The Gun That Won the West

Well, I expected worse from this Sam Katzman's production, the infamous Sam Katzman who was so obsessed with bringing films with the tiniest budgets that sometimes the result was simply awful or laughable. This one is OK, maybe inspired by a true story, part of conquest of the West history. This film also belongs to the Columbia Pictures period for William Castle, before he eventually found his way in terrific and terrifying horror films that made his legends for generations of fans. Unlike his Columbia period.... This one, I repeat, is OK, agreeable to watch and the plot is rather interesting, smooth and not that predictable.

Any resemblance in this film between historical accuracy and what you see in the picture isn't coincidental, it's downright unintentional. The fact that Sam Katzman produced it should have been a warning that this film would be made as cheaply as possible, with lots of stock footage borrowed from "Buffalo Bill" ("Pony Soldier" borrowed the same battle scenes) and Indian "war" dances. The fact is that Red Cloud (who lived into the 20th century) made numerous visits to the White House to plead the cause of his people. The Bozeman Trail, supposedly the reason for the U.S. Army to escort railroad builders, simply isn't true; no railroad was built into the area at that time. Red Cloud succeeded in getting the Bozeman trail forts abandoned, a detail not mentioned in the film. Lots of anachronisms, including a Wild West show taking place in the 1860s, Jim Bridger actually in his dotage by then, and demeaning references to Native people ("Redskins") unacceptable today. The fight between Bridger and the Indian in the river comes straight out of "Buffalo Bill" in which Joel McRae as Buffalo Bill fights Yellow Hand played by Anthony Quinn to the death. I wasted 1:15 watching this film; should have taken the time to read a book.

Unfortunately, the film consists of a compilation of scenes from other films, mainly from the film Buffalo Bill 1944. All the battle scenes, as well as the Indian gatherings, are from this particular film. As is the buffalo hunt. One can easily notice the change in scenery between these scenes, which are completely different landscapes that have nothing to do with the landscapes of the film BUFFALO BILL.. In fact, the film, if the borrowed scenes are removed, does not exceed 20 minutes in length. Also, the Indian attack scene from the 1944 film is half added to the beginning of the film and part of it to the final attack at the end of the film. Where the cavalry is advancing, they even added the body-to-body mass in the water where Joel Mcrea is clearly visible.

Dennis Morgan stars as Jim Bridger who is hired to scout land for the cavalry. They want to build a land encroaching on Red Cloud's territory. Predictably Red Cloud is not happy with that, and consequently there's an injun vs cavalry feud, despite the New Springfield rifles on their way. It is a watchable western, but it doesn't standout. It's slow moving at time and though the action is energetic, the battle at the end features none of cavalry firing the new rifles, and it ends as if they ran out of film time.

The Gun That Won the West (1955)

** (out of 4)

Director William Castle and producer Sam Katzman teamed up for this cheap Western that takes place after the Civil War as the government wants to build some forts but it is in Sioux territory so they recruit Jim Bridger (Dennis Morgan) to lead the project. It doesn't take long for the project to run into trouble with the Indians.

THE GUN THAT WON THE WEST has an epic title but of course that's certainly not what was delivered. If you know anything about Castle or Katzman then you know they were masters at working on low-budgets and delivering cheap entertainment. That's not to say that their cheap movies weren't entertaining at times but there's no doubt that movies like this were meant to be rushed into theaters to make a quick buck.

In all honesty, if you're a fan of these type of "B" Westerns then you should get some mild entertainment out of this. I think the most impressive thing for me was how many extras were on hand here. This was especially true for the Indian characters as their group was quite large during certain scenes and I was surprised because of the budget. The story itself is pretty typical and there's certainly nothing original going on.

For the most part Morgan was mildly entertaining as was Richard Denning and Paula Raymond. There's certainly nothing great about the performances or the characters but, then again, we're watching a "B" movie. Castle keeps the film moving along well enough so fans of his will enjoy this.