MAN OR GUN [1958] movie review
December 31, 2011
Many westerns start with a stranger arriving into town, so does MAN OR GUN. The difference this time is the man has just literarily crawled through the desert to get there. While on his belly sliding across the sand he finds a fancy Colt .44 pistol. Thus we are introduced to the two things up for debate in the movie, man or gun.
THE BRASS LEGEND [1956] movie review
December 31, 2011
I always think some day soon I will run out of good westerns to watch. I have seen nearly all of the more famous ones, but after watching THE BRASS LEGEND this afternoon, I think there are still quite a lot of solid to very good westerns of little notoriety that just need to be found.
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER [1969] movie review
December 31, 2011
Not set in the old west, but rather the turn of the century (1900 that is), DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER shows how painful the transition was for western towns from those ruled by the gun, to those ruled by so called civilization. Caught in the middle is the town marshall who has been on the job for 20 years learning everyone’s secrets and who has not outgrown his welcome as the town decides he is doing his job too well.
BEND OF THE RIVER [1952] movie review
December 31, 2011
A western in motion, BEND OF THE RIVER follows a wagon train of 100 people going cross country from Missouri to Oregon with James Stewart as their hired guide through the wilderness. Well paced and offering a real feeling of the hardship and hope of packing everything to head west, RIVER offers an unusual western with strong family characters.
PLUNDERERS OF PAINTED FLATS [1959] movie review
December 31, 2011
PLUNDERERS OF PAINTED FLATS suffers from a cumbersome name as well as being only a very ordinary western with a nondescript rich man not wanting any squatters setting up on his land, despite their legal right to. He uses harsh tactics on innocent characters we do not yet care about because they have not been established. There is one aging gunslinger on the side of the squatters that someone seems to be too big of an obstacle for the land baron so he hires a younger, faster gunman to come to town to take care of him.
THE BRAVADOS [1958] movie review
December 31, 2011
For 90% of its running time THE BRAVADOS [1958] was a good movie. The ending was very good. Though seemingly a simple revenge plotline, the story itself was actually very compelling and with better direction the movie could have been even better.
THE MAN FROM LARAMIE [1955] movie review
December 31, 2011
I really liked WINCHESTER ’73, a collaboration between director Anthony Mann and James Stewart, however their final western together, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is a very forgettable, average at best movie.
CALIFORNIA PASSAGE [1950] movie review
December 31, 2011
A strong story and compelling character arcs make CALIFORNIA PASSAGE a very good hidden gem of a western. A naive 20-year old woman and her kid younger brother head west to meet up with their older brother. However, things are not what they expected once the stagecoach gets them to town.
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