Buffalo Gun

"Buffalo Gun" is a film that sat on the shelf for four years before it was finally released. In most cases, this is because the film is assumed to be a real dog...a movie that will lose a lot of money. While I cannot say this is the reason, it's likely...and as I watched "Buffalo Gun" I noticed it sure wasn't a very good western compared to most made during this era.

So why did I bother watching this movie? Well, two reasons. First, one of the supporting actors is Wayne Morris...and he was a fine actor and I like his films. Second, the country western singer Marty Robbins (famous for the great song "El Paso") is one of the stars...and there aren't that many chances to watch this famous singer act. I really am not a huge fan of the genre...though Robbins sure could deliver a beautiful tune.

The story starts out with one of the worst filmed gunfights in western history. A cattle drive is attacked but in so many of the scenes, the actors are shown in close-ups...a most peculiar choice and one that made it look as if they pieced together many separate clips to make the 'gun fight'. Regardless, it left me thinking that bad acting is not the only problem with the movie...the direction left a lot to be desired.

At the same time, the local Indian tribe is angry. Their government rations which were promised them haven't been delivered...and you wonder if the jerks who tried to steal the herd are also responsible for this Indian problem.

The direction isn't very good. The acting is not particularly good and the most experienced actors (Morris and Red Barry among others) are reduced to supporting three completely inexperienced and dull non-actors who were in the leads. Carl Smith, Webb Pierce and Marty Robbins all were famous country music stars and the film rests on their shoulders...a big mistake. The bottom line is having one country music star in the lead might have worked if he was paired up with a strong lead...such as when Fabian was cast in a film with John Wayne in the lead. But here, the heroes are inexperienced and bland actors...and it makes you wonder who thought this was a smart idea. In hindsight...it wasn't.

Finally, although three country music stars starred in the movie, oddly, the song they were given to sing were pretty bland...so it isn't even worth seeing in order to hear them sing.

This film begins in 1875 with the introduction of three lawmen named "Webb Pierce", "Carl Smith" and "Marty Robbins" (each played by popular country-western singers by the same name during the recording of this film) who have been sent to investigate the rustling of cattle intended for a nearby Cheyenne reservation. In the course of their investigation they also discover that a certain rifle known as the Buffalo Gun is being sold to renegade members of another tribe who have either joined the cattle rustlers or have taken to disturbing the peace by other violent means. Unfortunately, what none of the three lawmen realize is that the cattle rustlers have a couple of prominent citizens from a nearby town guiding them in their illegal activities. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, despite the talents of the three aforementioned country singers, this low-budget Western was lacking in about every aspect that one might imagine. The plot was rather generic, the acting was bad, and the scenes looked like they were spliced together by a complete amateur. Even worse was the manner in which one or all of the three singers would break out in song at the drop of a hat. It would be funny if it wasn't so bad. Be that as it may, although I definitely liked the music of these three musicians back in the day, none of them did themselves any favors with this movie, and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.