Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

classicsoncall With all due respect to Audie Murphy the war hero, I'm going to wind up repeating myself here as in my other reviews of his films. He just doesn't have the looks or charisma to appear in a Western, either as an outlaw or a hero. And when the story itself isn't very exciting, the end result leaves you with just a ho-hum experience.I don't really want to be that critical of "The Quick Gun", as the premise was a decent one. Murphy's character Clint Cooper returns to the town of Shelby, Montana a couple of quick years after killing a pair of brothers in self defense. Apparently the citizens of Shelby were never in on that secret, or else Tom Morrison (Walter Sande), father of the dead men, did a pretty good job of keeping the murder angle alive. I guess it didn't help Clint's cause when he winds up killing Morrison and his nephew Rick (Rex Holman) in another throw down while the good folks of Shelby were preparing to defend themselves against the Spangler gang, intent on robbing the bank, ravaging the women and then burning it down for a night cap.You know, I was thinking about something after Clint knocked off two of Spangler's (Ted de Corsia) henchmen in the early going. If only a couple more villains gave chase and caught up to him, Clint would have been toast. It's not like he had a real easy time with the first two.The other thing that bothered me in a way was how quick and easy sheriff Scotty Grant was taken out by Spangler himself. James Best might not be the best character actor, but I always enjoy seeing him show up in a picture. In this one, he had the unenviable assignment of being engaged to Clint Cooper's former gal Helen Reed (Merry Anders), so they had to find a way for Clint to get back together with her without destroying the friendship between the two men. But having him gunned down was just a bit too convenient.Oh well, if you're a Western movie junkie like me you'll give this one a go and move on I guess. If I had to come up with a recommendation for an Audie Murphy flick, try 1959's "No Name on the Bullet" for a better than average one. Of course there's always his real life story, one in which he plays himself in 1955's "To Hell and Back".

rap-39 This movie should be a mandatory viewing for all students in the various theatrical curriculum in Universities. The directing is very, very poor (to say the least) having Murphy, Anders, and others perform in a stilted, confined manner. The "tough guy", Ted de Corsia, constantly overacts to the point of being obnoxious at times. Most of the extras look like they were recruited from the home for the aged just prior to filming, with some seemingly enjoying their first time as an actor/actress. What I find amazing is that at nights the entire "town" has more lighting then in any normal sunny day. The clothes everyone is wearing appears to have been cleaned and pressed just prior to that scenes filming. Perspiration drenched clothes are dry and well pressed in what is supposed to be the next scene a few minutes later. The close up camera work is OK, but there are far too many wide shots that don't fit the action of the time. Merry Anders is a beautiful person; but the outstanding hairdo could not possibly have been accomplished during the time frame the movie represents. And on and on and on… Unbelievable!!! I like both Audie Murphy and Merry Anders very much as performers. They certainly didn't deserve to be displayed in this shoddy film. The movie could have been excellent, but it was just the opposite, I'm very sorry to comment.

zardoz-13 "The Last Man On Earth" director Sidney Salkow's "The Quick Gun" ranks as one of Audie Murphy's lesser efforts. Nevertheless, western movie fans may find it tolerably entertaining as a B-movie horse opera with enough noisy gun play, clattering hoof beats, and dead bodies to compensate for all its dusty clichés. Audie plays Clint Cooper, a swift-shooting son of a six-gun who returns to the quiet frontier town of Shelby, two years after he shot it out with an influential rancher's two sons, to work the ranch that his deceased dad left him. Along the trail to Shelby, Clint runs into outlaw leader Jud Spangler and his gang of trigger-happy hard-cases. Spangler plans to raid Shelby, rob the bank brimming with cattle money, drink the town dry and carry off the women folk. When Clint and Jud (veteran tough guy Ted de Corsica of "Nevada Smith") tangle early on, we know half of everything that will transpire in this predictable but bloodthirsty oater. It seems that Jud and Clint were old pals that are now on opposite ends of the gun barrel. Clint escapes from Jud's army of pistoleros and rides to Shelby to warn Sheriff Wade (James Best before "The Dukes of Hazzard"). Meanwhile, one of Clint's vengeful enemies Tom Morrison (pot-bellied Walter Sande of "Bad Day at Black Rock") wants to settle an old score between them. Clint gunned down two of Tom's sons before he rode out two years ago, and Tom refuses to let anything stand in his way when it comes to payback. At the same time, Sheriff Wade has herded all the women and children into the local church and the remaining townspeople have erected a barricade across Main Street and doused it with kerosene to discourage Spangler's gun-hands. Were that not enough drama, the town's schoolmarm—Helen Reed (Merry Andrews of "Women of the Prehistoric Planet")—plans to wed Wade until she lays eyes on Clint and second thoughts plague her. The surprises are few and far between in "Utah Blaine" scenarist Robert E. Kent's saddle sore screenplay, but he serves up a passel of quotable dialogue. Surprises aren't what count here, it's the complications that give "The Quick Gun" its fleeting edge. As the townspeople are erecting the barricade, Tom and his nephew jump Clint in the barn and try to string him up. As a result, our hero is compelled to kill them. Wade arrives in time to disarm Clint and haul him off to jail, even when they need everything gun that they can lay their hands on. Unshaven Ted de Corsica is more obnoxious than intimidating, but he chews the scenery with such gusto that you actually look forward to seeing him. Murphy plays his usual,tight-lipped protagonist. Murphy's stuntman gets a good workout, especially in one scene when he leaps from a second-story balcony and hits the ground running. Clocking in at a brisk 87 minutes, "The Quick Gun" doesn't wear out its welcome and a higher-than-average body count gives it more menace than most American oaters made 1964 typically had before the advent of the spaghetti western. Seasoned western director Sidney Salkow doesn't waste a lot of time getting around to the gun play. The ending has a "High Noon" quality to it.

Bruce Cook Fast paced but unsatisfying Western, starring Audy Murphy in a role he played more than once -- the tortured soul who wants to do the right thing, even though everyone is against him.Unfortunately, director Sidney Salknow presents us with a very simplistic plot and very two-dimensional characters. The film has the `small' look of a television episode, with overly neat and overly well-lite sets (even at night!).Still, the basic idea is good. Murphy is enroute to his home town to face up to the citizens who think he murdered the two sons of a local rancher, despite the fact that it was self-defense. Before arriving at the town, Murphy runs into the gang of outlaws he used to ride with. He finds out that they plan to rob the bank and burn the town to the ground.Murphy tries to warn the citizens, but their prejudice against him makes them reluctant to listen. But Sheriff James Best, an old friend of Murphy's, DOES believe, and he organizes the citizen to defend the town.The plot does plenty of unexpected things on its way to a reasonably satisfying climax, giving the film some merit in spite of itself. Merry Anders, the love interest, plays a key role in the climax, redeeming her less than stellar performance in the rest of the film. If you love Westerns (like me) and you're prepared for mediocre acting and lackluster direction, you can have fun with this one. Think of it as an imaginative amateur film that was made on a shoestring budget, starring a popular war hero who succeeded in a second career as an actor.On a personal note, Audy's `rig' (his gun and gun belt) is a whole lot more appealing and practical than those in most big-budget Westerns. And he doesn't wear it half-way to his knees! Western fans notice things like this. . .