Two-Gun Lady

Amazing what will make it into release sometimes. This one ranks with anything that Ed Wood ever put together. Marie Windsor walked into a shot that she was not in and scurried off. It's in the finished film. Even the usually reliable B stalwart Robert Lowery comes off like an amateur. Fun to see in a theater full of college students.

Lack of production values in this rather grim B western prevent me from giving it a higher rating, but this film might very well have been the inspiration for the Sharon Stone classic, The Quick And The Dead. A whole lot of B character players got into this film that lacks star power to say the least.

Peggie Castle plays the Sharon Stone part. As a child she saw her parents killed by the nasty father and son team of Francis McDonald and Earle Lyon. They run the valley and also abuse the daughter they have played by Barbara Turner.

The two also have fast draw contests held at Robert Lowery's saloon where Marie Windsor reigns supreme among the dance hall girls. That's where Castle comes in, she's trained for years as a fast draw artist giving exhibitions like Annie Oakley. All in the hope of facing and getting rid of McDonald and Lyon.

William Talman has the Russell Crowe part, he's another itinerant fast draw artist who comes to town. He's got his own agenda as far as Lyon and McDonald are concerned.

Joe Besser best known for a short stay with the Three Stooges plays a dramatic part here as Castle's manager. He's an alcoholic and Castle is concerned he spill the beans on the real purpose of her arrival in that town. It's a real revelation for those who only think of Joe Besser as a burlesque comedian.

Two Gun Lady is one misnomer since no one packs two sidearms in this film. Still it's an interesting western that will pique the interest if seen.

Even calling this a B movie is stretching it some. Typical dusty western about a young woman(Peggie Castle)who happens to be a very good shot with both pistol and rifle putting on shooting demonstrations while she hunts down her parents murderer. Has all the appearances of being a low budget "quickie". One character(Marie Windsor) accidentally walks into a scene she wasn't suppose to. She leaves as quick as she enters. The same character later awkwardly tries to wrestle a pistol from a bad man. Also in the cast are:William Talman and Robert Lowery.

This is I assert a very important and influential movie, notwithstanding its inexpensive sets and generally impoverished feel. Its producers, writer and co-author Richard Bartlett, co-star and associate producer Earle Lyon and co-star/associate producer Ian MacDonald gave it a generally competent and intelligent feel. It is rather well-acted by Peggie Castle as Karen Marshall aka Kate Masters, William Talman as the marshal, Earle Lyon and Ian MacDonald as the Ivers, Robert Lowery as Big Mike, Marie Windsor as the unscrupulous Bess, Joe Besser as "Doc", Barbara Turner as Jennie Ivers, Norman Jolley and the rest of the cast. The importance of the film lies, I claim, in the fact that it is the first time in film history that a female central character was shown as being capable of committing physical violence as a volitional course of ethical action. in the same year that this film was produced, in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" author Jack Finney had to explain to his hero that his fiancée was capable of and willing to help him during a fight; the usual Hollywood myth had the female standing and biting her knuckles while the male in an action film tried to fight three or four roughnecks. This is the film that changed that stereotype. The story-line is an unusually good one, I suggest. Castle was a child when she watched the Ivers take over the valley, goading her farmer father into a losing gun duel and murdering her mother before her eyes. She gets herself trained as a sharpshooter in the Annie Oakley model, her ultimate goal being to prepare herself to draw against the murderer, Jud Ivers. Ben Ivers, the father, has meanwhile been shot and paralyzed; and the marshal who is after the gang tries to talk her out of risking her life, committing homicide and ignoring the fact that his way is better; during the contest, he falls in love with her and she with him. It takes him walking up to her as she holds a gun on him to prove the rightness of his argument that, "learning to use a gun isn't learning to kill'. She won't kill him to have her way, but when the time comes, she has to have a showdown with her enemies, which leads to a surprising and very satisfying conclusion. Cinematographer for the film was Guy Roe; music was provided by Leon Klatzkin, who also conducted ably. Thomas Connolly did the set designs while Harry Reif was the set dresser; Henry Helfman made the costumes seem more expensive than they were. Richard Bartlett managed to keep the dialogue believable and the action moving at most points; minor errors do not matter to a film--this is by any standards an unusually well- acted "B" picture. Castle is very good, Talman quite good as both marshal and admirer. Lowery is powerful as a nice-guy barkeep and Windsor effective as saloon woman. Earle Lyon underplayed Ben Ivers with high-voltage; Ian MacDonald made an effective killer, and Joe Besser made his alcoholic partner memorable. By the time "Maverick" is produced, "Support Your Local Sheriff", "Cat Ballou" and "The Hallelujah Trail" are created, the insulting and unAmerican puritanic stereotype of the passive female--that kept so many fine actresses in Hollywood bondage to reactionary producer ""tsars' for decade--has been effectively shattered. This is one of the films that helped to do that; it is inexpensive and occasionally flawed, but it has a coherent story line and, to the objective appreciator, is always sincere and above-average

Long before NIKITA and today's - 2020's - fashion action movies involving female fighters, shooters, rough characters, you could find from time to time some gems, such as this one and also DALTON GIRLS, GIRLS ON THE LOOSE and many more films. Especially in the sixties, with exloitation B pictures involving bikers, more or less nude action films, in any topic proposing couter culture, revolt against the system, where women were too often in the kitchen. I agree that Calamity Jane and Belle Starr characters were used by the industry, but they were historical characters, and it was impossible to avoid those topics. Such actresses like Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford or Marlene Dietrich also served this kind of schemes, strong women. But they were exceptions. This very film from Richard Bartlett - an interesting and offbeat director - is not his best however; I highly prefer MONEY, WOMEN AND GUNS. This topic remains too predictable, despite the two gun lady. DALTON GIRLS from director Reg Le Borg was more exciting. And what a surprise to have Bill Talman in a role where he is not the bad guy. Very rare. The showdown scene in the bar, in the end, is terrific for such a B western.