The Lone Gun

Formulaic oater with George Montgomery in the straight shootin', straight talkin' , singular expression role of new town marshall, doing his best to clean up the lawlessness factor, best represented by a trio of reprobate brothers led by that eternal 50's B western expert scoundrel actor, Neville Brand. Every thing is quite predictable, but I like the way director Ray Nazzaro keeps propelling the story forward with an absolute minimum of padding , whilst maximising the action and proving once again, that the bad guys can never shoot straight. (LOL! Even one of the brothers notes this of one of his compadres, after a pathetically ordinary, failed dry gulch attempt.)

For extra amusement listen for Montgomery's mispronunciation of what I gather was meant to be "shady", as in "shady tree" in the third act, as a turncoat felon is handcuffed to a tree. To my finely tuned ears , it sounds like a very commonly used, coarse, 6 letter epithet, that just may have slipped past both the sound editors and the censors at the time. Another reason to see a movie, the likes of which they don't seem too inclined to make anymore.

Better than average b-western from 1954 which sees surly loner George Montgomery hired as the sheriff of a town as he is the only man prepared to stand up to a trio of bad-guy brothers led by a chunky Neville Brand. A brisk pace and competent performances. Frank Faylen stands out as an amiable gambler who befriends Montgomery, and Dorothy Malone provides the obligatory love interest.

The lines which open the movie are overkill blah-blah-blah : the story which is about to be told has been treated countless times,before and afterward.

But this is an action-packed entertaining western ,very short (about 70 min) ,which makes the best of a low budget .Frank Faylen steals the show from cardboard Montgomery and reveals himself a smart gambler as well as a fine cook and eventually an efficient deputy ; the card games provide the movie with its best scenes :the poker game with Malone's naive brother and the wrong man reading the cards in his cell ; Malone (whose best parts are Sirk's "Written on the wind" -AA- and "tarnished angels" )is a nice cow-girl but her part is insignificant and conventional.

Watch it for Faylen.

The Lone Gun is directed by Ray Nazarro and written by Don Martin, Richard Schayer and L. L. Freeman. It stars George Montgomery, Dorothy Malone, Neville Brand, Frank Faylen, Skip Homeier, Robert Wilke, Douglas Kennedy and Fay Roope. Music is by Irving Getz and cinematography by Lester White (color by Color Corporation of America).

"The history of any frontier region . . . such as the great expanses of the new State of Texas . . . offered many examples of the strange way in which a few men of great evil could dominate whole communities of well meaning, but passive citizens...

...And examples, too, of men who rode out alone for law and order, with badges on their vests and handcuffs in their pockets . . . playing a lone gun against great odds"

It is pretty much as one would expect for a 50s "B" Western, there's nothing remotely new here, it's a good old honest Oater where a good man takes up a law badge in a town that doesn't deserve him, he takes on the bad guys and there's a pretty lady on his mind. Cue fisticuffs and shootings (including a particularly cold blooded murder), some nifty ambush sequences, a tension packed poker game and some neat dialogue - "one yell and you'll be waking up in a devil's cookhouse".

Cast are fine, with Montgomery doing his usual reliable and likable guy act, Brand doing another in his line of scumbags - backed by Kennedy and Wilke, and even though she's saddled with the token lady role that's sparsely written, Malone leaves a nice impression regardless. Bonus is Faylen, who as card conman Fairweather, shines in a cheeky chappie role, with quips and a glint in his eye even when he's in danger, Faylen enjoys himself in creating this fun character. Some good stunt work rounds it out as a safe and enjoyable Oater for fans of such. 6.5/10

Tidbib: Bizarrely the end credits have Wilke and Kennedy listed as playing each others roles?!

Cruze--George Montgomery Moran brothers Dorothy Malone--Charlotte

"The Lone Gun" has many familiar story elements. If you've seen a bunch of westerns, you've pretty much seen what will happen here. However, although the film has a lot of familiar film clichés, it is very well done, simple and enjoyable.

George Montgomery plays Cruze--a newcomer in town. Soon after his arrival, he has a run-in with some real creeps--the three Moran brothers. After beating the snot out of all three, the Mayor is so impressed that he offers Cruze the badge. Cruze is hesitant--he's done sheriff work before and was sick of the lack of support from the 'good citizens'.

Cruze's first business if dealing with his friend, the gambler, Fairweather (Frank Faylen). It seems that Fairweather's luck is too good and he's created a lot of enemies. But the Sheriff doesn't arrest him, as they are friends of sorts. His next order of business is looking into reports of cattle rustling. Not surprisingly, the Morans are implicated. However, after the Morans try to kill the Sheriff, break jail and commit some murders, the folks in town are quick to believe the scum-bag bartender (who is in league with the Morans) and refuse to join in on a posse. So, it's up to Cruze to take on all three--and hopefully rescue their prisoner, Fairweather.

A group of bad brothers harassing a town is familiar as is a town of cowards. But Marshall is so good in the lead and the meanest Moran (Neville Brand) is excellent as well that I was able to look past the familiarity of the film.