The Gatling Gun - Das Maschinengewehr

i don't watch many westerns,the few I've seen i actually enjoy.this was one of them.a Gatling gun is being sought by the apache,and the us calvary led by guy stock well must overcome all odds to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.talk about a stellar cast.when i found John Carridine was in this,i just had to watch. Carridine was one of the greatest actors that ever lived,he plays a preacher,also in the cast is Pat Butram(Mr Haney of green acres)woody strode,Barbara Luna and Patrick Wayne(son of John Wayne)its a wild wild western,a good cast and good story.8 out of 10.all in all a very well made western made by universal in 1973.

In many ways, this movie looks and feels much older than 1973, and I'm still not quite convinced that this is accurate. Yet, the social conscience of the 70's is there, if only in throw away lines and occasional, unexpected preachiness. The struggle for the WMD of the era, i.e. the Gatling Gun of the movie's title, involves a small band of US Cavalry, one "bad apple" (Robert Fuller playing effectively against type), and the Apaches, headed by the Spanish speaking chief "Two Knives." Thrown in the mix are the vixenish step-daughter of a self-righteous preacher (must have been a handful for that man of the cloth) and an All-American, sharp-shootin'"Annie Oakley Type" who in one brief scene appears in a dress and is described as "All Girl" (which she is!). Plus John Wayne's son, I think, and a couple of old codgers. Any and all of the characters vacillate here and there in their views on the treatment of the American Indian and their role in history but the Gatling Gun has the final word.

(1972) Gatling Gun ENGLISH DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

Low budget western which also a history lesson centers on a double crosser Yankee, Pvt. Sneed (Robert Fuller) who steals a gatling gun so that he can sell it to some comanches. The Union soldiers eventually get it back except that the gun doesn't work, mainly because they're some missing parts, unbeknownst where they're. And as the film progresses, viewers don't know whether they will ever survive this desert since the comanches outnumber their regiment 3 to one.

Acting is lousy as well as the production values where you'd see some Indians getting shot earlier in the film, but then it's like some of those very same Indians who were supposed to be killed got up again.

A familiar cast of western regulars make up the players in The Gatling Gun. Sad to say that a badly written and/or a badly edited story fill this plot with more holes than a Gatling Gun could give a wooden wall.

A couple of troopers plus Reverend John Carradine and his seductive stepchild Barbara Luna steal a Gatling Gun from the army to give to the Apaches. One of the troopers is killed, but the other, Robert Fuller, is captured along with Carradine and Luna and Captain Guy Stockwell is assigned to bring The Gatling Gun and his prisoners back.

But the Apache chief Carlos Rivas still wants that weapon and the rest of the film is concerned with his efforts to get it even though he doesn't know that it doesn't have a firing pin.

The players here speak their lines truly without conviction. They all know that when the film is done it will grace their Thanksgiving table that year.

"The Gatling Gun" was originally titled "King Gun" and shot in 1969, but not released till 1971. It's a cavalry vs. Indians Western focusing on the eponymous weapon with a great cast of familiars -- Guy Stockwell, Robert Fuller, Phil Harris, Woody Strode, Patrick Wayne, John Carradine, Pat Buttram and BarBara Luna (from Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror") -- highlighted by curvy redhead Judy Jordan, to say the least.

Critics write it off as "routine" and akin to a TV Western. True, it is Grade 'B' and comic-booky, so proceed with caution. BUT the notable cast clicks and the story delivers the goods, as far as Western (melo)drama & action goes. It's essentially a survival tale of a small group of soldiers and civilians who team-up to survive a desert trek threatened by Two-Knife (Carlos Rivas) and his rogue tribe.

If you're a sucker for desert-survival tales (like me), such as "Sands of the Kalahari" (1965), "Flight of the Phoenix" (1965), "Escape from Zahrain" (1962) and "They Came to Cordura" (1959), you'll probably appreciate "The Gatling Gun," as long as you can forgive the TV budget (although it's not technically a TV movie and was dubiously released to theaters). It's not as good as the first three, but it's more entertaining than the last one. While "Cordura" is a more serious production with overall superior production values, it's also more hokey in a 50's Western sense.

The trek through the desert features a lot of drama but the movie ends with a bang as the group squares-off against Two-Knife and his braves. Stockwell stands out as the alpha male Army Lieutenant who naturally attracts the babe (Jordan), whereas Fuller is effective as Private Sneed, done-in by his own lust for lucre.

The film runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Eaves Movie Ranch and Ghost Ranch near Sante Fe, New Mexico.

GRADE: B-