Das Gesetz der Gesetzlosen

A.C. Lyles gets together a cast of Hollywood veterans for another of his low budget westerns which vary in quality though the veteran players are always giving it their best shot. This one doesn't quite come off mainly because of the near saintliness of the lead, Dale Robertson.

Dale should have been put in for beatification. He plays a former fast gun who still straps his iron on the left side as he did in television's Tales Of Wells Fargo, but who has now studied law and become a judge. In his courtroom the unwritten law about shootouts is not enforced, you get hung. An old pal played by John Agar is awaiting trial for just such a shootout where he provoked a young man into a gunfight. Agar is truly a rat and when you learn the circumstances of the gunfight, you'll agree he ought to be hung.

However Barton MacLane who is Agar's father doesn't see it that way. He tests Robertson in a variety of ways with saloon girl Yvonne DeCarlo, when young deputy Rod Lauren is killed, and finally with imported fast gun Bruce Cabot who happens to be the man who outdrew Robertson's father. Robertson emerges with his halo intact.

William Bendix is in the cast as well as both sheriff and prosecutor and Kent Taylor is Agar's attorney. Law Of The Lawless is tight and compact and if Robertson's character was a little more human, this could have been one of A.C. Lyles best senior citizen westerns.

Nothing special in this dusty western, belonging to the AC Lyles prod, specialized in the early sixties in recycling old timers on retirement, or not far, such as Richard Arlen , Bill Bendix, Yvonne de Carlo, Dale Robertson, Bruce Cabot and many other actors and actresses concerning other features of this kind. For die hard western fans only. It is cheap, lousy, even directed by good directors, who are not convinced at all by those predictable stories. Bill Claxton, Lesley Selander, RG Sprinsteen, were the main directors for thiese productions. Close to retirement directors too. Here, i have no strength to tell this already seen topic; this film made me half sleep. The only good point is that this movie is probably the best of all A C Lyles productions, maybe because of also being the first; the others will be more action oriented and the quality will also decline. They try to put some psychology here, more than anywhere else in AC Lyles films for Paramount. An excellent anti climax ending, that justifies the seven stars for rating.

Producer A.C. Lyles is chiefly remembered today for the series of 13 B-Westerns done for Paramount from late 1963-late 1967. A former publicist for the studio, Lyles knew many of Hollywood's greatest stars, and got his start as a film producer after James Cagney agreed to direct 1957's "Short Cut to Hell." In 1963, he began a series of Westerns generally shot in 10-14 days, often back to back then issued months apart, with "Law of the Lawless," successful enough as a second feature to spawn a dozen more. Like all those that followed, the veteran cast provides the greatest interest, in both major and minor roles, a spate of stories where the good guys win out over the bad in the end, no longer viable by the next decade, the nihilistic 70s. "Law of the Lawless" makes for a decent start, with Dale Robertson (TALES OF WELLS FARGO) as Judge Clem Rogers, whose latest assignment in Stone Junction Kansas has him deciding the fate of old friend Pete Stone (John Agar), whose father Big Tom (Barton MacLane) wields great power among the townsfolk, and believes his son was involved in a fair shootout. The old pros were as happy to get the work as Lyles was to have them: still sexy Yvonne De Carlo as the saloon girl sweet on the judge, William Bendix as the wounded sheriff, Bruce Cabot as hired gunman Joe Rile, Richard Arlen as Bartender Ben, Kent Taylor as Pete's Kansas City defense attorney, Bill Williams as a wheelchair-bound witness to the alleged crime (the last half hour takes place in the courtroom). Special billing as 'Tiny' goes to veteran Western heavy Lon Chaney, in typical form as Pete Stone's main henchman, assaulting poor Yvonne as he tries to persuade her to implicate the high and mighty Judge in a seamy scandal; and just like his character in his earliest Lyles production, "Albuquerque" (Randolph Scott), never loses the cigarette dangling from his lips! Leonard Maltin disparagingly referred to the series in general as being only 'for buffs who want to play spot the star,' but they still endure in the 21st Century, even as the Old West recedes further into the past.

A judge rides into a Kansas town (Dale Robertson) to arbitrate a murder trial involving the son of the formidable mogul (John Agar and Barton MacLane). Yvonne De Carlo plays a saloon girl, Lon Chaney Jr. A friend of the accused and Bruce Cabot a hired gun.

"Law of the Lawless" (1964) is an A. C. Lyles Western, who produced over a dozen 'second-feature' Westerns in the mid-60s, which all featured former A-list actors and were shot in 10-14 days. The teams Lyles gathered together for his productions always knew what they were doing and did it competently and efficiently.

As such, there's little artistic merit to this Western, but it effectively gets the job done if you're in the mode for traditional town-bound Western. De Carlo was certainly a beauty and this was her last film before focusing on The Munsters for the next few years.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Iverson Ranch & Paramount Studios, Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-/C+

A passable Lyles Western that gently eases its ageing cast through an intriguing plot . Paramount producer A.C. Lyles made several westerns with well known Hollywood stars in support roles . As producer Lyles financed thirteen westerns movies made in the mid-Sixties , all of them realized in short budget and with similar tarnished stars of the 40s and 50s .It is just one of many second feature Westerns produced by A.C. Lyles at Paramount in the 1960's . These Westerns were of certain interest when they were shown at the local cinemas as they always had many veteran actors in supporting roles . For example take a look at the credits for "Law of the Lawles¨ and you will watch quite an impressive cast for a second feature western!! . It deals with Clem Rogers (Dale Robertson) , known as "the Hanging Judge" has come to Stone Junction, Kansas in 1889 to preside over the murder trial of hothead Pete Stone (John Agar) who has been arrested for the murder of George Stapleton (Jody McCrea) , son of town ruler "Big Tom" Stone (Barton McLane) . Things are made more difficult and get worst when Rogers to be aware that Joe Rile (Bruce Cabot) , the gunslinger who murdered his deaceased dad , is working for Stone and is wanting to kill him . Later on , a hoodlum called Tim (Lon Chaney Jr) leaves the unconscious, beaten and half-dressed Ellie Irish (Yvonne De Carlo) in his hotel room. On the day of the trial the town slowly fills with strangers and the criminal court is presided by Rogers (Dale Robertson) , all in black and all hired to be filled the courtroom while the prosecutor is the sheriff/preacher Ed Tanner (William Bendix) and the tough defender is the expert lawyer Rand McDonald (Kent Taylor) . Along the way , Ellie Irish (Yvonne De Carlo) is proposed as a witness but she is discredited for his job as a Saloon girl . Stone Senior (Barton McLane) tells that everyone is related to Rogers has been hanged and defies Rogers to send his son to the gallows . The "Hanging Judge" had come to the moment of decision!

This is a pleasantly average actioner , but an acceptable Western with thrills , shootouts , typical scenes in the coutroom and violent confrontation near a hardware that is the highlight of the movie when the starring is attacked and taking place violent deaths . The film is well scripted - indeed this is the best screenplay of all Lyle's Westerns - and imaginatively directed by William F. Claxton , especially at the climax developed at the filled courtroom . It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and decent plot . This short runtime tale is almost ordinary , a judge comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get awry . Although made in low budget by the producer A.C. Lyles , it has its good moments here and there . The highlight has to be the fight between Dale Robertson , and deputy Rod Lauren against nasty bounty hunters and one of them is killed in cold blood .

Medium/low budget film produced by Lyles , a former publicist, who became a producer of Paramount B-westerns starring ageing Hollywood actors . Lyles produced a lot of Western in short or average budget such as ¨Black spurs¨(1965) , ¨Apache uprising¨(1966); ¨Johnny Reno¨ , ¨Waco¨ , ¨Red Tomahawk ¨and ¨Hostile guns¨(67) , among others ; many of them directed by R.G. Springsteen or Lesley Selander or William F Claxton . He was even awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6840 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California for his Westerns . As during the 1960s, he produced over a dozen low-budget Westerns starring former A-list actors including Dana Andrews and mature actresses , being usually played by the always sex-pot Jane Russell and Yvonne de Carlo as veteran Saloon women in their Forties . Of interest for star-watching only, as here shows up known secondaries in fact I always used to sit up and pay attention when the words "An A.C. Lyles Production" came up on the TV screen , this time with the appearance the following old glories : Yvonne De Carlo , William Bendix , Lon Chaney Jr. , Bruce Cabot , Barton MacLane , John Agar, Kent Taylor , Bill Williams, Richard Arlen, among others .

It contains a lousy cinematography in Techniscope by Lester Shorr and atmospheric musical score by Paul Dunlap . This horse opera was realized in low-budget by producer A.C. Lyles and distributed by Paramount Pictures and was middlingly directed by William F. Claxton . This filmmaker made several Westerns since the forties as Cinema as Television . He realized B Westerns as Stagecoach to Fury , The quiet gun , Tucson , Stagecoach to Thunder Rock , Young Jesse James and various Western TV series as Tales of Wells Fargo , The High Chaparral , Gunsmoke , Rifle man , Law of the Plainsman , Yancy Derringer , Bonanza , Rawhide , Black Saddle , among others . Rating : 6/10 .