Duel at Apache Wells

In Duel At Apache Wells young Ben Cooper returns home after several years of riotous living and general hell raising to find his father in a heap of trouble. Harry Shannon is being hemmed in on all sides and denied access to water at Apache Wells if he wants to drive his cattle to market. His adversary is Jim Davis who once worked for Shannon until he caught him doing a little rustling on the side. Now Davis has bought himself a neighboring ranch and hired a bunch of gunfighters led by Bob Steele, a most professional in the strictest sense of the word gunfighter.

Davis is the main reason to see this film. He's one swaggering bully of a villain who is not only trying to drive Shannon out of business, but wants to cut Cooper out of his time with Anna Maria Alberghetti the daughter of the local merchant Frank Puglia.

In the end Cooper has an ace up his sleeve that we don't find out until almost the very end.

It would have been nice had Alberghetti been given a song to sing, but that might have distracted from the film which was most definitely not a Roy Rogers type western from Republic. In fact the director was Joseph Kane, one of Herbert J. Yates's most prolific western directors who did dozens with Rogers, Gene Autry and all the rest of the Republic cowboy stars who were all gone from the studio by 1957.

Republic itself didn't have much life left. Oddly enough though Yates made some good westerns in those last few years that his studio had some life in it. Duel At Apache Wells is one of them.

Once again, I went to Netflix streaming and found another Jim Davis western he made for Republic Pictures and director/producer Joe Kane. This time he's Dean Cannary, a ruthless owner of the waters of the title place. He's at war with the elderly Wayne Shattuck (Harry Shannon) who previously fired him. Good thing his son, Johnny (Ben Cooper), has returned home to help him in the fight. I'll stop there and just say that I very much enjoyed another one of these old-fashioned oaters from the now-defunct Republic especially when Davis was on screen with his creepy smile. Made him perfect as the one who eventually portrayed J.R. Ewing's dad! As always, he wears his western boots well. Both Cooper and Shannon give all they got, acting-wise, against him. I also liked Anna Maria Alberghetti as Anita, the woman who loves Johnny but may have to marry Cannary if he gets his way. So on that note, Duel at Apache Wells gets a recommendation from me. P.S. Since I always like to cite when a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is in another one, here it's Argentina Brunetti-Mrs. Martini there-who plays the housekeeper of the Shuttucks, Tia Maria, here. Her presence is charming enough when on screen.

After a four-year absence, Johnny Shattuck returns home to find that ex-rustler Dean Cannary has his eyes on the Shattuck family farm. To force Johnny off the property, Cannary has fenced off a formerly accessible water hole. Unable to best Cannary through legal means, Johnny reluctant prepares for a one-on-one showdown.

An adequate western that stars Ben Cooper with that easy drawl and cool attitude and the lovely talented Anna Maria Alberghetti - they make a sweet couple. It's a range war western and it's routinely told yet a pleasant time pass. It lacks that punch, though, and needs more action, but Jim Davis steals the scene as a bad hombre.

What a deception for me to watch this rare western in f... Pan and Scan frame instead of Naturama. I don't mind if it is a black and white or color film, but not in the letterboxed copy, that was a real pain for me. Plus, this western offers no surprise at all. You have Jim Davis in his 568th role as a villain. You feel here the lack of budget or ambition from director Joseph kane, the main western provider for Republic Studios in his later days. Here, no Rod Cameron, no Forrest Tucker, no John Carroll either, but a prefect stranger for me; sorry folks. So, you can also try this western for Jim davis' presence as the lead villain.

A young man returns home after a few years to find nasty gunhands after his Pa's ranch and pretty young barmaid girlfriend. Davis is pretty much a cipher as the young man with a past - he's made out to be a rebel who left home vowing never to be taken advantage of again. One suspects he was attractive and charismatic as a real person, because the camera barely notices him, much less likes him. He only comes to life when teamed with his old flame, a winsome Anna Maria Alberghetti - the camera DOES like her. So do the makeup artist and the costumer, giving her plenty of pastel lipstick, a pointy bra and low neckline. She doesn't do much as a catalyst, but she does have the most effective close ups. The other star, if you're not seeing a scoped version, would be the Cinemascope shots of the old West. Camerawork is not complicated, as if it were more important to focus on frame content than using a pan or swoop close up. However, all of the elements of a low grade western are evident, right down to the "duel" of the title. Good for a rainy afternoon if nothing else is on, otherwise mostly forgettable unless you're an Anna Maria fan.