Check Your Guns

When the old sheriff is gunned down, Eddie Dean takes a break from singing to put on the star.

A pretty good script by Joseph O'Donnell and some nice photography by cameraman Ernest Miller help make this an entertaining singing B Western. Nancy Gates makes the transition from child actor to leading lady, and gets to sing a duet with Dean.

Ernest Miller - not to be confused with the British DP of the same name - was a mainstay of more than 300 B westerns from 1921 through 1954. He entered the TV field in the same role with the Hopalong Cassidy series, and continued until shortly before his death in 1957 at age 72.

This shoot-em-up from baritone-voiced Eddie Dean was entertaining and one of his better efforts.As a singing lawman, Eddie moves to tame and disarm a town that has been way too rowdy to suit him.

This film benefits from Dean's easy-going charm, good action sequences and a notable supporting cast ----- look for several familiar faces here. I was not crazy about the songs...... but I guess they were fairly decent.

Eddie Dean films were usually pretty routine, but this one is above-average. The mix of plot, casting and action make this one worth watching again & again!

In this action-filled budget western, Eddie Dean rides into Red Gap to visit his pal, soapy, who has opened a barber shop and finds his old singing buddies (The Plainsmen) have found ranch jobs near the town. This calls for a song and Eddie was one of the best singing cowboys around and an even better songwriter. He gets to warble three in this film, none of them standouts - Maybe it's because Eddie only wrote one of them and he was a co-composer on it. Leave it to the Hollywood moguls to have others write songs for one of the best songsters of the day.

Soapy was funny-looking, but not very funny, although he did appeal to the kids. Soapy is not as dopey as usual and is actually a help rather than a hindrance to Eddie this go-round.

There is a bevy of cowboy character actors with Stan Jolley leading the pack as the heinous Taggert, the boss of the town...or is he? Bill Fawcett is possibly the most recognizable of the bad guys, this time playing a corrupt judge in collusion with Taggert. Others such as Marshall Reed as a gunslinger have only brief parts but make the most of their short time before the camera. A standout performance is given by henchman Mikel Conrad. One wonders why his film career was so short-lived.

The title actually has to do with the plot for a change. Determined to clean up Red Gap, Eddie becomes sheriff and demands that everyone check his guns while inside the town limits. Those who refuse must pay the price. Cleaning up Red Gap is not as easy as first believed. There are twists and turns along the way that make room for plenty of shoot-outs, gun plays, and one fisticuffs between Eddie and Mikel Conrad (Ace) that actually looks real with Eddie almost being bested by Ace.

The love interest is provided by Nancy Gates as Cathy Jordan, whose father was killed by the Taggert gang and who now wants justice. Nancy was a beauty and does a rousing job at the end of the film helping Eddie sing the closing number.

Even non-Eddie Dean fans should enjoy this one...that is those who like Saturday matinée fodder the way I do.

The Iverson ranch was a great location for various movies. The Iverson ranch is very rugged terrain with a large number of huge boulders and arid areas which typifies much of the American southwest. Check Your Guns was filmed at the Iverson ranch which is located several miles northwest of Los Angles in Chatsworth. Many western movies were made there as were other movies. Check Your Guns was made during an era which did not rely on over the top explosions and carnage which is one of the several reasons the story line then is the way life should be lived today, good wins over evil. The Iverson family are great people and a credit to the American way of life. Eddie Dean was a down to earth person and always took time to talk to fans and friends. Eddie and his music group would entertain at events for military people and extended his kindness to retirement homes. The people in his music group were kind and gentle people like Eddie Dean was. I worked in movies for forty years ( as a no body ) and I have my memories of the afore mentioned good people. It seems the wholesome movies and people , including my self are fading into the sunset. Thanks for the memories. God Bless them all. Don Babb