Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Bande

Colt 45 is certainly a lite western for RS but nevertheless is worth a shot. What I found most interesting are how many familiar actors from later big movies make their lesser screen appearances here. Ruth Roman is the only female in the picture and has everybody's attention. She even manages to throw some dirt at and a knockout of RS. Probably the only time this has happened to Scott on screen. She is a few years ahead of Far Country with Jimmy Stewart. Walter Coy, Aaron Edwards in The Searchers, has an uncredited role here that you'd have to Search for. Lloyd Bridges predates his paranoid role in High Noon with a complete weasel of a character here. The catch of the day is Ian McDonald playing Miller here, a member of Zachary Scott's gang; later as Frank Miller in High Noon.

As for the flick, Scott looks clean shaven even after forty days of soft time in jail. Brother Zachary looks like a very light weight Clark Gable. The sexual symbolism is a little too obvious here but for young kids it was all surely missed. Just relieved that RS is clearly interested in Roman with Ruth more than his colts. This is one western where the Indians (unnnamed tribe) are the good guys. It's not The Tall T or Commanche Station but if you are a fan of RS, and I certainly am, you can't miss with a Colt 45.

Colt .45 (AKA: Thundercloud) is directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Thomas W. Blackburn. It stars Randolph Scott, Ruth Roman, Zachary Scott, Lloyd Bridges, Alan Hale Senior and Chief Thundercloud. Music is by William Lava and cinematography by Wilfred M. Cline.

"A gun like any other source of power, is a force for either good or evil, being neither in itself, but dependent upon those who possess it."

Another of the Warner Brothers Westerns to star Western legend Randolph Scott, this one sees Scott once again team up with Marin for another lively and colourful bout of yee-haw shenanigans. Scott is gun salesman Steve Farrell, who has his new Colt .45's stolen by outlaw Jason Brett (Z Scott). As Brett and his gang wreak havoc across the lands, Farrell sets out with angered urgency to end the rampage.

1950 was a big year for the Western genre, there was strong psychological releases such as Broken Arrow, Devil's Doorway, The Furies, The Gunfighter and Winchester '73. While John Ford was laying down one of his super Cavalry movies with Rio Grande. Colt .45 is a mile from the class of those, but as the box office success of it shows, there was then, and still is now, a great deal of enjoyment to be garnered from this type of Randy Scott Oater.

There's a unpretentiousness about the film, while the portrayal of the Indians here, who have a significant say in the story, is on the good side of good. Z Scott makes for a good villain without going over the top, Hale, who would pass away this same year, is good value as always and Roman looks the pretty part in a thankless role. Marin directs at a clip, instilling gusto to the plentiful action, and Cline brings the picturesque landscapes to colourful life.

There's of course some suspension of disbelief needed, while certain plot developments are daft, but once the dramatic twists align themselves with the frivolity, it rounds out as a good time for all the family; and of course those into gun porn! 7/10

In the 1950s, Randolph Scott made a number of westerns at Warner Bros., ranging from the sublime (Andre De Toth's CARSON CITY) to the ridiculous (this one). COLT .45 (1950) has got a number of things wrong with it, including ludicrous plotting, but is at least fast-paced, well-cast and dotted with frequent bursts of violence and gunplay. The screenwriter seems to have bent over backwards to tie a standard lawman-vs.-stage robbers tale to the Colt .45 revolver which is apparently being introduced to the west at the time this film takes place. The plot has to do with an outlaw's theft of a pair of the title six-shooters and the robbery-and-killing spree that results. The owner of the guns, Steve Farrell (Randolph Scott), a salesman for the Colt company, takes off after the villain with a second pair of the six-guns. At various points during the action, Farrell is accused of complicity with Brett (Zachary Scott), the robber he's pursuing.

Zachary Scott makes a suitably snarling, mustachioed villain in a performance seemingly fueled by ample infusions of "fire water" consumed between set-ups. Ruth Roman makes a spunky and attractive heroine as the wife of a miner (Lloyd Bridges) who's in cahoots with Zachary. Alan Hale (Sr.) plays a corrupt sheriff also working with Zachary.

The most interesting thing about this western is the inclusion of a tribe of Indians who pop up at convenient moments to help hero Farrell. Given the pervasiveness of corrupt whites in Bonanza Creek, the backlot town where the film takes place, the Indians prove to be Farrell's only dependable allies. The chief is played by respected Indian actor Chief Thundercloud, who adds virtually the only note of historical authenticity to the entire film. At one point, one of the Indian women supplies heroine Roman with a very fashionable white buckskin jacket that she sports for the rest of the film.

The film is set during the James K. Polk administration immediately after the Mexican War, placing the action sometime in the 1840s. Given that photography was a brand-new (and quite time-consuming) technology back then, it's anachronistically amusing to see posters featuring a black-and-white head shot of Randolph Scott distributed to peace officers in the film.

Shot in color, COLT .45 is a relatively low-budget affair with shooting restricted to the Warner Bros. backlot and nearby studio ranches.

Randolph Scott is a salesman for Colt Firearms traveling the west demonstrating his company's newest invention, the .45 revolver to law enforcement. At a police station a slimy weasel of a man makes off with his demonstration models and goes on a robbery and killing spree, aided by the superiority of the revolver to the average one shot pistols. Scott sets out to clear his name and retrieve his guns.

Like all studio backed B-pictures, this looks good and is technically well made with good action sequences but with a somewhat forgettable script.

However, this has some novelty as probably the only fifties western where all the lawmen are portrayed as crooked villains and/or stubborn dummies while the Indians are the good guys, saving the hero's bacon on more than one occasion!

I particularly enjoyed the lighting and Technicolor in this.

Randolph Scott, as jut jawed and heroic as he's ever been, is gun salesman Steve Farrell. One day, in a prison, he's showing off his pride and joy, and sadly this will assist outlaw Jason Brett (Zachary Scott) in a jailbreak. Wrongfully locked up when it's assumed that he must have been an accomplice, Steve is soon released, and sets out to bring the bad guy down. Brett, of course, is having the time of his life utilizing Steves' prized Colt .45s.

This is an okay, routine Western. It does benefit from some good action scenes, and the cast makes the most of the situation. The very pretty Ruth Roman is engaging in an under written role as Beth Donovan, the wife of Paul Donovan (Lloyd Bridges), one of Bretts' cohorts. Randolph Scott doesn't have to stretch himself at all, but he's in good form, while Zachary Scott commands a great deal of the attention as the thoroughly nasty, overconfident villain who feels emboldened by his new weapons. Bridges is fine as the weaselly Paul, who's not as degenerate as Brett, but is absolutely no rose, either. Alan Hale provides a rock steady presence as the morally compromised Sheriff Harris (this, unfortunately, was one of his final roles, as he died later the same year). Ian MacDonald, who later gained his greatest fame as the gang leader Miller in "High Noon", is also playing a character named Miller here. And Indian actor Chief Thundercloud is able to play his proud character Walking Bear with some dignity.

Direction (by Edwin L. Marin), production design, cinematography, and music are all handled capably, making this decent entertainment for 74 minutes.

Six out of 10.