Deux frères face à face

Watch this western only if you are western buff, a Buster Crabbe's fan or a Neville Brand's goer. If not, forget it, not because it is a crap - it is not - but only because there is nothing special, no cliché is spared. Everything is predictable, this film offers something told one million times before. Sidney Salkow the director was, unlike Jospeh H Lewis, a rather good adventure and western maker, a good technician, but without any soul, without any trade mark. This western is produced in black and white, pulled by a good photography, so it is a bearable piece of work for western fans. But don't expect something exceptional.

Buster Crabbe and Neville Brand play a pair of brothers named Santee in Gun Brothers. Crabbe has served in the cavalry while Brand says he now has a ranch in the Wyoming territory. But Brand is really an outlaw and cattle rustling is only one of his gang's enterprises. Crabbe who hoped to partner with his brother figures that out quickly, but won't rat him out to law enforcement.

Which puts him in a highly vulnerable position with only saloon singer Ann Robinson as a real ally. It all works out in the end, but not after a lot of blood is spilled in this independent B western from United Artists.

Crabbe was a much better actor than a lot give him credit for and this is a film he shows it. He and Neville Brand play beautifully off each other as the good and bad brother Santee.

Some familiar faces are in this one. Michael Ansara as a mixed race outlaw and Brand's right hand is a villain without any redeemable qualities. One of the best to come along of that breed until Lee Marvin played the title role in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Roy Barcroft who was in about a gazillion westerns for Republic for once is on the side of the law as a sheriff. Slim Pickens has a small role as a fur trapper and Lita Milan who had one tempestuous marriage to Rory Calhoun plays an Indian maid who also falls for Crabbe while she's Ansara's property and I do mean property.

Lots of gun play and violence to satisfy any B western fan and a bit of stargazing as well.

Buster Crabbe returns home after a six year stint in the army to join his brother Neville Brand in running a cattle ranch. Upon arriving home, he discovers Brand is no rancher ... he's the leader of a notorious outlaw gang. Crabbe wants to leave and take saloon singer Ann Robinson with him, but Brand's lieutenant Michael Ansara has different plans for both of them. A B-grade western that gains a lot of entertainment value from Brand and Ansara. Crabbe is fine, but his character is the kind of upright, stodgy 50's hero that ends up seeming a little too naive and occasionally outright dumb to really identify with. Though it's only about an hour and twenty minutes long, it still could stand to be about 15 minutes shorter.

I wasn't going to watch this one when I read the brief synopsis on the TV menu, however it was a cold day, so I thought-"What the heck." I was truly surprised. I wasn't expecting much from a low B flick featuring a beyond-the-prime Buster Crabbe. However, there was a lot to be said for this little effort. First of all the cast is simply great...Neville Brand, Michael Ansara, the sexy Lita Milan, the young and gorgeous Ann Richardson, even a young Slim Pickens! The plot is an old one, the older brother returns from the wars to discover that younger brother is in league with the baddies. But the acting and limited production values maintain interest throughout.

A pleasant surprise on a cold afternoon.

The Gone Bad and Always Good Brothers are the Cliché that Propels this B-Western featuring an Aging, but Still in Shape, Buster Crabbe and the always Slimy Neville Brand who made a Career of Playing Really Bad Guys and Psychopaths.

In this one Brand is Up for the Challenging Role with more than One Dimension. His Scenes with Crabbe as Duling Opposites are Profound and Captivating. Michael Sansara as one of the Gang Members is the Really Bad Guy in this Above Average Low-Budget Western that also Includes a Couple of Strong Female Characters.

Ann Robinson as a Saloon Singer and Lita Milan as a Squaw used by the Outlaws as a Bartered for Flesh Slave add a Complexity not usually associated with these Throwaway Second Features . There are some Gun-Battles for the Action Oriented that are Well Staged and Soul Redeeming in Outcome.

Overall, more Goes On here than in the Standard Type for the Genre in the 50's. It's an Oft Told Tale Told with Heart and Bravado. It's Wrap Up is Wrapped Around that Baby Boomer Mantra so Prevalent for its Time, but has the Extra Ingredient of a Man who had Lost His Way but finds the Way Back to His Sibling, who was always "His Brothers Keeper", in Mind and Spirit.