Wyoming-Bravados

In this movie Keel is NOT a unloving-turned-loving Adam Ponifee nor a kind Wild Bill Hickok. Rather, he is about the meanest man anybody can find anywhere. He knows no bounds to treating people mean. Of course, in this particular movie he is the sheriff of a wild town which tries to be run by vengeful outlaws, outlaws who meet their match with him. The beautiful Jane Russell is superb as his love interest, but even she sometimes is frustrated with him. He is excellent in this role as the mean, no-nonsense marshal. A great acting feat for him. But I would hate to think for the people that knew him that he was ever this cold, hard, and mean!

A.C. Lyles turned out another good geezer western with Waco starring Howard Keel a recently released outlaw from prison who's been hired to clean up a really bad town run by saloon owner John Smith and his hired gun DeForest Kelley. Keel is kind of hoping to take things up where they left off with Jane Russell, but turns out she's gone and married preacher Wendell Corey. That sort of disillusions him as he wavers back and forth between doing the job he was hired or resuming his old outlaw ways.

If it's action you want than Waco will not disappoint. Keel in the title role and we never do learn his real name because he probably was not born with that name, has a number of nasty fights and shootings. Besides Smith and Kelley, he's also got the Jenner family to contend with he killed one of them years ago. Willard Parker and Reg Parton are the remaining Jenner brothers and there's Anne Seymour, Ma Barker of the old west. In many ways, she's the one you'll remember from this film.

Waco's also a pretty adult western with such themes as infidelity lightly touched upon and rape of Tracy Olsen an integral part of the story. The final shootout in the town involves just about every member of the cast.

If you like western action you can't go wrong with Waco.

WACO is the name of the character who is the stereotypical Western hero in Hollywood Westerns. He's fast on the draw, tough, and an outlaw in the beginning, which is standard for Western heroes.of that would be okay, except we never really care for this Waco guy played by Howard Keel. Don't expect the joy ride of THE WAR WAGON. This is strictly Hollywood hate formula. Waco has absolutely no credible motivation. Keel comes across a bit like Joe Don playing Buford, but without the incentive. Absolutely none. Motivation has to be a key, but in the sixties, Hollywood would have none of that. For about three decades, they threw characters who were spoiled brats with unrelenting and unprovoked hatred at us, expecting us to empathize with them. Well, only the sickest and most demon possessed were able to do that, and they were generally the control freaks who decided what the rest of us had to watch. This is a perfect example of what was wrong with the Hollywood era of mid sixties to mid eighties All of that is made worse by the big names being wasted here. As in the hero, motivation is suspect, although Waco is the worst written character perhaps in any Western. That takes away any thrills, and makes this all ho hum, no matter how many horses you see, no matter how many gunshots are fired.

This is another obscure western that I just watched on Netflix streaming. It stars Howard Keel as Waco, a formerly jailed gunman who's pardoned by the governor and sent to Emporia to tame that town. Unfortunately for him, his former lover Jane Russell is now married to preacher Wendell Corey who was a former gunman himself. I'll stop there and just say that while the triangle that I just described makes some of this oater dramatically compelling, it's not the only exciting part of this movie. There's also the Jenner family who holds a grudge against Waco for killing one of their members and then there's DeForest Kelley who's the bouncer at the local casino who's also anxious to eliminate him. Oh, and there's also a pretty good story-song about the title character as told by Lorne Greene. So on that note, I highly recommend Waco. P.S. Not long after Kelley made this, he would soon become a Sci-Fi icon when he began playing Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the original "Star Trek".

Producer A C Lyles made several low budget Westerns in the 60's and they invariably featured -like this movie -a cast of veteran stars whose golden days may have been but a distant memory but who were still very able performers .The pictures never scaled any dizzy heights but provided satisfying B movie experiences Waco does not refer to the town in Texas but is the name of the hero,played with authority by Howard Keel.A town is being terrorised by gunmen under the leadership of the black garbed Ace Ross (Brian Donleavy) who kills a prominent citizen (Richard Arlen- a regular member of Lyles stock company)The citizens then realise the one man who might be able to save them is Waco but the problem is that he is in gaol but he is released in order to tackle the bad guys and in the process stake a claim in society.

The performances are good especially from Wendell Corey as a gunman turned preacher ,Sam Stone ,and the ever radiant Jane Russell as Jill Stone with whom Waco has a romantic dalliance .Other veterans in the cast include DeForrest Kelley ,John Agar and Gene Evans It is more violent than most Lyles movies but not excessively so and certainly not by today's standards Good solid B movie making and worth your time if you like Westerns