Gun to Gun

Gun to Gun (1944)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent two-reel Western from Warner has Don Diego not paying taxes on his cattle and when a man comes to collect, the rancher agrees to give over one thousand cattle instead. He gets the trusted Steve Randall (Robert Shayne) to take the cattle but he soon realizes that they're dealing with crooked men. GUN TO GUN was one of a handful of Westerns that Shayne made at Warner during this period and each of them vary in quality. This one here isn't too bad but I think a better screenplay certainly would have helped matters. I say this because the entire story is uneven right from the start and it gets more confusing as it moves along. It's often hard to tell what the writer is wanting to get across and if this is going to be some sort of political issue or your typical Western crooks. Shayne is good in his role of the good guy but this is the type of character he could play in his sleep. Lupita Tovar is good as the love interest and not to mention easy on the eyes. Pedro de Cordoba and Harry Woods are also good. At just 17-minutes the film moves well enough so fans of the genre will want to check it out.

GUN TO GUN is a two-reel remake of Warner's 1930 THE LASH, both based on the story, "Adios" by Lanier and Virginia Stivers Bartlett. Ed Earl Repp's screenplay is set in the Los Angeles of the 1850's, a group of tumbledown shacks surrounded by Spanish ranches and haciendas.

Don Diego (Pedro de Cordova)is a large ranch owner, the uncle of Dolores (Lupita Tovar) and the guardian of a young American, Steve Randall (Robert Shayne.) Steve has just delivered a large herd of cattle to the ranch, where Don Diego has just found out that he must pay the local tax commissioner, Harkness (Harry Woods)a fine for unpaid taxes on a herd of over one-thousand cattle.

STeve offers to drive the cattle to the commissioners office, even though he fells the fine is unjust. Arriving at the office, Steve learns that Harkness (who he has never met), who has a reputation for dishonesty, is out.

Dropping by the cantina, Steve gets into a fight with Harkness, and Harkness swears vengeance on Steve, especially after Steve stampedes the cattle through the town.