A sangre y fuego

Good shoot-em-up with Murphy as Reb Kittredge, a gunhand in between jobs. He is offered a job to run a cattleman out of the country so the evil Matt Telford can control the entire valley. In an odd turn of events Kittredge comes into ownership of the disputed acreage and begins a hazardous journey to get the bovine to market before the mortgage to Telford comes due. Of course, Telford does everything in his power to ensure the drive is unsuccessful. A side plot along the way involves Kittredge as one corner of a love triangle, pitting him against a hot headed, back shooting polecat for the love of a beautiful woman: gotta have that thrown in, eh? Pretty standard stuff, but I enjoyed the production.

Hired gun Audie Murphy hits town to help bad guy Matt Telford (Donald Randolph) take over Dan Saxon's (Paul Kelly) spread. After winning Saxon's ranch and cattle in a game of chance, Audie declines Telford's offer and keeps the ranch for himself. Murphy then decides to drive his newly won cattle herd to the railhead to meet the note payment on the ranch, with the help of Saxon, his daughter (Susan Cabot), and their former wranglers. Forced to get a new rent-a-gun, Telford hires Murphy's old cohort Johnny Lake (Charles Drake) to stop Murphy from reaching the rail line.

Although "Gunsmoke" is pretty much 1950's drive-in fare, this one has Audie Murphy in top form. Directed by Nathan Juran in just his second film, this movie moves along at a nice clip. A strong script that avoids a lot of clichés, makes the dialog far better than average for this type movie. Murphy and and the familiar face veteran cast all deliver good performances and turn a what might have been a pretty standard medium budget horse opera into one of Audie's best films. Watch for Jack Kelly in his pre-Maverick television series days as malcontent foreman Curly Mather.

Entertaining Western. Definitely worth a watch.

While certainly in the mold of a "B" western, Gunsmoke manages to raise itself above its peer group. Good production values, an above average supporting cast that appeared to enjoy themselves, an OK plot bolstered by some spirited dialog, and a young Murphy showing he was incorrect in his self-assessment of "no talent."

The plot is pretty much by the numbers: Gambler Telford (Donald Randolph) wants Dan Saxon's (Paul Kelly) ranch and sends for gunslinger Reb Kittridge (Murphy) to arrange an early departure for Saxon from this earth. Due to the luck of the draw, or more probably Saxon's card skills, Kittridge ends up owning said ranch but has to get the cattle to market to maintain possession. Taking to the trail with Saxon, now a cowhand, Saxon's daughter Rita (Susan Cabot), her possessive boyfriend / ranch foreman Curly (Jack Kelly), and the rest of Saxon's old crew, Kittridge must beat both the elements and Telford who doesn't give up just because he's had a setback.

This could have been a B caliber movie but it's better than that. The plot is predictable but pretty much everything else is a step up. Veteran screenwriter D.D. Beauchamp's script has more life than usually found in this type of movie. Saxon – "He ain't no killer, Doc." Doc –"Well, if he isn't , he's been taking money under false pretenses all the way from Texas to the Canadian line." Later, when Saxon says he's willing to work for Kittridge in the cattle drive, his daughter pounces on him in an epic fail. Rita – "You mean you're going to work for him?" Saxon – "Well, we gotta eat don't we?" Rita – "I'd rather go hungry." Saxon – "I've tried that too. I wouldn't recommend it."

Paul Kelly adds immeasurably in his role as a rancher who sees parallels in Kittridge with his own early life and wants to provide a bit of course correction into the gunfighter's life. His timing is great and his easy going drawl a great counterpoint for Murphy. His scenes with Chubby Johnson are also great fun. While certainly a lot is filmed on sets, there are some good outdoor scenes and some nifty wagon riding down a hillside. The only quibble I have is with Susan Cabot. Somehow she doesn't have quite the presence of some other not-quite-A- list actresses of that era such as, say, a young Piper Laurie, but I guess that's a personal taste.

All in all, this is a better oater than most B pictures and shows an inexperienced Murphy could perform quite well when given good direction and surrounded with a good cast to play off of. Give it a try, you won't regret it.

Today was the Celebration of the Débarquement de Provence (in France ...), and I saw an excellent five minutes report on Audie Murphy and his act of war in Ramatuelle. So I decided to watch Gunsmoke I just bought a few days ago, thinking I was going to see a classic Murphy western. But from the first minutes, I discovered a very impertinent Murphy and not looking as fresh as in his other westerns, almost dirty and moving very fast. And permanent twisty action and hit dialogues, even though the subject is well known in westerns, it turns to be very original in its construction with permanent moves sometimes every twenty seconds. The whole casting is good, Susan Cabot, Paul Kelly, Charles Drake, Mary Castle, ... Produced by Aaron Rosenberg (Gunsmoke is not far from Anthony Mann's westerns produced by Rosenberg) and directed by Nathan Juran (who directed two other fine Murphy westerns, Tumbleweed and Drums Across The River), a very tense and unforgettable western.

Audie Murphy plays Reb Kittredge in this 1953 classic western of good versus bad. When land-grabber Matt Telford wants to buy the entire valley there is one land owner that will not sell. So Telford sends for hired gunman, Reb Kittredge, to make sure that the hold-out, Dan Saxon, will not get his cattle to market to pay the mortgage on his farm- the farm that Telford wants to buy.

But when Reb does not get the payment he was seeking, he then teams up with the Saxon and his beautiful daughter Rita (Susan Cabot) to make sure the cattle makes it to market. Reb and his team are going to meet obstacles along the way as Telford hires his own men to stop the cattle-drive.

Even though Audie Murphy was not the most talented actor on the lot, the story plays out well. At the beginning of the movie it was difficult to see Murphy as the outlaw. But as usual the world returns to harmony as Murphy turns from the outlaw ways and embraces a family in need of his help.

Not the most memorable western but one with many good lines and lots of action. A movie that a western lover will not quickly forget.