Gun Fever

I came across this film by chance on the Encore Westerns Channel and despite its low budget and occasional slow pace, I found this to be an entertaining movie based on relationships: good, bad, strained, and warped. The black & white photography (a budgetary necessity, no doubt) and the blowing wind added to the atmosphere. Trench and Amigo are among the most bullet deserving villains around. Like a lot of the lower budget Western films of mid and late fifties, it much resembles the television Westerns of the time and might have been better off as an hour long episode.

And banned in Finland and Sweden? I suppose it would have passed if Sam and Tanana had been skinny dipping in Lake Tahoe.

Gun Fever is directed by Mark Stevens and Stevens co-writes the screenplay with Stanley Silverman. It stars Stevens, John Lupton, Larry Storch, Maureen Hingert and Aaron Saxon. Music is by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Charles Van Enger.

It feels a bit churlish to criticize Mark Stevens' Gun Fever for its cheap feel and well worn plotting, for he clearly has respect for the genre. Apart from budget restrictions stymying his hopes for something more dramatically appealing, he's probably more hampered by his own decision to make a safe old traditional Oater. He relies on tried and tested staples in the hope of appeasing the masses, particularly with the standard "get revenge on the man who instigated the killing of my folks" storyline.

The wind machine is permanently on, more so in the sound mix than actually blowing up a gale in scenes, so it's not a good sign that this is noticeable to viewers more so than what is actually on the screen. The Mexican character is played poorly by New Yorker Larry Scorch, and this is consistent with the all round average feel to the play playing out. However, Stevens and Enger manage to put a grim texture to the visuals, creating an earthy mud and rags look more befitting the real Wild West than the glossy Hollywood one.

Sadly doesn't live up to the promise of its throat grabbing opening, and not one to recommend seeking out as a matter of need, but there's worse out there and it's not for Stevens' want of trying that it's no great genre offering. 5/10

After a band of Sioux led by a sadistic white man (Aaron Saxon) wipe out a family at a stagecoach way station, the son (Mark Stevens) vows vengeance and goes after the man, not knowing that his pardner (John Lupton) knows the killer well. The lovely Maureen Hinger (aka Jana Davi) is on hand as Indian squaw, Tanana.

"Gun Fever" (1958) is a B&W B-Western directed & co-written by star Mark Stevens. Despite the low budget and lack of color, this obscure lil' Western exceeded my expectations. Whilst the story involves the hackneyed Bob Steele plot (young man seeks to avenge the murder of his loved ones), the execution is artistic with strong acting by the principles. For instance, Stevens (a Dean Martin lookalike) is a gaunt and powerful presence; Lupton too, just taller.

The movie is dark and brooding with brief flashes of warmth, like a B-Western version of "Apocalypse Now" 21 years before it debuted. Don't look for any comedy or goofiness; it's realistic but generally grim with wind-swept landscapes and rolling tumbleweeds. A critic described "Gun Fever" as being "far from a good movie, but it's interesting." It's a shame Stevens didn't go on to greater success, but at least he had a respectable career in film & TV and we can continue to appreciate his contributions.

The Amer-Indians are played by Caucasians, which was par for the course at the time since there weren't many Native American actors roaming the streets of Hollywood. Just pretend they look more 'Indian' than they do. Regardless, the actors' depiction of Natives is respectable and not laughable.

The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes. I can't find information on where it was shot, but obviously it was one of several movie ranches in the Hollywood area.

GRADE: B-/B (6.5/10).

Very raw script in terms of language showing depths of violence and bigotry among all players even rogue native American Indian peoples... Granted European & South American invaders give Our Native American Indian Tribal peoples an argument for simply defending their territories. Shame they had no functional central government before Europeans especially from England's Royal Monarchy Imperialism influences missed the opportunity for a more harmonious merger in our history. All Nation's beginnings have raw greed and fear feeding disastrous moments.

This film captures that the mental health problems of just a few always resulting in big wars.

The script and actors pulling off such a high quality effort ON FILM is something that could NOT be done today.

It's a bit plodding and complex, but truly ruthless human behavior that definitely would be how things were for many in rural settings.

Criminals if all skin tones were the biggest problem...no laws to adhere to, mass slaughter of herds for furs because textile fabrics from cotton picking hadn't been established yet nationally. Yes, Union Soldiers probably helped emancipate slaves wearing slave labor uniforms. Appropriately so, given the result, more reasons emancipation was mandatory. Only possible by a noble Central Government.

This film puts some things in historically accurate context in cultural meanness; how true lowlifes mixed with settlers - both Euro & Indian - played out in cruel ways when good tribes/settlers met up with criminal rogues away from the help of any type of government defense.

It definitely wasn't exactly as free as anyone wants to pretend.

Gun Fever is a good example of the sort of very low budget western that was once a Hollywood staple from late in the era when going to the movies for many Americans meant going to see a western. By the time the picture came out (1958) television, with its literally dozens of western series had largely replaced movies as the primary source of filmed westerns except at the A and very high budget level.

Cheap as it is, this movie shows some directorial flair and, aside from Larry Storch's terrible performance as a Mexican, it's not badly acted. As to the story, it's scarcely worth mentioning except to say that it falls into the category of what can best be described as the revenge western. Directed by and starring Mark Stevens, ex-second tier leading man, now third tier and fading fast, it moves quickly and, depending on the point of view, either benefits or is hampered by the use of wind machines, as this is one windy movie.

If the reason for this is mentioned in the film at some point I must have missed it. Maybe there are parts of the west that experience windy seasons, just as there are rainy seasons, dry seasons and so forth. Gun Fever takes place where it appears to be windy season all the time. This enabled Stevens and his crew to disguise, as best they could, the movie's cheapness. I think it works even as I admit that it's a gimmick.

The notion that just being outdoors is or can be dangerous in and of itself is nicely driven home in the movie even as it doesn't appear to be its theme, such as it has one. It's never comfortable for the characters in the picture to be outside for any length of time due to all the blowing dirt, sand and leaves. I wouldn't go so far to say that isolation is a theme in the film but rather a consequence of the way it was made. This is a movie to experience, not ponder.