Hostile Guns

The first half of this Western isn't bad at all. The dialogue is crisp, the situations believable, and it efficiently establishes all the central conflicts and relationships. But around the halfway point, things go terribly wrong. It's as if the filmmakers let their sons and daughters take over and complete the picture. Action scenes are poorly staged, characterizations become muddled and repetitious, plots and subplots get unsatisfyingly resolved in a strangely rushed, banal fashion. And the previously sharp dialogue gives way to howlers like "Mike, this could be your last chance to grow up!"

Interesting mish-mash of a cast however. I had often wondered who George Montgomery was, having seen his name listed for so many films, and while this was evidently made towards the end of his career, he's certainly a classicly square-jawed, masculine lead in the Clark Gable mold. Tab Hunter is okay as the rowdy young hotshot deputized by Sheriff Montgomery for a dangerous prisoner transport, and there are faint (very faint) echoes of the Wayne/Clift relationship in "Red River". Yvonne DeCarlo, though aging, is still believably fetching as the woman prisoner who drives a wedge between the two men.

I guess I should have known there was something fishy about this movie early on, judging by the God-awful stunt doubling done for Tab Hunter in his first fight scenes. The double, quite clearly and amusingly, doesn't look a thing like him.

George Montgomery and Tab Hunter have a reunion of sorts in this A.C. Lyles western Hostile Guns. The third film of Hunter's career was a western called Gun Belt where Hunter played Montgomery's nephew. It was a routine western, so is this only not quite as good.

As always it's a pleasure to see a lot of the old timers that A.C. Lyles gave work to in the Sixties. But Hostile Guns has a rather unbelievable plot that I just could not swallow.

Montgomery is a federal marshal transporting prisoners to Huntsville State Prison in Texas and in need of a deputy. Young punk Tab Hunter is the best available so he takes him to transport Leo Gordon, Robert Emhardt, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez and Yvonne DeCarlo. DeCarlo and Montgomery have some history though we don't learn about that until well into the film.

Gordon is his usual mean, sadistic self and he's scheduled to hang. Why they don't just hang him where he committed the crime and was tried and convicted God only knows, but he's got relatives like John Russell and James Craig looking to bust him out. That's the story of the film as Montgomery faces some bad odds.

In fact these guys should have freed Gordon, but they went about incredibly stupid. Makes for an inferior film.

I have to say that Robert Emhardt plays an interesting role of what we would call a white collar criminal. He's the former Texas State Railroad Commissioner who is eluded to have some sticky fingers. No country club prison for him in those days, but he's convinced friends will help.

Not one of the better A.C. Lyles efforts.

Not a great deal to write home about here, Hostile Guns is every inch a late 1960s Oater clinging on to the fading embers of a genre that was at the time moving in another direction. It's directed by R.G. Springsteen and co-written by Steve Fisher, Sloan Nibley and James Edward Grant. It stars George Montgomery, Yvonne De Carlo, Tab Hunter, Brian Donlevy, John Russell and Leo Gordon. Music is by Jimmie Haskell and the Techniscope/Technicolor photography is by Lothrop Worth.

Plot has Montgomery as Sheriff Gid McCool, who is tasked with escorting a wagon of prisoners through the plains. Tricky since one of the prisoners has cohorts desperate to break him free, while another one is an old flame!

Tab Hunter is in the cast to bring down the average age of the cast, many of whom are going through the motions and are clearly in it to pick up a late in their career pay cheque. It's very much indicative of an A.C. Lyles production, the mixture of airy location shooting and crude rear projection work is most disconcerting. Brian Donlevy is front page billed but is in the film for two minutes, while the stunt doubles are ridiculously evident - which via the splicing are actually insulting. On the plus side there's a nice print available which showcases the good use of colour, and Gordon provides some good grumpy villainy, but it all trundles towards the inevitable climax, which all things considered isn't worth the wait. 5/10

1967's HOSTILE GUNS was the 11th entry in producer A.C. Lyles's series of 13 Paramount B Westerns from 1963 to 1967 designed to meet the huge demand in Europe but quick playoff in the US. Director R.G. Springsteen is at the helm for the sixth and last time, from another Steve Fisher script, one of the 9 he eventually did. The main attraction of these 'geezer' oaters are the plethora of longtime veteran players in need of a good paycheck, led by Richard Arlen, the all time champ who did 11 (including this one) and Lon Chaney (sadly absent here). The top slot was typically reserved for a select few (Barry Sullivan, Rory Calhoun, Dana Andrews or Howard Keel), which makes this an anomaly with the lone appearance of George Montgomery, whose solid credentials in a cliched part are crucial in making this as watchable as it is (he starred in the TV series CIMARRON CITY). As Sheriff Gid McCool it's his job to transport a quartet of convicted felons on a four day journey to a Texas prison in Huntsville, hiring young hothead Tab Hunter to ride shotgun as deputy because he knew the boy's father to be a good man. The captives are not really an interesting lot, Leo Gordon cast to type as a vicious child murderer, Yvonne De Carlo the woman with a past who claims self defense in killing her abusive partner, Robert Emhardt the corrupt railroad baron who, ahem, insists he was 'railroaded' for political reasons, and Pedro Gonzales Gonzales as (what else?) an amiable Mexican thief who hopes to learn a useful trade behind bars. Following close behind is John Russell as Gordon's brother and James Craig as his cousin, determined to bushwhack the sheriff and spring their kin. Smaller roles are essayed by Brian Donlevy as the town marshal, Donald Barry, Roy Jenson, and Fuzzy Knight, all of whom had worked for Lyles before. Characterization is weak and action scenes poorly staged, theatergoers would do better with an episode of THE HIGH CHAPARRAL at home on the boob tube. Yvonne De Carlo is at least still an eyeful but no player can stand out with this hoary scenario, its nondescript and generic title most fitting.

This is a western produced by A.C. Lyles--a guy who specialized in making lower budget westerns in the 1960s starring folks who were past their prime. This made casting the films cheaper but also provided work to some decent actors. But, because of the age of the cast, I have referred to Lyles' films as 'geezer westerns' and this isn't much of an exaggeration. In many of his westerns, the average age of the cast is about 60. In "Hostile Guns", however, the cast is relatively young...relatively. It stars George Mongomery (51) and also includes Donlevy (66), Red Barry (55), Fuzzy Knight (61), Yvonne DeCarlo (45), John Russell (46). However, a 36 year-old Tab Hunter co-stars in the film--making him a young pup by comparison. I don't recall Hunter appearing in other westerns--other than his ultra-campy "Lust in the Dust".

George Montgomery is in charge of transporting prisoners to prison. However, he's got a really nasty guy (Leo Gordon) in custody and needs an assistant, so he 'encourages' a prisoner already in custody (Tab Hunter plays a guy in jail for a minor charge) to assist him. Unfortunately, the nasty guy has some family members who vow to follow them and set him free. Along the route, they pick up several other prisoners--including a very stereotypical and mostly harmless Mexican (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez), a really obnoxious public official (Robert Emhardt) and a lady (Yvonne DeCarlo) accused of murdering her abuser. In many ways, this comes off like a reworking of the film "Stagecoach"--but with a motley crew of prisoners, not stagecoach passengers. It is a well-used idea--but COULD have been a lot better. Why? Because some of the characters are terribly written--such as Gonzalez's very silly prisoner who WANTS to go to prison!!! But much worse is Emhardt is the worst, as his character lays on his routine so thick that he is utterly unbelievable. Overall, a time-passer--but also a film that should have been better.