Schieß oder stirb!

This very enjoyable and rather surprising Universal western form 1957 has 5 terrific actors and a very good script. Even Fred MacMurray was good, but Chill Wills as the 'greek chorus' to Jeffrey Hunter's ethical dilemmas is an entertaining standout. However it is Jeffrey Hunter and Dean Stockwell's movie. Stockwell, just 20 and Hunter just 30 are magnetic in their conflicted brotherly dramas. A bit of pre-Psycho mother smothering sets the tone for some emotional blackmail by Mama who gratefully drops dead by reel 2. Then we get on with the girlfriend dilemma and the worry between two of brothers. It is all beautifully realized by Janice Rule, gorgeous and well cast as Audrey, the love interest that fractures brotherly love after the cattle stampede. I loved the music score and appreciated the production values. It is a good western, unusual and edited to just the right length.

Fred MacMurray, Jeffrey Hunter, and Dean Stockwell (in his first adult role) are three brothers, working their own ranch. While MacMurray is stoic and competent, and Stockwell anxious to be grown up, Hunter is different. He's gentler, and is quickly branded a coward.

It's an interesting and well told story, but there are some problems. First is the casting of MacMurray, he's considerably older than the other two. In fact, he's only four years younger than Jisephine Hutchinson, who plays their mother. The other is the way that Hunter is photographed. Half the time, his eyes look like he's blinded by cataracts, and it sometimes seemed he moved as though he could not see.

Still and all, it's a nicely written and (largely) shot Universal western 'Shaky A' production, a good paycheck movie for its actors, who include the always welcome Chill Wills, Janice Rule, and in a small role, Bob Steele.

Gun for a Coward is directed by Abner Biberman and written by R. Wright Campbell. It stars Fred MacMurray, Jeffrey Hunter, Janice Rule, Chill Wills, Dean Stockwell and Josephine Hutchinson. Out of Universal International Pictures, film is a CinemaScope production in Eastman Color, with photography by George Robinson and music by Joseph Gershenson.

Three brothers must contend with big personal differences whilst also trying to see off a band of cattle rustlers who are pillaging from their herd.

But you don't cover me with your shadow.

So many good things involved with this production it feels unfair to label it as dull, but dull is ultimately how it ends up being after film has run its course. The cast assembled is a strong one, the dialogue is sharp and well written, and the location photography out of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is most pleasing. Prolific Western scorer Gershenson also produces a highly effective score, very reflective of the characters' stuttering emotions. But with a running time of almost 90 minutes the makers have over stretched the family feud premise by having too many periods of story inactivity. Biggest problem of all is that the coward of the title, Bless' (Hunter) back story is never fully formed, adding little snippets here and there doesn't do it justice. For instance: it's only late in the day that we find his reputation is tarnished outside of his family, the whole damn town are down on him. A better director than jobber for hire Biberman would surely have got more from this tortured character axis.

Stockwell and Hunter are not the best of actors all told, but they fit right into the roles of two brothers made of different stuff. Stockwell does a good turn as the young and fearless one, and Hunter as the middle brother of the three effectively conveys the psychological pangs that sting him during the plot. The elder brother is played by MacMurray, who offers up a weary surrogate father performance for this fatherless family. It's the death of the father that is the catalyst for Hunter's problems. While Hutchinson adds a bit of class as the fretful mother and Wills is always good value for money. Rule gets the short straw from the screenplay, in what is a critical (two fold) role, she isn't asked to do anything other than look pretty and say soothing words to tortured Bless. The action is competently constructed, though the art of throwing a convincing punch is sadly missing here. And the ending, whilst being predictable (no shades of the far superior Saddle the Wind here), has enough warmth about it for those not in need of blackness in their Western viewings.

By definition it is very much a B movie in the truest sense of the term, but there is good in the production, even if it is undone by slackness elsewhere. 5.5/10

It is a small budget and very intelligent psychological western, speaking of cowardice and the elements in relation of this. But I guess it could have been a bit better though, more gritty, poignant, with a different ending. The director Abner Biberman offered us good stuff, but not too many films, unfortunately. This one is also a family - brothers - story, with the good tension that supposes. I did not expect to see Jeffrey Hunter in this movie, besides Fred McMurray. His character is riveting, and only for this, this western is worth the watch. Universal Studios really made interesting westerns.

A mother and her three sons run a cattle ranch. At the same time, two of the brothers compete over the same girl, though one of the brothers appears cowardly.

Drama heavy western. Good thing that Universal went out and got some of the better young actors of the day which helps. Then too, there's Fred MacMurray, also a fine actor, but miscast as a 50-year old bother to both a 30-year old Hunter and Dean Stockwell at just 20 . At the same time, the supposed mother of the brood, Hutchinson, is only 5-years older than MacMurray and it shows. Too bad the screenplay couldn't make Will (MacMurray) the dad, but I guess that would have ruined the romance setup with the young Aud (Rule).

Anyway, the acting is good which helps the talky narrative go down, along with the excellent Technicolor photography. The movie's biggest problem, however, is the generally slow pacing that at times drags out the talky scenes long after we've gotten the idea. A brisker pace would have made the story more condensed and riveting. The elements of a good story are there. Is Bless (Hunter) a pacifist or a coward. People come to believe the latter. But if he's to win Aud and a share of the ranch he's got to show he can handle the challenges. But not in the hot-headed way of his younger brother Hade (Stockwell).

Note in the supporting cast the presence of the great Bob Steele who enlivened many a sagebrush matinée in his day. I hope he picked up a good paycheck. All in all, it's a decent western, a little heavy on the dramatics, but with a number of compensations.