Reviews

(aka: TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME) This sequel looks like it was done to capitalize on the outstanding European box-office success of THEY CALL ME TRINITY, only this time Joseph E. Levine and Avco-Embassy pictures wanted to capitalize on it in America as well. Too bad they didn't get very far since the Hill/Spencer pictures have had only had marginal success here in the U.S., and this largely boring, drawn-out film doesn't help it out any.

Trinity and Bambino swear to their dying father (Harry Carey Jr.) that they will become successful outlaws and take care of each other. They later get involved with arms-traffickers who smuggle guns out of a monastery, and who mistakenly think they're a pair of federal agents. It all winds up falling flat in spite of a couple of funny scenes, especially the one where Trinity and Bambino are in a fancy French restaurant and don't know how to carry themselves. And the scenes with the card sharks was mildly humorous as well.

The opening title music sung by Gene Roman sounds like a fair Bobby Goldsboro-like early 70s pop song while the music cues sprinkled throughout the movie are pretty good. Not sure if I'd want to buy the CD soundtrack of it but some others might.

The film could have had a half hour whacked off of it and it wouldn't have dragged on for so long. It looks like a lot of scenery is being chewed up here. In fact, I lost interest in it about 2/3rds of the way through. The DVD is also terrible, with a constant hum in the soundtrack and a poor print that looks like it should have been sent to that great scrap heap in the sky.

A big step down from the previous film.

4 out of 10

HONDO wasn't even released on VHS until 1995 when it was out of circulation for almost 30 years. Now Paramount home video has seen fit to release it on DVD, and it's about time since it has a lot of great macho dialog from Wayne, along with that classic scene of Wayne coming in from the desert, carrying his saddle with 'dog' by his side. That seems to be one of his most famous movie poses of all time.

The film itself is a little rough during the opening and closing titles, yet by and large, looks pretty clean considering it's age and the big, clumsy 3-D camera they used to film this thing with.

One of the first Louis L'Amour novels to hit the screen, this one involves Army scout Hondo Lane protects woman (Geraldine Page) and her son (Lee Aaker) from marauding Apaches led by Vittorio (Michael Pate) who wants her to marry one of his braves and become his squaw. In the meantime, Hondo has to kill her husband (Leo Gordon) because he tried to backshoot Hondo near a watering hole. It pains Hondo to have to tell the woman and her son this, but she doesn't care a whole lot because she didn't think much of her husband, anyway.

Hondo also has to contend with kill-happy sidekick to Vittorio, Silva (Rodolfo Acosta) and they have a pretty good knife duel until Vittorio stops it, thinking Hondo is the woman's real husband and not the guy Hondo had to kill earlier. Silva also leads the Apache attack at the end where there's that climatic battle with the wagons circled with Hondo leading the Army and settlers in fending off the attack. You know the rest.

DVD extras include a trip to the vaults with Michael Wayne and interviews with surviving actors Michael Pate and Lee Aaker. Not sure why Geraldine Page received an Oscar nomination for this one since she seems more an extra here than someone who's on screen a lot of the time. She wouldn't make another movie again for almost 10 years.

It's not my favorite Wayne western since that's reserved for the John Ford/Wayne pictures, but this one holds it's own.

6½ out of 10

(aka: RUN, MAN, RUN)

Decent sequel to Sollima's great spaghetti western, THE BIG GUNDOWN (1966), this one involves the return of Cuchillo (Thomas Milian) who helps revolutionary Santillana (John Ireland in a small role) return $3,000,000 in gold from Texas back to Mexico. Cuchillo also makes a promise to an old revolutionary before he dies to also help return the gold in order to help finance the revolution and overthrow the dictator, Porfirio Diaz.

But Cuchillo also has to deal with former sheriff Cassidy (Donal O'Brien) who also wants the gold for himself. Then there are the French assassins and bounty hunters who also want a share as well as blond Salvation Army turned gold huntress Penny (Linda Vargas) and many other bandits, too numerous to name. As comic relief we have Cuchillio's girlfriend (Chelo Alonso) following Cuchillio across the desert, trying to force him to give up the search for the gold and marry her. Cuchilio's relationship with her can be funny at times.

The nighttime gunbattle in the Texas town with the Mexican bandits is suspenseful as we see Cuchillio go to work on the bandits with his slick knife throwing skills as he kills each bandit, one after the other. It doesn't hurt that Cassidy also helps him since he needs Cuchillio to help him find the gold. The two of them eventually find out that the gold was melted down into the shape of an old printing press and painted black in order to hide it. Now that's an imaginative touch instead of the usual cave or hole in the ground plot device where people want to hide gold.

The ending is roughly the same as in THE BIG GUNDOWN only not as good since Donal O'Brien can't hope to top Lee Van Cleef in the earlier film. In fact, if there's one big flaw about this film, it's that Van Cleef isn't in it. Otherwise I'd rate it a couple of notches higher.

Blue Underground's anamorphic DVD looks pretty good and the sound and dubbing is excellent. As an earlier reviewer mentioned, there is an interview with director Sollima and Milian and their reflections on the film, as well as an interesting 1969 mini-documentary on the making of spaghetti westerns and their (then) popularity in Italy, including behind the scenes looks at this film as well as Sergio Corbucci's THE GRAND SILENCE (1968).

Decent flick although I think there are better.

6 out of 10

(aka: ACE HIGH)

Eli Wallach plays Cacopoulos, a generous bandit who gives away all he steals to those less off than he is. That is, until he steals $300,000 from bounty hunters Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy (Terence Hill and Bud Spencer) who then come trailing after him all over the southwest (or in this case, Almeria Spain) and want their money back.

When they catch up with him, Cacopoulos let's them in on his primary motive. To get back at three men who double-crossed him 15 years before, letting him get caught and sent to prison. He already killed one, and the other was killed in a Mexican shootout earlier in the film. That only leaves Drake (Kevin McCarthy) and since Cacopoulos had already gambled all Hill & Spencer's money away in Drake's gambling establishment, it's only natural that they help Cacopoulos out in getting their money back.

Reluctantly, Hill & Spencer agree and with the help of circus tightrope walker Thomas (Brock Peters), they stumble onto the fact that Drake's establishment has the roulette wheel fixed, with lookouts in the ceiling and a magnet in basement room under the roulette wheel itself. Needless to say, Drake will get his just reward for ripping the town off with his fixed gambling tables and Cacopoulos will get his revenge. I won't say how so you'll have to see for yourself.

The first half of this film is pretty standard, but the second half involving Drake is where the film really distinguishes itself, imo. It turns into a caper yarn. It also has it's funny moments but isn't as humorous as Hill & Spencer's later spaghetti western; THEY CALL ME TRINITY (1971). Btw, this is their second appearance together, the first being GOD FORGIVES, I DON'T from the year before.

The anamorphic Paramount DVD uses an excellent print although I think the widescreen is a bit too cropped on both top and bottom. Sound is also good with English subtitles (if necessary) and another excellent score by Bruno Nicolai.

If you like the genre with a little humor thrown in, then you might like this one. I did. Above average.

7 out of 10 -

The frontal nudity, bloodshed and occasional swearing doesn't bother me too much, but let's be accurate about the kind of swear words they used, OK? They seemed to be fairly truthful with most everything else in the series, so why not that?

First of all, the "c----sucker" word, and the "f---" word and "MF" word didn't come into the vernacular until the 20th Century, so the use of it in 1876 is totally inaccurate. The kind of swearing done was more the religious kind, damming God to those it was intended, to 'needed' fire and brimstone. So pa-leease, folks. Don't tell me that it was accurate. That's just a pile of misinformed BS.

I'm no prude but I think they used it to an excess here in order to appeal to a younger crowd who might well have avoided the western genre as a whole, thinking we were in for another round of "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" or "Little House On the Prairie". So by injecting this kind of language into the mix, it also tries to make itself stand out from other westerns. And it does, but not always to a positive degree, I'm afraid...

That being said, it does hold my interest. It has *the look* in accuracy that would fit right out of a Matthew Brady photograph, except for the opening titles to each episode which look too 2004 techno graphic for a period piece such as this. At least for my tastes.

I'll be seeing future episodes, but try not to fit 20th Century sensibilities into the 19th Century, OK? That's just rewriting history to suit some Hollywood hack's social agenda. A fairly common trend, nowadays.

Btw, that's my opinion and nobody else has to like it.

(aka: THEY CALL ME TRINITY)

I have to admit I'm not one for comedy westerns but this one was actually funny in parts. It's almost as funny as SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF (1971) and I would almost consider it a welcome addition to my DVD collection were it not for the fact that the current Direct Source Media DVD weren't so awful.

Trinity (Terence Hill) a dirty, dusty drifter-turned bounty-hunter comes to town to pay a visit to his horse-thieving half-brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) who's pretending to be the real sheriff. Bambino's looking for the best way to rustle some of the Colonel's horses before he leaves and he's not interested in letting Trinity cut in. In the meantime, the Colonel (Farley Granger) is doing some plotting of his own, not only to get rid of Bambino but also to displace some Mormons who are settling on some land he wants for his own cattle.

The fights, the stunts and the gunplay Trinity and Bambino play on the Colonel's men is hilarious. I like it when Bambino uses the bottom of his fist to hit the bad guy's on the top of the head. And the ending fist fight scene at the Mormon's camp cracks me up. No wonder this film made Hill and Spencer popular in Europe.

Like I said, the DVD is a travesty with a transfer that's watchable but looks like it was lifted from a VHS source. The print itself the transfer was taken from is pretty grainy with bad splices and an audible hum in the soundtrack. It deserves a failing grade.

The TRINITY series needs the Anchor Bay DVD treatment, really bad. Since these Euro westerns were so popular, I'm surprised they haven't secured the rights to it yet.

7 out of 10

-

I have to pretty much agree with the two negative reviews below, and I'll explain why in a minute.

Franco Nero plays "Keoma" a half-breed Indian raised by a white man named Shannon (William Berger) who also has three sons (adoptive brothers of Keoma) who hate him and have never accepted a 'half-breed' as their brother.

There's also George (Woody Strode), an ex-slave and friend of Shannon's who teaches Keoma all he knows about fighting.

Cut 20 years later after some flashbacks and Keoma returns to the town near where he was raised and finds that a plague has engulfed the town with a quarantine imposed by a wealthy mine owner Caldwell (Donald O'Brien) who would just as soon have it's inhabitants all die off so he can fully control the area. Keoma steps in to save a pregnant woman who Caldwell's men suspect as a plague carrier and all hell breaks loose.

Yeah, some of the knife throwing does look ludicrous, but the fist fights look good and there's an excellent gun battle in town between Keoma, Shannon and George vs. Caldwell's men. It's really done well and it looks like it was filmed in the same western set built outside of Rome as DJANGO was ten years earlier. By this time though, the place looks pretty run down and cluttered which makes a good setting for a plague-infested town.

As far as negatives go, the music sucks. It's an annoying high pitch (mostly female) whine that appears periodically throughout the move, inter sprinkled with 'singing' done by Franco Nero himself. It sounds awful as he tries to imitate Leonard Cohen but winds up sounding like a lame Tom Waits. I don't know why anybody likes it. To each his own, I guess.

There's also the annoying Sam Peckinpah-like slow-motion effects that become a cliché used over and over. It ruins some of the great gunfights, especially at the end where Keoma is battling his brothers in a barn while the pregnant lady's screams drown out all the gun battle sound. A little too arty for my tastes.

The dubbing is OK and it sounds like Nero dubbed in his own voice which comes off as strange and foreign for a half-breed American Indian. I suppose one gets used to it as the film goes along.

The Anchor Bay DVD uses an anamorphic widescreen print that looks pretty good. Only a few scratches during the opening and closing titles. No closed captioning. Nero also does a 10 minute interview explaining how the film came about, along with a secondary audio track by director Enzo Castellari giving details about the filming. Yeah the spaghetti western genre was dead by the time this film was made, but Castellari says it did very well in Italy although not enough to revive the genre. Tastes were moving towards gangsters and crime dramas by the mid-70s, so this film was an exception, not the rule.

It has some good ideas but I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece for the genre or anything. However I did enjoy some of the gun play and fistfights.

6 out of 10

-

Not really a comedy western per-se, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, either.

Takes place in revolutionary Mexico during WWI. The Swede (Franco Nero) agrees to sell guns to guerrilla general Gen. Mongo but first they have to break into a safe in order for him to get paid and only the professor (Fernando Rey) knows the combination. Or so we are led to believe.

The professor also leads a rival rag-tag army of students who are fighting both the Mexican Army as well as Mongo's men with Lola (Iris Berben) as the professor's second in command.

It turns out the professor is being held by the Americans in Texas and the Swede and El Vasco (Tomas Milian), Mongo's right hand man, has to accompany him north to free him. However an ex-partner of the Swede's, John (Jack Palance) show up and has other plans for the Swede. The psychotic John like to smoke a lot of dope and has a pet falcon named Marsha (?) who lands on John's prosthetic hand after every scouting mission.

This is one of Corbucci's better westerns in spite of the ridiculous political overtones he gives it. The story is entertaining and moves swiftly along for 2hrs. without me getting bored by any of it. I don't rate it as highly as the Leone's similarly themed DUCK YOU SUCKER (1971), but it's well worth watching all the same.

The standout here for me is Jack Palance and I wish his part was bigger. He really does chew up the scenery and the part where he tortures Milian with a rat in a basket tied around his stomach, is a hoot. Ever notice how one of Palance's sidekick, the little oriental guy, has an old telephone receiver strapped onto his ear as a hearing aid? Nice touch. And the ending where Nero throws a large cross under the boxcar filled with explosives and a detonator, blowing up Palance in the process, is a welcome end to one of the main baddies of the film.

The lighthearted Morricone score fits this film very well and I like the musical cues that are sprinkled throughout that alternate between that familiar fuzz guitar and whistling banjo playing that happens while the action has quieted down.

Anchor Bay is up to it's usual standards using an excellent widescreen anamorphic print with nary a hair or scratch through it. It looks like it was made yesterday. Some of the dialog is in Italian with subtitles because it was taken from a Euro print and was never dubbed into English. However the transitions between Euro and American versions are seamless. There's also a fairly interesting 15 minute interview with Franco Nero, Tomas Milian and Ennio Morricone where they recount their experiences while they were involved in this film.

7 out of 10

-

(aka: VENGEANCE)

Hercules star Richard Harrison plays Rocco, a half-breed Indian who swears revenge on those who betrayed them for a gold robbery they had done. His best friend Ritchie (Alberto Dell'Acqua) is ripped apart (not shown) by horses tied to his arms and legs. One by one, he tracks them down and kills them. Along the way, he finds out that another best friend, Mendoza (Carlo Camaso) has also betrayed him. He looks tubercular with yellow splotches all over his face.

The two scenes that stand out are in the first saloon fight where Rocco grabs on to a beam from up above and swings his legs up killing a man in the throat with his spurs. The second memorable scene is when Rocco is captured by one of the gang, is tied up and sticks are placed under his eyelids so he can't sleep and the sun will damage his eyes. There's also an ending scene between Mendoza and Rocco in an underground mine turned hideout, that goes on for too long. Rocco gives Mendoza too many chances to kill him making the whole ending seem anti-climatic.

Antonio Margheriti, better known for his horror films, took a time out from his usual shock fests to direct this one and if he had cut ten minutes from the film, it would have made for a tighter story. As it is, it sometimes meanders too much for effect.

The widescreen Elite DVD is pretty basic with a rough, unremastered print that shows it's age in places. No trailer or extras of any kind. At least the dubbing isn't too bad and I was slightly entertained by some of the gun battles and the action it had.

5 out of 10

-

(aka: THE AVENGER)

Sheriff Burt Sullivan (Franco Nero) leaves his job temporarily to go down to Mexico with his kid brother Jim (Alberto Dell'Acqua) and hunt down Cisco Delgado, the man who killed their father. Only there's an added surprise complication since the Delgado is related to Sullivan in a way which I won't reveal.

I had no problem with the dubbing since it's no worse that what you find with many films in this genre, but there's some pretty sloppy editing here. For example, early in the movie Sullivan (Nero) is ambushed by a man with a rifle up in some rocks. He has a shootout with the man and eventually kills him, but he doesn't go over to investigate and find out who the man was or find some clues as to why he was after him. Instead he turns the other way and finds his brother Jim waiting down at the bottom of the hill, playing a banjo. Bizarre to say the least.

The opening title track sung by Don Powell isn't any great shakes, either. Some of the later music cues in the film sound like surf instrumentals with a slightly Spanish tinge to them. Like out of KILL BILL or something. They sound pretty cool in light of the dreary opening track.

I must say that I did like the Almeria locations that vary between desert and rocky high ground as well as beautiful canyons and a river that could pass for the Rio Grande, but that's not enough to take it over the edge, imo.

The beautiful widescreen anamorphic Anchor Bay DVD comes with a 10 minute featurette where Franco Nero discusses the making of the film and how he used stuntmen in the fight scenes to make it look more believable, and he's right. Some of the fist fights do look good.

As it is, it doesn't hold a candle to DJANGO or Nero's previous western before this, TEMPO DE MASSACRO (MASSACRE TIME) which is one of my favorites. I wish Anchor Bay would release that one since it not only stars Franco Nero, but was directed by master horror director, Lucio Fulci.

In the meantime, I consider Texas, ADDIO below average.

4 out of 10

-

Looks like it takes place in the 1840s or 50s since it's flintlock rifles that are being used.

Most of the film deals with a Blackfoot Indian, Heavy Eagle (soap-opera star, David Ackroyd) and his warriors going after mountain man, Bill Tyler (Charlton Heston) for 'stealing' his squaw, Running Moon (Victoria Racimo). Doesn't matter that Running Moon wants to be with Tyler. Heavy Eagle has to preserve his honor.

There's a side plot about the shortage of beaver that Tyler and his partner/sidekick Henry Frapp (Brian Keith) have to deal with, but this is mostly a pursuit film with Heston being chased all over Wyoming and engaging in lots of hand-to-hand combat with the Blackfoot.

And speaking of Wyoming, there is some excellent scenery up there. Beautiful country!

Lots of swearing, some blood being spilled and plot that moves pretty fast, so there's little time is being wasted. I don't know who edited this film but some of the scene transitions seem a little too abrupt to me. The film also has plenty of lame juvenile dialog, but if you can get past that, then it's worth a look.

I'm going to give it an above average rating more for the scenery and a beautiful score by Michael Legrand, than anything.

6 out of 10

Robert Walker plays Lee Strobie, a sleazy greedy son gone bad. His adopted brother Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) is always covering for him. Strobie gets Lily Faskin (Sally Forrest) pregnant and Lily's brothers (John Ireland & Hugh O'Brien) come gunning for Daybright since they found out he was the one who paid money to Lily for her trouble. They think Owen is the father when in fact it was Lee who got Lily pregnant in the first place. Lee also tries to hide this fact from his wife Jen (Joanne Dru) but she finds out about it, anyway.

Sound convoluted enough? Well it actually it works. This is an 'adult' western, not your average B programmer.

There's little gunplay except at the end when the Faskin brothers try to ambush and kill Owen during a cattle drive. Lee gallops away leaving Owen at the mercy of the Faskins. It's only then that Owen realizes Lee was in on this ambush too because he wants Owen dead so he can have the ranch all to himself.

The other ranch hands come to Owen's rescue and kill the Faskins, leaving Owen free to pursue Lee to the river where the inevitable showdown occurs. If you want to see what happens next, see the movie.

I love the scenery in this one. It's beautiful. Looks like Colorado but I could be mistaken and the IMDb doesn't give the location. I'd love to go out there, though.

It seems this MGM western is in the public domain since there are a lot of bootleg DVDs of it out there of mediocre quality. I saw it on TCM and it looks like it could use a remastering job since the Technicolor is all washed out and the sound fades out at times.

Unlike some of the viewers below, I liked it since it had a slightly sleazy element to the story. May even be worth getting on DVD if Turner ever decides to release an official version.

7 out of 10

Jeff Chandler plays an army major who heads west in order to help an obstinate colonel quell a local Kiowa uprising. He has the idea to train some uprooted Seminoles to help the army defeat the Kiowa using some of the same hit-and-run tactics the Kiowa use to attack white settlers. The Kiowa are also helped by an army deserter who also happens to be Maureen O'Hara's ex. That complicates the love interest between Chandler and O'Hara.

It's pretty standard stuff. The battle at the end in the fort didn't look too exciting although I've seen worse. Dennis Weaver as a Seminole indian looks unconvincing and John McIntire as the stubborn colonel can be a little too hard to believe at times. It's only when the Kiowa attack the fort and he gets shot that he comes around and believes Chandler's tactics were right, all along.

The full-screen Universal DVD is pretty clean with little, if any film damage but the only extra is a trailer. No digital artifacts that I could see. In full Technicolor.

They're are so many better westerns than this that Universal could have released on DVD. All those Audie Murphy oaters for example, so I hope they get around to doing it.

At least at 78 minutes, this one had the benefit of not going on too long.

Average.

5 out of 10

A lot of people consider this one of the essentials of spaghetti oaters, but I'm sorry to say that I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not a bad film for the genre, but I wouldn't exactly go out of my way and buy the Anchor Bay DVD of it, either. I found the action kind of weak. It lacks that punch and wit that I've found from other oaters by the likes of Giulio Petroni, Lucio Fulci or even Corbucci's later westerns, imo.

Django spends a lot of the time trudging through the mud hauling a coffin carrying a 'surprise' that he will later use against both the Mexicans who pillage the town, and Col. Jackson's men who impose stiff taxes and levies for 'protection'.

He sees a woman getting flogged by some of the Mexicans, and then Col. Jackson's men after they've just killed the Mexicans from a distance. Django then takes the woman back to town where he confronts Jackson after Jackson's learned that Django's just killed five of his men.

The scene where Django kills the rest of Jackson's men on the muddy street looks sloppy and unconvincing. Even the 'machine gun' looks like a studio prop with no recoil as he mows down Jackson's men. Poor.

There are a couple of brutal scenes where the Mexicans cut off one of Jackson's men's ears, or when they stomp and crush Django's hands towards the end of the film, but that's not enough to put this in the 'classic' category, either. The ending scene in the graveyard is almost anti-climatic as Django, hiding behind a cross marker with his broken hands holding a pistol, does...well... you'll have to see for yourself.

The opening and closing title theme song by Bacalov is essential for Spaghetti western music collectors, but too bad I can't say the same for the rest of the film. There are better out there. Check out Franco Nero in TEMPO DI MASSACRO (1966) for example and you'll see what I mean. Now I wish someone would release *that* one on DVD.

5 out of 10

At first I thought this was going to turn into another B western since it has a cast that includes Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden and Lon Chaney in it, but then the plot quickens and it starts to get better as time goes on.

Randolph Scott plays Cole Armin, a happy-go-lucky guy who decides to come to Albuquerque and work for his wheelchair-bound uncle, John Armin (George Cleveland) in his freight business, only to find out that his uncle has got the town under his thumb and is willing to resort to murder in order to keep it that way.

Cole decides he doesn't want any part of his uncle's business and goes to work for honest-guy Ted Wallace (Hayden) and his sister Celia (Catherine Craig) who are the only freight competition in town against his uncle. They get a contract to transport ore for the miners down from the mountains, but Cole's uncle tries to sabotage it every step of the way, including bringing in beautiful Barbara Britton to spy on them and having Lon Chaney pick fights with Cole.

But that's all for naught because Britton starts to fall in love with Hayden and she informs Cole as to what his evil uncle is up to. It all ends in a gun battle on the street and the bad guys get their just rewards, including John Armin.

I'm glad the previous poster mentioned the cheap "Cinecolor" process that Paramount originally used because I was wondering why the film had a washed-out, 'colorized' look to it. It's even more apparent on the new Universal DVD that's recently come out.

Still, it not bad. Even Gabby Hayes was bearable.

6 out of 10

Another new DVD release from the vaults of Universal that's about as action-packed as JESSE JAMES (1939), which also came out around the same time. This too, carries the same western myth that Hollywood has about certain outlaws. If society had only treated them fairly, then they wouldn't have become outlaws in the first place.

The Daltons have been railroaded off of their farm and turned into outlaws by greedy land speculators who manipulate the law to suit their own ends. So begins the chase out of the courthouse, through the woods and onto a moving train in order to make good their escape. It even has some good Yakima Canutt stunt work involving a stagecoach robbery.

Randolph Scott and his love interest Kay Francis really are on the sidelines as those who are siding with the Daltons in spirit, even though they aren't out robbing bank and trains with them. They're really are only supporting players here even though they headline in the credits.

The real star is Broderick Crawford who despite his New York Bronx accent, really shines here as the lead Dalton, even scene-stealing away from Brian Donlevy who takes a back seat. This movie is Crawford's show, no question about it.

Director George Marshall has done better with oaters like DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) and Texas (1941), but this film is no slouch, either. There's not a lot of deep plot characterizations but if you want 40s action that moves along pretty nicely, then you can't go wrong here.

6½ out of 10

Audie Murphy (as John Gant) plays it real smooth here. He manipulates the whole town 'leading citizens' into thinking which one is the one he's after (that he's been hired to kill), and leaves them all feeling quite guilty over their past misdeeds. So guilty that the town banker commits suicide, and a couple of others start shooting one another without Gant ever having to lift a finger.

This is one of the few times you'll see Murphy play a bad guy, although quite different from the unhinged character you'd later see him play in John Huston's THE UNFORGIVEN (1960). Nothing he did acting-wise, ever topped that one.

Universal has released the widescreen Technicolor DVD of this and it's the best way to see it. No speckling and only a couple of brief frame blemishes. Sound is excellent, although the only extra is a trailer.

Now if Universal will only see fit to release the following excellent Audiepix westerns on DVD, I'd be a happy man:

SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN (1960) w. Barry Sullivan; RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO (1954) w. Dan Duryea; HELL BENT FOR LEATHER (1960) w. Steven McNally; and RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL (1958) w. Walter Matthau

So if you all liked NO NAME ON THE BULLET, then I bet you'll probably like the four I listed up above. They're all solid oaters.

7 out of 10

This is a standard actioner about railroad detective Luke Smith (Alan Ladd) who has to track down an old buddy Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston) whom he believes is involved in a series of railroad hold ups. Murray also happens to have a fine spread and is married to Smith's old love interest, Marion (Brenda Marshall).

Smith cut's Murray a lot of breaks and gives him the benefit of the doubt until someone is killed in a railroad hold-up and he can no longer turn a blind eye towards his old friend. Donald Crisp plays the leader the gang that led Murray astray and we have bad guy Whitey (Frank Faylen wearing a blond wig) as the heavy.

Paramount gave it an "A" picture look with excellent Technicolor production values, but it deserves a better plot. Preston merely repeats his good-guy-gone-bad role from BLOOD ON THE MOON, and Ladd is capable but low-key to the point of almost being monotonous. Crisp as a bad guy makes no impression while Faylen's blond wig, looks ridiculous.

It starts off being filmed up in the beautiful Sierras but winds up towards the end at the same ranch locations that Paramount used for most of it's programmers. Same old locations.

It's not bad, but it's nothing special, imo. Average.

5 out of 10