Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Michael Morrison Superlative cast given great dialogue in good story and well directed and photographed in turn give us a thoroughly admirable and enjoyable movie.Despite my interest, I had never even heard of this excellent Audie Murphy movie until accidentally seeing the listing at YouTube.Murphy is backed by another Irishman, the veteran and extremely talented Paul Kelly. The leading lady, Susan Cabot, is someone of whom I knew nothing until reading the IMDb bio. Now I see that she had a very unhappy life, which ended young and tragically.The only complaint I have about "Gunsmoke" is that Susan Cabot, despite being beautiful and talented, was outrageously padded, apparently a frequent flaw in Hollywood pictures of this era. (Even pre Weinstein.)Other players, including veteran Western performer Hank Mann who figured merely in the background, and the great Edmund Cobb, with a memorable windy stagecoach driver part, merely made this "Gunsmoke" even better.Not knowing whom to credit for the excellent writing, that is, whether the dialogue is from the novel by Norman A. Fox or by the screenplay writer D.D. Beauchamp, I will merely again express my admiration.Director Nathan Juran helmed beautifully, with no obtrusive gimmickry and a seamless progression of the action.I highly recommend this "Gunsmoke," but if you look for it on YouTube, some knucklehead has it dated 1958 so hunt carefully. You'll be glad.

Tweekums I didn't know much about this western before sitting down to watch it; to be honest I thought it might just be a half decent way to kill an hour and a half (including adverts). The opening was promising; two men, Reb Kittredge and Johnny Lake, ride into view followed by the pursuing cavalry, after giving them the slip they decide to go their separate ways; Johnny to go and find work on a sheep farm and Reb to seek employment as a hired gun for a man called Telford. Shortly after they split Reb is bushwhacked and has his horse shot from under him; his attacker flees but leaves two distinctive cartridges behind. Now horseless Reb starts walking towards town; luckily he is able to catch the passing stagecoach where he meets the beautiful Rita Saxon... unfortunately for him it is clear that she doesn't like him! It turns out Reb is being hired to help ensure that Rita's father, Dan Saxon, loses his ranch to Telford. It seems Telford is playing dirty from the start; telling Saxon that Reb is going to be gunning for him; he draws his gun on Saxon but rather than killing him Reb shoots it out of his hand. He then decides that Telford's offer isn't enough and before he can raise it he has a wager with Saxon; the result of which is that Reb now owns the ranch... but if he wants to keep it he will have to get the cattle from the ranch in Montana to Yellowstone; and Telford will do anything he can to stop him including hiring his old friend Johnny.This was a decent film; it is under eighty minutes long but that just means no time is wasted on unnecessary subplots and excessive dialogue. The action scenes were pretty exciting; especially the cattle stampede and when a wagon had to be driven down a particularly steep mountainside; of course there are a few good shoot-outs and everything works out for the best in the end. Audie Murphy was fine as Reb; he might not look that tough but he talked the talk and handled the action scenes in a way that makes the viewer believe in the character. Susan Cabot put in a feisty performance as the beautiful Rita and Jack Kelly was suitably treacherous as Reb's rival for Rita's affections. The locations are often important for a western and the scenery this was set in was suitably impressive with rugged terrain and snow-capped mountains in the background. Over all I'd recommend this to western fans of all ages as there is a good story, plenty of excitement and nothing to offend.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) I like the westerns Audie Murphy made before 1955. No matter how routine they might have been, they were colorful, entertaining, with a lot of action. Here he is Reb, a gunfighter, who seems to be a bad guy(like in most of Murphy's films). Susan Cabot as Rita is better than in any other film she made. Mary Castle is too stiff for the role she plays, which is what Marlene Dietrich was in "Destry Rides Again", she even sings "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have". Paul Kelly as Rita's father is an asset for any movie he is in. Charles Drake is Johnny Lake another gunfighter that is a friend of Reb, but then, suddenly they are on opposite sides. Reb has to deliver a cattle herd and he is going to have all the odds against him.

drystyx Like most westerns between 1945 and 1985, the hero begins as an outlaw. I always called this Saul/Paul syndrome. Americans love a bad guy gone good better than anything. That said, this formula western had a creative twist a lot of people who enjoyed the movie never noticed. It may be the only Western ever where the lead character chickened out of fistfights and still held his dignity. In this movie, Audie Murphy plays a man who has virtually one skill-gunmanship. He is not a champion boxer, fighter, cowhand; he can do one thing good, and he is thinking about his future. In fact, his character is much like what the later anti hero of the seventies strived to be. That said, this is a very action packed interesting movie, with bad guys, wise guys, and good direction.