Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

mark.waltz This is a great find, a sleeper of the B western genre where a moral judgment is passed on supposed law abiding folk who play God and pay the price for judging their fellow man. "Dallas's" Jim Davis is separated from his wife and living "in sin" with a native American woman. The horrified townsfolk take it upon themselves to turn moral judgment into legal action, and the unfortunate legal eagle who must do their dirty work is accidentally killed. It's up to local sheriff Forrest Tucker to get Davis into protective custody, but violence begats violence, leading to more brutal homicides and a trial with the town supporting the wrong-doers over the protector of justice.Quite surprised and delighted by this discovery, I compare it to other great films that warn of the dangers of gossip and sticking your nose in your neighbor's private business that harms no one. The one that comes to mind instantly is the Jane Wyman/Rock Hudson soap opera "All That Heaven Allows", and this really gives a parallel by putting the issue of judgmentalism into a violent, western setting. Lee Van Cleef is the film's main heavy, with Mara Corday the judged mistress who seems to have been n set up for other crimes as well. Thwys where the film gets a bit off track. But the conclusion provides a very important moral, with judge Everett Glass gives it good to the perpetrators of the sinister activities, condemning the non-violent to a private jail of their own karma. Now that's what I call justice.

zardoz-13 Miscegenation/ immorality is the theme of "Stagecoach to Fury" director William F. Claxton's dusty, little, black & white western "The Quiet Gun." This thoroughly conventional oater turns over rocks that most westerns during the 1950s might not have done. Immoral sex sets the plot of this concise oater into motion. Had Claxton and "Cattle Empire" scenarist Eric Norden left out the sex angle, "The Quiet Gun" would have been little more than a standard-issue B-western about land raiders. A well-dressed saloon entrepreneur, John Reilly (Tom Brown) wants the land belonging to a local rancher, Ralph Carpenter (Jim Davis of "Big Jake"), and he conspires with a reptilian gunslinger, Doug Sadler (Lee Van Cleef of "High Noon") to steal Carpenter's land. The city attorney, Steven Hardy (Lewis Martin), is from the east. He is properly outraged by the fact that Carpenter is a married man who is living in sin with a half-breed Indian maiden, Irene (Mara Corday of "The Gauntlet"), while his wife Teresa Carpenter (Kathleen Crowley of "The Phantom Stagecoach") was away. The impetuous Hardy rides out to Carpenter's ranch to arrest him. Things do not go well for the crusading lawyer. Carpenter kills Hardy when the latter appropriates a rifle. The rifle belonged to livery stable hand Samson (Hank Worden of "The Searchers") who had ridden out with the attorney to Carpenter's ranch. Sheriff Carl Brandon (Forrest Tucker of "Chism") knows Carpenter and tries to take him into custody. He sneaks up on him when Carpenter and Irene are bedded down in the middle of nowhere, but Irene distracts the lawman long enough for Carpenter to escape. By the time that Brandon corners him in the rocks, the town has sent a gang of horsemen out to lynch Carpenter. When Brandon tries to disarm them, they overpower him and knock him unconscious. When he recovers from the beating, the sheriff sees poor Ray dangling inertly from a tree branch. Brandon rides back to town and arrests all the men who participated in hanging Ray Carpenter. The city father intercedes on behalf of the prisoners, but Brandon tricks them into becoming his deputies. He does this was keep them from forcing him to release the lynch mob. Meanwhile, Ray's wife Teresa returns on the stagecoach and learns the awful truth. The judge sentences the lynch mob to three years apiece for their lawlessness. Later, after the trial, Brandon learns from Teresa who went out to her late husband's ranch that Irene has been killed. Brandon charges both Reilly and Sadler for her death. A gunfight on the main street occurs, and Brandon is wounded. Reilly and Sadler are not as lucky; Brandon guns both of them down. The only thing missing from this otherwise impressive little western is the closure of an ending. We see Teresa come out and check on Brandon's welfare. It is really too bad that Claxton and Norden didn't show us what happened after the shoot-out. Naturally, it would seem likely that Brandon and Teresa would be drawn to each other. After dealing with the treacherous town fathers, wouldn't it seem obvious that Brandon might have tossed his badge in the dirt like Gary Cooper did and ride out with Teresa to get her late husband's ranch going? Again, if this otherwise compelling oater suffers from anything it is the lack of an effective ending that would have provided answers for some questions.Altogether, "The Quiet Gun" (not sure what this enigmatic title refers to) is a diamond in the rough. The black & white photography is stark and the compositions are interesting. I liked it those little realistic touches, such as when Forrest Tucker dismounted from his horse, he loosened the cinch holding the saddle on his horse. Later, when he came back to ride out, he tightened the cinch. In the courtroom scene, you can see one window opened because you know it would be hot in that room.

adverts Forrest Tucker gives an interesting understated, "quiet" performance, Lee Van Cleef chews up the scenery, and the (usually unwelcome) comic relief works (surprisingly) well. Also, decent plot twists and neat little affectations - like Forrest Tucker always rolling cigarettes and his tobacco pouch hanging out of his jacket pocket. Highly recommended for lovers of: adult westerns B-Westerns 50s Westerns

Gene Crokus `The Quiet Gun' is a rare sleeper in the Western genre. Though certainly not a great film, it is good enough to warrant a look. It is difficult to believe Forrest Tucker didn't have a bigger career than he did, since he shows us some pretty good work here. At the beginning he even delivers a memorable one-liner to the nonsensically aggressive Lee Van Cleef (bullying Hank Worden – named Sampson here, but playing Mose nonetheless) when Lee tells him to mind his own business. Casually revealing his badge, Tucker retorts `It is my business.' And so sets the tone for the remainder of the film. Tucker, as Sheriff Carl Brandon, is being pressured by the local powers-that-be to `do something' about a rancher (Jim Davis as Ralph Carpenter) allegedly living with an Indian woman (Mara Corday as Irene). Personally dead set against any notion of taking any action, and advising others to mind their own business as well, Brandon must strike his own way as the story progresses. His biggest foes, it turns out, are the officials of the town – one has criminal intentions, the others invoke hatred and the public will as mandates to fan the flames of what might have been a non-event otherwise. Director William F. Claxton certainly made his mark in subsequent years on the small screen. Most notably he directed many episodes of `Bonanza' but also had a hand in `The Rifleman', `Yancy Derringer', `Gunsmoke' and `High Chaparral'. His diversity is illustrated by having made one `Route 66' and four `Twilight Zone' episodes as well. But most definitely his horror opus `The Night of the Lepus' lives on in memory, now having not terrorized three generations of unsuspecting viewers. A nice one line review is attributed to Shane Burridge on Rotten Tomatoes (`A failure on every level'). There is an underlying grim note to the proceedings in `The Quiet Gun'. Tucker hardly ever smiles, Lee Van Cleef smiles but no one feels comforted for it and the outcomes of several situations are unpredictably harsh. But there are enough plot developments of humorless persuasion, including a courtroom scene near the end, to cast the story in somber tones. But no preaching is ever heard; Claxton prefers to tell the tale and let you make your own conclusions, which is high art in Westerns of the Fifties. Rating: 3 Stars.