Four Fast Guns

What a great surprise to watch first a B western in a splendid LBX copy, with a great acting and directing for this kind of production. I hardly know the actors bt who cares? The topic is classic as thousands of other westerns, but that's the least of my problems with this movie. And it is short, sharp, very pleasing to watch. The director was a producer I guess but he did not let a major mark in Hollywood history. I really enjoyed this film and highly advise it to every western buff, and keep in mind that's a rare item, not widely known so don't miss your luck to see it. I have hundreds and hundreds of this kind of westerns in my collection, but not necessarily of this quality.

James Craig rides into Purgatory when they're taking up a collection for a town tamer. He takes the pot, then has troubling doing the job. The problem seems to be wheelchair-bound Paul Richards, who runs one of the saloons and spends most of his time playing the piano and reading poetry. Craig can't bring himself to shoot an educated, kindly, helpless man despite the waves of lust sent off by Richards' wife, Martha Vickers. So Craig moves into the dilapidated Marshal's office with Edgar Buchanan, and begins to renovate the place while four hired guns come into town seriatim to earn Richards' money.

The comedic elements work pretty well in this film, especially when Richard Martin shows up in the movie, playing a Mexican. The serious elements..... well, I'm sure they're there, I just can't take any of it particularly seriously when we don't see any gunfights, just people knocking memorials into the ground, while the good townfolk who want Craig to shoot a cripple mock him for cowardice.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fisheying of he image whenever cinematographer John Nickolaus moves the camera. Perhaps it's all a burlesque of the psychological and symbol-laden A westerns that the 1950s threw up occasionally. That would explain why they decided to call the place Purgatory, when the two towns that actually bear the name are in New England.

The title might vaguely ring a bell as the final film of Martha Vickers; who fifteen years earlier had a father in a wheelchair in 'The Big Sleep' and this time has a husband similarly challenged.

Despite being shot in CinemaScope, the general monochromatic drabness of the town of Purgatory (which the script is fond of reminding us the town is called, and doubtless inspired the name of the town in 'Support Your Local Gunfighter') captures the cramped bleakness and propensity for violence that probably characterised the authentic Old West.

There are so Many Westerns Shown on Big and Small Screens in the 1950's that for the Sanity of Film-Buffs Everywhere,

is in Desperate Need of a Serious Culling from the Innumerable Herd, and Separated from the Routine, Unremarkable, Fodder, Band-Wagon Riders and Cash-Grabs.

An Individual, with the Patience of "Job", Time-to-Spend, and a Keen-Eye could Job-a-Work the Tremendous Task of Tedium by Starting with the "Big-3" Directors...

The Western-Movies of Anthony Mann...Budd Boetticher, and John Ford...

The Collective Films of the 3 would do Any List Proud Titled...

"Great Westerns From The Decade of Westerns...The 1950's"

After the Said Round-Up of A-LIst-Productions, where Budgets were Big and could Finance "Tall-In the-Saddle" Talent.

The List Should Also Corral the Not-to-be-Forgotten, "B-Movies" without Prejudice,

Respecting the Work as "Primitive-Art" on Equal Terms with its Big-Brother Films.

"Four Fast Guns" Should be Included on that List of the "B's",

because it is Lost Among the Aforementioned Herd, and Needs to be "Wrangled" and Named as a "Hidden-Gem".

Made with a Very Limited Budget, with No Name Stars, Filmed in B&W (Widescreen), Relying on Adult Themes, a Certain "Realism" Lacking in Most, a Solid, No-Filler Script, and a Visceral Display of "Gun-Fights",

and You Have the Short-Story Version of a "Tale of the Old West" that is Entertaining, Twisty, and to the "Gun-Point"...Should Please Western-Movie-Fans.

Interesting Diverse Characters Straight Out of Dime-Novels, Larger-Than-Life Names and Personas, with Rumpled and Unironed and Dusty Outfits of the Saddle, and Showdowns Staged with Maximum Thrills and Minimum Frills.

Edgar Buchanan, as the Drunk and Comedy Relief (BIG Surprise), is the Only Diversion in this Violent Kill or be Killed Story.

Martha Vickers, 15 Years after She Got "High" and Flirted with Bogart in "The Big Sleep" (1945),

is the Wife of a Crippled, Piano-Playing, Poetry-Reading Villain (Paul Richards). She, with an Independent, but Loyal Streak.

Haggard but with a "Fast-Gun" James Craig as the "Town Tamer,

All Combine to Deliver the "Dry-Goods" in Stylishly-Gritty Fashion.

OK, it's definitely not True grit, the acting is not great but the story has solid background.

It's good for a low budget movie and will be enjoyed as a Sunday afternoon Western.

Sadly, since the early 1980's the Western movie has been frowned upon and assigned to the B shelf ever since, there were some exceptions, though the investment which such movies enjoyed in the 50's, 60's and the early 1970's is now sadly a thing of the past.

For this very reason even the lesser quality B Westerns are enjoying somewhat of a come back among true Western fans.

Overall it's not a bad movie, the script is actually quite good, acting on the other hand is below average, with few exceptions. Direction and production seem to have suffered due to lack of funding.

All in all, a 6 out of 10, Not unmissable, but still worth seeing!.