Four Fast Guns

Grade C story, grade B+ direction, grade B- actors, grade C- acting, and grade B+ ending, so a grade C+ film.

I really stumbled across this "Western" film. I had clicked on a Charlie Chan film while searching through YouTube and Four Fast Guns popped up instead.

Edgar Buchanan had star billing. Yes, Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction and from over 150+ films and TV shows where he earned fame from being listed as uncredited or with characters named: Bartender Dan, Applejack, Uncle Willie, Old Willy, Dr. Samuels, Uncle Harry, and Will "Bill" Dowdy to name a few. So, when the credits began for Four Fast Guns and Buchanan was the star, I had to watch. Especially as Buchanan intoned the opening lines with "This man came along the trail one Sunday morning in '73, taking it slow and easy, keeping his eyes open and his gun hand ready. He came from nowhere, I guess. Anyhow, he never said from where and we never asked. He was going to stop off in Purgatory, to make his stand like he lived - alone. This is Number One. He called himself Sabin."

And then there was the action from the get go as Sabin is about to be gunned down by what is termed "a town tamer." After killing the man who would have murdered him, Sabin rides into the town of Purgatory where he is taken for the sent for town tamer.

The plot is typical in that there is a villain (monster) holding a town (castle) captive, and the townsfolk gather enough money to hire a fast gun (knight errant) to save them and free the villain's wife (damsel-in-distress).

For the most part it works. The director, William J. Hole Jr., makes the most of shooting in black and white, and he know how to "show" the audience by not showing them. But he doesn't know how to keep the story tight and focused. Most of the "starring" actors are recognizable-James Craig, Brett Halsey, Richard Martin, Paul Richards-but aren't names you know. Usually, they turn in a good performance, but here there is a feeling they could have all done better.

The ending is true to the film and could have been powerful and memorable but instead it comes off as mediocre. The final shot was worthy of a Clint Eastwood Western, but here it comes close to laughable.

With someone else at the helm, this might have had a chance to be a High Noon. Instead Four Fast Guns has ended up a forgotten film.

I still recommend giving this film a viewing because the majority of what's there on the screen is pretty darn good.

The film's striking poster, the title, it just kind of drew me in. Four Fast Guns started off kind of slow for me but oddly enough as the film progressed I was actually starting to become involved. The basic story is kind of fun, but as is often times the case with these old westerns, and maybe with the old west in general, there are so many contradictions to how and when the law is actually enforced. This is something I have noticed about many westerns, and this one in particular. I don't recall ever seeing James Craig before, and while he does a decent job here, I do think he lacks the charisma to carry the lead role here. Who knows though, perhaps he was so focused on being the stoic, unfeeling, tough-guy cowboy that he forgot to bring the rest? Anyway, the remainder of the performances are nothing special but adequate. It's kind of a slight film and yet I did find it kind of entertaining. Check it out and see for yourself.

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.

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.

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!.