Wyoming Renegades

It's 1955 and gun smoke is all over TV and movies. Maybe that's why this oater tries hard to distinguish itself with a really twisty storyline. In fact, you may need a scorecard to keep up with which side Brady and Veer are on. Seems Brady was once a Cassidy gang member, but now he wants to go straight or does he. And just what is aspiring gang member Veer up to. First he's here, then there. Meanwhile, Cassidy keeps a tight rope on his gang even if they can't seem to get their robberies straight. So how are all the shifting loyalties finally going to work out, with Cassidy looking to blow a hole in somebody, anybody.

It's a good cast, particularly the persuasively tough Evans as Cassidy. And catch Hyer looking about as much like a frontier woman as Marilyn Monroe at the Oscars. Still, I can see the movie getting a prophetic A+ from today's women's equality groups. And how about that goofy skinny guy in comedy relief. Oh my gosh, that's Aaron Spelling later to become one of TV's most successful bigshot producers ( e.g. Charlie's Angels). I wonder what he thought of this role while on top the Hollywood ladder.

Anyway, too bad Wyoming looks so much like greater LA, even though the color photography remains first-rate.

All in all, the oater strives hard to be different amidst the competing pack. Then again, maybe too hard. But then the 73-minutes is not without points of interest. So you might give it a try.

Brady Sutton, a former member of Butch Cassidy's gang, wants to go straight after spending three years in prison. He returns to his home to get married and start a blacksmith business, and all is well until Cassidy's gang comes into town and robs the bank. Accused of conspiring with Cassidy, Sutton escapes, knowing the only way to redeem his name with the townspeople and his future bride is by taking Cassidy down.

Phil Carey was an underrated actor, who starred in a slew of westerns such as Gun Fury - he was villain in that one, and in this one he is a hero, well an ex-convict gone straight and is ready to settle down, but ends up running with the Hole in the wall gang again, albeit with the sole intention to stop them.

Wyoming Renegades is a nifty action western littered with historic baddies and a very strong plot that twists and turns like a well oiled machine. It's very enjoyable - individual personalities of the gang come to the fore. Gene Evans is one mean hombre as Cassidy and William Bishop is equally slimy as Sundance kid. No bicycles, or someone singing about raindrops falling on their head - just pure colourful action. It concludes with a surprising ending.

Of course, from such a lame director Fred Sears, we could not expect to obtain here a good quality western, some kind of a Joseph Lewis or Budd Boetticher's western; I mean low budget but sharply done. Here, nothing of the kind, but it remains bearable, with the help of Phil Carey, his charisma, his presence. Good action scenes and the best to say and summarize is that this Columbia production is not monitorized by the infamous Sam Katzman, who would have given us something very worst. Just check several Fred Sears's films, produced by Sam Katzman. It remains worth the watch for western buffs.

Brady Sutton {Phil Carey}, once a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, returns home to Broken Bow after serving three years in jail. Wanting a fresh start, he finds the town are unwilling to believe he has gone straight; only his girlfriend, Nancy Warren, and a stranger, Charlie Veer, are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Things turn bad when Cassidy and mob turn up to rob the town bank and Brady is believed to have been part of a set up. Forced to go on the run with Charlie, can Brady clear his name? Or is he destined to forever be an outlaw as part of Cassidy's crew?

Directed by Fred F. Sears {Earth vs. the Flying Saucers}, Wyoming Renegades has no stars of note, no real pedigree and a pretty mundane script. It is however enjoyable enough if one can get past the bad acting and the suspend disbelief ending. The story, although a familiar one of a bad guy trying to go good, is just about interesting enough to hold the viewer for the short running time of just under 75 minutes. Putting yet another spin on the Butch Cassidy {Gene Evans, great voice, bad actor} story, the film is at least offering up insight into a gang dynamic. And of course there's a little romantic angle {Martha Hyler solid enough and with nice hair} to keep things spicy in the last quarter. Decent enough location work comes from Iverson Ranch in California and Douglas Kennedy {The Last Wagon} as Veer earns his wages. 5/10

Aside from an early appearance onscreen of Butch & Sundance with the former as a straightforward heavy, and a rousing punch-up at the conclusion in which the women demonstrate whose got the biggest balls.

It also provides a look at Aaron Spelling during his brief career as an actor. On the strength of this he'd have made a worthy successor to Dwight Frye had he not soon moved behind the camera.