Buckskin

Not all bad for a late (1968) version of a familiar theme, with an interesting cast - not least the normally aggressive Leo Gordon playing one of the world's losers (though he does toughen up later on).

The only real fault was the way that several characters' attitudes changed rather too quickly from being antagonistic towards the marshal to supporting him. And didn't Sullivan recover quickly from his night of fever after his rattlesnake bite; apparently he nearly died twice, but the next morning he was fit and ready for his concluding heroics.

Wendell Corey does very well as the town boss, and I wish we had seen more of John Russell in Westerns; he has the longest speech in the film when explaining his "history" with Sullivan, and he puts it over well.

BUCKSKIN (1968) is one of thirteen low-budget westerns churned out at Paramount Pictures in the 1960s by producer A.C. Lyles. The distinguishing feature of these westerns was the peppering of the casts with former Hollywood stars getting one last shot at cinematic glory. Here the cast is led by western stalwart Barry Sullivan and includes such former Paramount contract players as Joan Caulfield, Wendell Corey, and Richard Arlen, backed by such other veteran performers as John Russell, Lon Chaney Jr., Barbara Hale, Bill Williams, Leo Gordon, George Chandler and Barton MacLane.

The hackneyed plot features Sullivan as a marshal seeking to bring law and order to Glory Hole(!), Montana, by stopping the land-grabbing tactics of gambler Rep Marlowe (Corey), who's aided by an eye-patch-wearing hired gun (Russell) and a portly, corrupt sheriff (Chaney). The townsmen, including a kindly doctor (MacLane), are loath to help Sullivan because he seems to be outnumbered, but gradually Sullivan enlists such allies as a homesteader couple (played by husband-and-wife acting team Williams and Hale); the old storekeeper (Chandler) and his Chinese assistant (Aki Aleong); a drunk who lost all his savings to the gamblers (Gordon); and a schoolteacher-turned-saloon girl (Caulfield). Each of the cast gets their chance to emote, making this film much talkier than it needed to be, but also ensuring the participation of name performers who would have balked at mere cameo appearances. After the sturdy Sullivan (always a dependable western star), Russell comes off best as the conflicted hired gun with a complicated past.

There are a couple of interesting racial twists provided by Sung Lee, the Chinese worker who is a victim of prejudice and comes to respect Sullivan for standing up for him, and Sullivan's young half-Indian son (Gerald Michenaud), whose presence at the side of Sullivan causes a bit of controversy.

It's not the best of Lyles' westerns, nor is it the worst. It moves well and the cast always keeps it interesting, even during its slow and talky moments. There are a few shootouts, including one sprawling gun battle with Corey's henchmen at a dam that Sullivan is trying to open to get the homesteaders their necessary water. Western fans will find a few pleasures here and will no doubt wonder why more Lyles westerns are not available on home video.

The completion of "Buckskin" in Dec 1967 marked the end of the trail for Paramount producer A.C. Lyles, the last of his 13 B-Westerns over a four year period that provided employment for many veteran performers. No better or worse than any of the others, immeasurably aided by a solid cast assembled from previous entries: Barry Sullivan (second), Joan Caulfield (second), Wendell Corey (third), Lon Chaney (eighth), John Russell (fourth), Barton MacLane (fourth), Bill Williams (second, here joined by his wife Barbara Hale), Richard Arlen (eleventh!), Leo Gordon (second), and George Chandler (third). Top billed is Barry Sullivan, the buckskin-clad Marshal Chaddock, who arrives with his young son to Gloryhole, Montana, to rescue the homesteaders from evil land baron Rep Marlowe (Wendell Corey), who has nearly succeeded in driving them all off by damming up the water supply. The townspeople aren't exactly grateful for the marshal's help, while Marlowe has in his pocket the local miners, the corrupt Sheriff Langley (Lon Chaney), and mysterious hired gun Patch (John Russell), who has a history with Chaddock. The final film for Barton MacLane, hereafter confined to I DREAM OF JEANNIE, and nearly the last for an ailing Wendell Corey, while Lyles' most frequent veteran, Richard Arlen, only appears in one short scene. Most shocking of all is the sight of grizzled, 61 year old Lon Chaney, his deteriorating voice affected by the same throat cancer that killed his father. The role of Sheriff Tangley is a major one, larger than any of the other villains, and the actor even performs all his own stunts, a remarkably effective performance considering he was still grieving his mother's recent passing, which is how he lost out on another Western, "Day of the Evil Gun," Paul Fix replacing him as Sheriff Kelso (unfortunately, only four more roles lay ahead for Chaney). Lyles still had a few more features to come, most notably the notorious 1972 "Night of the Lepus," but his successful run of old fashioned oaters came to its inevitable conclusion, only so many story lines to go around after TV Westerns got through with them all.

Buckskin is yet another western where A.C. Lyles provides employment for famous Hollywood players past their prime. Barry Sullivan is the star here, a US Marshal come to a small Montana town with specific intent of taking down town boss Wendell Corey. For reasons I can't explain he brings his young son to the town and quite frankly had I been him I'd not have brought a child into harm's way. And since the child's mother who is deceased was an Indian all the more reason.

I wasn't completely clear why Corey wants the homesteaders out of the area, he's dammed up the stream that they get water for their crops. We know a railroad is coming through the following year, but that's all.

What Corey has done is pit the miners against the homesteaders and the homesteaders have their families. Not much of a fair fight, in the end though Sullivan has an ace.

Some grievous plot holes is made up for a nice bit of action specifically when Sullivan blows up the dam and also in the final shootout. Joan Caulfield is the former schoolteacher turned saloon girl who Sullivan redeems. Such other A.C. Lyles regulars as Lon Chaney, Jr., John Russell, and Richard Arlen are in the cast. Bill Williams and Barbara Hale, husband and wife in real life, play a husband and wife here and I'm not sure if this isn't the only time that happened. I know Williams did a couple of Perry Mason guest shots while Hale was playing Della Street.

I like the A.C. Lyles westerns even some of the bad ones and this is not a completely bad one.

Buckskin (1968)

** (out of 4)

A strong cast keeps this by-the-numbers Western from falling completely off the track. Marshall Chaddock (Barry Sullivan) arrives in a small Montana town that has the land owners moving because of a crooked gambler named Marlowe (Wendell Corey). The Marshall makes the people stay on their land while he tries to defeat the greedy man at his own game. BUCKSKIN is an old fashioned Western that featured a story that would tire people in the 1930s let alone in 1968. This is a hard film to enjoy because of how boring it all it but at the same time there's no question that it features a strong cast of veteran actors. The biggest problem with the film is the fact that the story itself is just something we've seen hundreds of times in countless "B" Westerns and not a single new thing is done with it here. Even worse is that most "B" films got this story told in less than a hour but the story here is padded down with so much junk that the 97-minute running time seems twice that. There are so many simple scenes that get dragged out to the point where you'll be wanting to cry as well as ask the screenwriter what the point was. Sullivan is good in the lead as he delivers a strong performance and Corey is a downright delight as the snake who will stop at nothing to win. Joan Caulfield plays a former school teacher turned prostitute trying to win back some dignity. John Russell plays another snake with perfection and we also have Barbara Hale, Leo Gordon and Bill Williams turning in fine support. Lon Chaney, looking extremely bad from his personal issues and declining health, still manages to deliver a great performance as the disgraced Sheriff. Chaney appears to be having a blast getting to play the bad guy. BUCKSKIN is a film that most people will want to skip but if you're a fan of these names then you might want to check it out once.