anyway, the first half sets up a decent premise and is pretty entertaining but once a certain cat is out of the bag so to speak it devolves into a very standard a rather dull outing for Randy. Patricia Wymore is very attractive & a decent actress. Phil Carey, Roy Roberts, Alan Hale, Jr., Douglas Fowley, Morris Ankrum and Anthony Caruso lend good support but the less said about Dick Wesson's more or less comedy relief role, the better. The script by John Twist has giant plot holes & is very clunky and Felix Feist's direction is alternately pedestrian and sloppy. Oh well, the Techincolor is quite nice. All I really ask from a Randy Scott western is to be entertained, this one only got me halfway there.