Pretty Good

Boring

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Other than Ted DeCorsia's over the top performance as an outlaw gang leader, The Quick Gun will never rate as one of Audie Murphy's better big screen westerns.After Murphy does not accept DeCorsia's offer to get cut in on bank robbery in his old home town, Murphy who was going there anyway goes double quick to warn them. His own reputation as a gunslinger precedes him though and the townfolk are skeptical. Two of them uncle and nephew Walter Sande and Rex Holman want to kill him because of range war that took Murphy's father and Sande's two sons.But his friend sheriff James Best does believe him and so does the school teacher Merry Anders who has them both on a string and the town prepares.What comes after that is for you to see, but all I can say is Best the sheriff makes one colossally stupid mistake and the plot flows from there. But don't doubt that Audie doesn't save the day after most of the cast is killed in the siege of the town. Definitely not as good as some of his work for Universal in the previous decade.

This film opens with gunslinger Clint Cooper heading back to his home town of Shelby, Montana. Before he can get there he runs into Jud Spangler and his band of outlaws; Spangler is planning to head into Shelby and rob the bank. Spangler invites Clint to join him stating that he has reasons for going into town alone; after a brief confrontation Clint gets away and heads into Shelby. He is clearly not welcome there any more; we learn that he left after a shoot out that left two brothers dead; their father Tom Morrison and his nephew Rick are still determined to see Clint die. Clint warns his old friend Sheriff Scotty Grant that Spangler is going to attack soon. As the town prepares for Spangler's arrival Clint must deal with both the Morrisons and the fact that the woman he loved is now engaged to Scotty.This is a fairly standard Audie Murphy western; his character very similar to those he usually plays; the likable but misunderstood man who is quick with his gun. The plot is fairly simple with no unexpected twists but that doesn't really matter as it was fun to watch. There was plenty of decent action including shoot outs and a thrilling scene where Clint and Rick fight with baling hooks! As Spangler attacks the town a surprising number of townsfolk are gunned down and it is clear that his intentions towards the women are less than honourable. Murphy does a good job as Clint but Ted de Corsia steals the show as Spangler; a bit of a pantomime villain but a lot of fun to watch. Merry Anders put in a feisty performance as love interest Helen Reed; although her scenes with Spangler were more interesting that the potential love triangle involving Clint and Scotty. While this was obviously a fairly cheap B western it was still an enjoyable way to pass a quiet afternoon.

"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.

It's your standard bad guy vs. good bad guy western. Clint Cooper returns to the town that ran him off and reluctantly agrees to stay and fight the coming horde of thieves. Though this is a very predictable plot, it doesn't feature the huge leaps that are common in some westerns from the era.Watching this movie 41 years after it's release and judging it by today's standards isn't really fair. It is from a simpler time in history and as a result seems naive to us.Today you would never see scenes that are supposed to occur at night happening in obvious sunlight. The melo-drama is passe. Everyone knows that gunshots are messy, except in old westerns. Having said all of that, fans of the genre and Audie Murphey will no doubt enjoy this film.I also enjoyed watching James Best before his Dukes of Hazard days. While I am not one who thinks that his performances as Sheriff of Hazard County are un-noteworthy, this role really opened my eyes to his versatility and talent as an actor.