1967's "Arizona Bushwhackers" was #12 of the 13 A.C.Lyles Westerns between 1963-67, missing both of his most prolific stars, Lon Chaney (8) and Richard Arlen (11). There are nine actors returning to the series, all but one (Barton MacLane) for the last time: top billed Howard Keel (3rd, in his final starring role) plays the Civil War rebel now fighting for the North, a former riverboat gambler sent West to Colton Arizona to settle a town rampant with corruption; Yvonne DeCarlo (3rd) as the town salesgirl, later revealed to be a Confederate spy; John Ireland (2nd), whose deputy appears to be the only honest citizen left in Colton, now that Sheriff Grover (Barton MacLane, 3rd of 4) has decided to go straight by leaving town; Scott Brady (5th) is the lead villain Tom Rile, running the saloon/gambling house when not selling stolen rifles coveted by Keel's supposed lawman to a band of renegade Apaches; Brian Donlevy (3rd) enjoys his role as the Mayor, but occasionally struggles to deliver his lines; Marilyn Maxwell (2nd) plays the hostess who knows the new sheriff from his days on the Mississippi; James Craig (3rd) as one of the title bushwhackers, killed in a clever bait and switch by one of his own men; finally, the ubiquitous Reg Parton shows up for his 10th Lyles oater, twice trying to murder the sheriff, unsuccessfully. As if that wasn't enough, we have the only feature film role of Roy Rogers Jr., who gets a nice closeup in his lone scene, then disappears from the picture, never to be seen again. Also, the opening narration is dramatically delivered by the unmistakable voice of James Cagney, his only screen work between "One, Two, Three" in 1961, and "Ragtime" in 1981. All things considered one may be thankful that it's as watchable as it is, with an exceedingly tired script sucking all the life out of the film, concluding with an appallingly feeble Apache attack that shows that director Lesley Selander couldn't wait to yell cut, on what turned out to be his screen farewell after 135 features. For my money, Scott Brady and Barton MacLane come off best, Howard Keel not so much.
Review of Arizona Bushwhackers
