Sombra de la horca

One of those unusual westerns with two women as the central characters... such as in "Johnny Guitar" and "Jubilee Trail," among others. During the Civil War in a town run by ruthless people, bad Kate has it in for darling Sally but stay tuned to the climactic ending to see how this all works out. Definitely a cheap oater with few production values, but it does have lively performances from Joan Leslie and Audrey Totter. If you know these actresses, then you know who plays whom. Fourth-billed Leslie is actually the star of this dopey-titled film and is always a joy to watch. For those who love women fight scenes, this has one of the fun ones. So glad I have it on my homemade VHS as this little-seen film is unlikely to ever be on DVD.

The immortal silent movie's director Allan Dwann still alives in talked movies and made a outstanding and prolific career with more than 400 movies, probably never will be surpassed nowadays, this western wasn't any kind of forgotten gem or something like that, just a different kind, where the women are the major stars, Joan Leslie as new Saloon's owner, Audrey Totter as a evil and bitter Quantrill's wife and Nina Varela as the City's Mayor, all them strong and powerful, the story is usual, took place during the civil war!!

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First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

In many ways this rollicking piece of Republic hokum resembles 'Johnny Guitar' with a sense of humour; it's tongue-in-cheek mood established at the outset by the opening narration describing America after the Civil War as a time of "rebels and renegades" followed by an exchange between a youngster and an old timer when the lad asks "Where is everybody?" and the old boy replies "Up at the lynching" and the later throwaway line "You killed five Yankee soldiers on your way into town!"

That although playing the title role Joan Leslie - who although formerly a Sunday school teacher soon shows herself pretty adept with a six shooter - only gets billed fourth does her a grave disservice; since despite the presence of famous western outlaws like Brian Donlevy as William Quantrell (for some reason here called 'Charles Quantrill'), Jim Davis as Cole Younger and Ben Cooper as a fresh-faced young Jesse James a remarkable feature of the film is the preponderance of females, from Nina Varela as the lady mayoress with robust views on capital punishment to a blonde Audrey Totter in a black hat and leather pants - definitely not a lady but certainly all woman - as Quantrill's wife Kate who engages Miss Leslie in a terrific catfight admiringly described by one onlooker as "a better fight than the war between the north and the south".

Too bad it wasn't made in Trucolor as was originally intended. Still, you can't have everything.

The movie is unusual because the ladies are the powerful ones in this movie. Audrie Totter is the cowgirl Emma Peel Because of her sexy leather pants and riding boots. Audrey is also the opposite of Emma because of her evil disposition. Warren O'Leary.

This may be a Republic B-western, but it is an action-packed and highly entertaining melodrama under the skillful hand of veteran director Alan Dwan. Not only that, but a year before the cult classic JOHNNY GUITAR, we have another feminist western with both a barroom brawl and a shootout between two women, in this case Joan Leslie and Audrey Totter, as well as a tough female mayor who owns the local lead mine. We also get appearances by Frank and Jesse James and the Younger brothers, riding with Quantrill's raiders at the end of the Civil War.

Nevertheless, putative stars Brian Donlevy (as Quantrill) and John Lund (as the mine foreman) take a back seat to the women as far as the action and main plot go. Even longtime Republic star Reed Hadley barely makes an appearance (as Leslie's brother) before being shot down in the first reel, giving the plot its "inciting action," since his younger sister must now take over the saloon he owns and the debts he owes. The film's only faults are some tedious expositions presented through a couple of pretty heavy-handed dialogue scenes towards the beginning and again towards the end. Otherwise, there are lots of unpredictable variations on the genre, especially for a Republic western. There are even a couple of songs, sung by Audrey Totter as a saloon singer.