Tempête sur le Texas

Those of us who love B westerns constantly come up with undiscovered gems from the 1950s. This isn't one of them. Gun Belt may be the least impressive of any Wyatt Earp western ever made, though in fact he's seen only in a supporting role, with a bit of historicity in that he's portrayed as deputy to his brother Virgil, which was actually the case. Nothing else about the film 'gets it right,' though - George Montgomery plays Billy (not John or Jim) Ringo, with Tab Hunter as his younger brother, "Kid Ringo." For reasons I can't imagine, they changed the name of Ike Clanton to Ike Clinton! If there's one interesting thing here, it's that some oft overlooked characters - Turkey Creek Jack Johnson,Curly Bill Brocious, and Texas Jack Vermillion - are on hand, the terrific TOMBSTONE the only other film to give them decent screen time. You may recognize the female lead, Helen Westcott, from the similarly titled Ringo movie GUNFIGHTER - though that was one of the greatest of all westerns. This one has corny dialogue, unbelievable plotting, and weak acting, particularly by Hunter, who couldn't deliver a line competently if the survival of the world depended on it. Even the vistas don't look so bright. Here's one that even die-hard western buffs can skip.

Matt Ringo (John Dehner) , an outlaw and father of the impetuous young man Chip Ringo (the beef-cake Tab Hunter), attempts to convince his brother Billy (George Montgomery) to carry out a robbery. But Billy Ringo has decided to hang up his guns, buy a ranch and marry Arlene Reach (Helen Westcott) . So Billy does the right thing and notifies the sheriff, none other than Wyatt Earp. As Ringo informs Marshal Wyatt Earp (James Millican) and his brother Virgil (Bruce Cowling) of their plan to rob a Wells Fargo express wagon. But things go wrong when a gunfight ensues at the robbery. Billy Ringo...Once more he strapped on his guns...once more the West felt his fury! . The Kid...Hot-headed, hot-triggered...the most-feared name history ever ran from!. The Girl...She was all the women who ever faced terror for their men! (original poster) The Outlaw...He grinned, gunned and plundered away the life-blood of a nation. The Law...Wyatt Earp - no badge ever had a quicker gun behind it! . Scorching Saga of the West!

This exciting Western packs thrills, pursuits, spectacular struggles, crossfire , and lots of gutsy action. A western from the 50s directed by Ray Nazarro starring George Montgomery and Tab Hunter, regulars of the genre. Brawling , sprawling , almost primitive action in which our starring is forced to join a criminal band in order to clear his name being accused of robbery and murder and going on the run, teeming across the screen by means of escapes, attacks, crosses, double-crosses and ambushes. The picture contains whirlwinds of manic action , fights , sustained energy and often commendable results. The film has a slickness and crude vigour, including impressive outdoors with rocky mountains stunningly photographed by Howard Greene, although a perfect remastering must be carried out . This is a distinctive Western saga with a special look at California outdoors . Features impressive as well as spectacular crossfire scenes punctuated with decent action sequences. There are several historical characters from the Western appearing here and there, such as: Ike Clanton, Matt Ringo, Billy Ringo, Virgil Earp and , of course, Wyatt Earp, but the film has no historical perspective, nor is it even mentioned the famous OK Corral duel of 1881 in which Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan fought against the Clantons and the Ringos.

The starring is a famous actor who starred B-series called George Montgomery. This good-looking actor George Montgomery gives an acceptable acting in his usual style as a stubborn revenger who finds himself working for a gang of cattle rustlers engaged in a turf war with a rival gang of outlaws. He was born to Ukranian immigrants and was a heavyweight boxer previously becoming an actor. Besides was a magnificent craftsman and built and designed houses, plus a self-taught artist, creating bronze busts for famed actors. He starred movies around the world and various genres: adventures (Watusi,Steel claw) , Warlike (Battle of Bulge, Hell of Borneo) and specially Western (Seminola uprising, Fort Ti, Last of badmen, Great duel in Durango). In the film, the large group of familiar secondaries stands out, these include the following: John Dehner, William Bishop, Jack Elam, Douglas Kennedy, James Millican , Hugh Sanders , Bruce Cowling, and Willis Bouchey.

The motion picture was professionally but regularly directed by Ray Nazzarro, and nothing special. Ray was a crftsman who made a lot of Westerns in low-budget . By 1945 he fell into directing westerns for that studio, a genre and a studio in which Nazarro would spent the vast majority of his career. He worked steadily for the next 20 years, churning out dozens and dozens of Columbia's westerns, including many in the "Durango Kid" series with Charles Starrett, and was at the helm of a slew of Columbia's musical westerns and low-budget hillbilly musicals, which featured such acts as The Hoosier Hotshots. As he made Westerns as The Range Rider , The Kid from Amarillo , Fort Savage Raiders , Al Jennings de Oklahoma , Frontier Outpost , Streets of Ghost Town, Texas Dynamo , The Tougher They Come , Outcast of Black Mesa, Trail of the Rustlers ,Renegades of the Sage , Bandits of El Dorado , South of Death Valley , Cyclone Fury , Laramie , The Blazing Trail and many others . As the era of the B western ended, Nazarro journeyed to Europe, where he turned out some "spaghetti westerns" and was one of several directors to work on a bizarre and trouble-plagued Jayne Mansfield film, Einer frisst den anderen (1964) . He also returned to directing television series , a medium in which he had occasionally worked since the early 1950s again, mostly in westerns. This Western could have been a lot worse but that's no reason to watch it . Rating : 5.5/10 , average but passable and acceptable . Only for hardcore Western fans.

A former outlaw, Billy Ringo (George Montgomery) decides to hang up his guns, buy a ranch, wed Arlene Reach (Helen Westcott), and let his nephew Chip Ringo live with them, however that ideal state is tenuous at best when Chip's father Matt Ringo (John Dehner), fresh from escaping prison, arrives coaxing the two brothers to follow a life of crime - Billy is then framed into pulling a bank robbery with Matt and his gang.

After accidentally killing Matt, Billy pretends to side with the gang after informing Marshal Wyatt Earp of the gang's plan to rob a Wells Fargo express wagon. But Billy's main intention is to stop Chip from going down the outlaw trail.

Formulaic, yet watchable western with some finely drawn characters. The plot drives you in, it's brisk, and with some good action - like stagecoach robbery at the finale. The historically named characters weren't really needed, as it could've stood in his own legs with fresh characters, but the trend back then was to use historical characters. Guess it makes it fun.

A low budget 50's western that is not really all that bad. George Montgomery is the hero and Tab Hunter as his nephew. Hunter is so young in this movie that he's almost unrecognizable. You keep looking at him and thinking is that Tab Hunter? The villain is a real scary bad guy whose name is Ike Clinton. Why Clinton? Why not Clanton? Were they going for historical accuracy? The marshall in the town is named Virgil Earp so its hard to say what they were trying to do history-wise. It's slow-paced, melodramatic and cartoony: everything it should be.

Yet another George Montgomery oater to pass 90 minutes when not much else to do. I can never get very excited about George M as he lacked the X factor for me as a western hero but maybe female viewers liked his good looks. The only real spark in this action packed item is a brutal performance for it's time, from William Bishop, an actor who died from cancer at only 41 years old, a shame as he makes a terrific villain here. There's also a notable minor henchman in the gang played by the great Jack Elam in an early part. The plot involves various double crosses over a shipment of gold of half a million dollars, an amount that makes the crooks willing to kill anyone to get a share of it. Other cowboy actors of B pictures of time, Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy and Rory Calhoun for example had far more screen presence for me than Mr Montgomery but the colourful scenery and action help make up. It also has James Millican as the worst miscast Wyatt Earp I've yet seen . Ok for passing the time.