Brimstone

This is one of the B Western films that has everything, great stars, great plot, surprises, good guys, bad guys, etc.

Brennen does an excellent job as Brimstone, a grizley old man that is bad to the bone and expects his moron sons to be just as bad. The exception being James Brown.

Rod Cameron plays a great part but in my opinion, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams steals the show.

"Gracious, I always talk Spanish when I'm eatin', makes the food taste better"

Watch it, tape it and watch it again. You'll always find some hidden part or line that'll connect for you.

This Republic Pictures western is at least a real western, and not a cabaret, music hall, burlesque revue movie - called western because it took place in the late 1870's - for which Republic studios were the specialists of. It is an action packed movie, also offering Walter Brennan, as good and convincing as usual, and also Jim Davis, before he became notorious as one of the DALLAS series Ewing leader. Yes, I like this Joseph Kane's western he who was the main western provider for Republic Pictures. The Trucolor helps a lot to appreciate the film and the story holds you all long the story. So, for those among you who are used to the Republic westerns, this one is good, yes, but offers nothing special, with Rod Cameron and Forrest Tucker, as in a John Ford's western, Ward Bond and John Wayne.

Pop "Brimstone" Courteen (Walter Brennan) and his sons, Nick, Luke and Bud, run a ranch outside the town of Gunsight, and are none too happy about the recent arrival of homesteaders in the area. Determined to cut off the interlopers' supplies, the Courteens rob incoming stagecoaches and even the local bank. But things change when a U. S. marshal (Rod Cameron) arrives in town to investigate, and Bud falls in love with one of the hated homesteaders.

Brimstone is a thoroughly engaging western with plenty of family conflicts, shoot-'em-up action, twist and turns, smart dialogue and betrayals. It's fast-paced, tightly-plotted with strong characterisation. Forest Tucker plays a crooked sheriff mixed up in the Courteens' misdeeds, Rod Cameron plays an undercover federal agent with a scheme of his own to bring down Pop and the boys, but it's Walter Brennan in an atypical role as Pop who steals the scene. He's a real horrid character and the embodiment of a dysfunctional father; he's quite abusive, verbally and physically. He puts them down and controls them with an iron fist. No wonder his sons are bad 'uns. Well one of them isn't so bad, he's in love with a homesteader and Brennan doesn't approve. When he learns the couple have eloped, his response is to go after Bud and kill him! What a loving father. Jack Lambert, who plays one of Pop's sons, lends some humour as a lard-headed thug who is surprised that the earth is round! Ends with an exciting Stagecoach chase.

This is a Republic Studios shot at an A picture. The problem is that it is still Republic, after all. The film is in color, but it's "Trucolor", which is a two color process that makes the great outdoors look very odd. (The movie was clearly shot in the winter -- which makes the fact that the process really does not show green less of a liability. The blue shows up as a very cold blue) And when it is time for a big sweeping scene that's beyond this film's budget, the movie suddenly changes to black and white for a minute.

But the reason for watching is seeing Walter Brennan in full-bore villain mode. And he plays the character as that mean old evil reprobate we all know in our lives, and he is scary good at it. The character resembles his villain in "My Darling Clementine", but he has more film time to be just plain awful, and he makes the most of it. It is bravura acting, but it is not the least hammy or corny. The man won his Academy Awards for a reason.

Plot? Stranger with unclear motives takes on a corrupt town. No surprises on how this develops, though one thinks the Walter Brennan character in real life would have made prompt mincemeat of the stalwart hero, and purchased himself a few more local politicians.

This one would have gone over well with the under 12 crowd, many years ago. For you young folk, once upon a time movie theaters had matinees for kids every Saturday morning. Starting times varied - ours started at 10:00 am, and consisted of some cartoons, a serial, maybe a comedy short, and then a (fair-to-middling) western feature film. "Brimstone" would have filled the bill for one of these, and if I were 11 I would have rated it higher.

"Brimstone" is a typical two-dimensional western devoid of rational thought and motivation, the type produced by the carload by Poverty Row studios in the 40's. It has lots of action, with fistfights and shoot-outs and hombres talking tough. This one has stalwart Rod Cameron as a US Marshal trying to apprehend some stage robbers, in fact a family of them. The family is headed by Walter Brennan in iron-fisted fashion as a cantankerous old rancher, and he makes the most out of his chance to carry a movie. He is like Moe and his sons like the other Stooges, aided by some unintentionally funny dialogue and knockabout comedy, as the British would say. (Of course,this is supposed to be deadly serious stuff).

There are the usual plot dead ends and unresolved loose ends which I always find annoying, but at the age of 11, who would notice? There is enough action to fire up the young audience, and cause the matron to descend on us and order all concerned to be quiet, flashlight in hand.