The Brass Legend

Routine Western with not much to recommend it, which is rather surprising since director Gerd Oswald has something of a cult following. The problem lies with a stone-faced O'Brien and an undistinguished script whose high-point comes in a gun jousting showdown along a country road. In fact, only bar girl Millie (Rebecca Welles, aka Reba Tassell) manages to inject some life into the proceedings. Too bad Raymond Burr's villain Tris Hatten doesn't get more screen time. He has all the makings of a good florid baddie. It's odd to see Burr in such a leering role after his career years as the super-straight Perry Mason. Anyway, the European-born Oswald plays the unfamiliar material of a Western in pretty straightforward, unimaginative fashion, when what's needed is something to lift the movie above the ordinary.

Compact Low-Budget Western with some Off-Beat Ingredients.

The Two Leads...Hero Sheriff Hugh O' Brien and Outlaw Raymond Burr.

In the Mix is almost a Prerequisite in the Prolific 50's Western...A "Kid".

From Highly-Praised and Popular Films like "Shane" (1953) Onward. Including TV"s "The Rifleman".

Were Examples of Popular Culture Icons that Showcased the "Boom".

Family Life in Post-War America was a "Celebratory" Procreative Parade of Offspring.

The Down-Home, Salt of the Earth "Americana" Manifested in the Western Genre.

After the War it was Obligatory to Reflect Contemporary Reality...Arriving "Boomers".

Mostly this was Nothing More than "Ornamental" and for the Most Part, at Best it was Non-Intrusive, but at Worst it could Cause Cringes and Interfere by way of Irritations.

The Adolescent in this Little-Seen or Appreciated Movie, the "Kid" is Used in just the Right Way.

He is Substantial to the Plot, Yields Firearms, and Helps His Friend the Sheriff in Apprehending the Outlaw.

Also, Against the Norm, He is Attacked and Shot of His Horse for His Involvement.

This is Highly Unusual in the Code-Dominated, Ultra Conservative Decade.

Non-Adults were Rarely Allowed to become Victims of Abuse or Violence in Mainstream Movies.

There's an Unusual Gunfight in the Saloon Presented in an Off-Handed Display.

To Cap it Off, the "Showdown" Mano-Mano between Good and Evil is Not your Standard Stand-Off in the Streets.

Worth a Watch for the Strange Way the Film Presents the Ever-Present Genre Cliches.

Burr is fantastic is this movie. Not a large role or does he have that many lines. But his acting abilities really shine as a person who really should not have been born. The young actor portraying Clap Gipson looks like he is trying to act.- really bad.

There seems to be a lot of the same kind of people that inhabit the town that Hugh O'Brian is the sheriff of as there were in High Noon where Gary Cooper was the law. O'Brian gets about the same amount and kind of support that Cooper did.

The Brass Legend has Sheriff O'Brian getting a tip from young Donald MacDonald that notorious outlaw Raymond Burr is in the area and keeping company with a lewd saloon woman Rebecca Welles. Before they get down to business O'Brian has the drop on Burr.

Well by God this is not according to the code of the west where you're supposed to face the bad guy down and maybe get killed. Bad enough that Welles believes it and makes no secret about it, but half the town thinks like she does and thinks that Burr got a raw deal.

Further they don't like that O'Brian tried to keep young MacDonald's name out of it thinking that one of Burr's friends might want to shoot the snitch even if he's 12 years old. Sure enough a particular low life specimen does.

O'Brian is a stalwart hero in the mold of Wyatt Earp whom he just started playing on television. Burr is always an interesting villain and Welles as the vengeful saloon woman is fascinating.

The Brass Legend a good B western, fans of O'Brian and Burr will not be disappointed.

Interesting little western, as Allied or United Artists could provide from time to time, or Universal B department. But Budd Boetticher also made his famous Randolph Scott westerns more or less in the same manner. Nothing spectacular but quite surprising, unpredictable, which is not the case for every western. This kind of plot was often used in ZANE GREY THEATER series episodes, small cute engrossing stories, sometimes poignant, far far from clichés. Gerd Oswald was not a major film maker, not an ambitious one, but his films were not uninteresting. FURY AT SHOWDOWN starring John Derek was also a cute little western.