Stagecoach to Fury

An interesting group of passengers on the Stagecoach To Fury get waylaid at a stagecoach station and taken as hostage. The bandits led by Rodolfo Hoyos are expecting a shipment of gold on the stage, but it isn't there. To save the others lives especially after Hoyos shoots and wounds driver Paul Fix, guard Forrest Tucker gives up the fact they're to meet the shipment at the station. So the bandits sit there and wait. And also kill a few useless passengers who try to make their own plans separate from Tucker and Fix.

Compared to most on the Stagecoach that was the title of the John Ford classic film these are a pretty scurvy lot as some flashbacks show. The bandits are almost dishing out some cosmic justice to these people.

This independent western released by 20th Century Fox even got some Academy recognition with a nomination for black and white cinematography. The cinematography of the final shootout in the desert and the holdup is well done.

In the cast my favorite is Mari Blanchard who plays one coldhearted woman who thinks that men just grovel at a wink from her. Does she ever find out different. And she has a nasty secret kept from the rest of the hostages.

A solid B western, you can't go wrong with this.

This film begins in the American Southwest with a stagecoach headed to a small town named Fury and stopping at a way station along the way. The passengers themselves are a disparate lot which includes a gunslinger trying to make a reputation for himself, a conniving wife who is cheating on her husband, and a cowardly judge. Also included among the passengers is a young woman named "Ann Stewart" (Leslie Banning) who is engaged to the man riding shotgun by the name of "Frank Townsend" (Forrest Tucker). As it so happens, Frank is also a cavalry officer and the reason he is on this particular stagecoach is because he is doing some reconnaissance for another wagon trailing about a day behind which is carrying a strongbox full of gold. What nobody realizes, however, is that a Mexican bandit by the name of Lorenzo Gracia" is waiting at a nearby waystation with a dozen men with the intention of taking the strongbox for himself-and he has no qualms about killing everyone to get his hands on it. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay B-movie which suffers somewhat by the obvious stereotypes and mediocre acting. It does feature a couple of interesting characters, however, with the malicious wife "Barbara Duval" (Mari Blanchard) and the dastardly gunslinger "Ralph Slader" (Wright King) standing out the most in my opinion. Again though, while there is really nothing special about this movie, I found it good enough for the time spent and have rated it accordingly. Average.

The final flashback, about the cowardly judge and his wife (Ellen Corby from The Waltons), is very good and so is the finale. The urbane Mexican gang leader is an unusual characterization for this era western and it's great that the film avoided the usual bandito stereotype. It's a good film for Western fans and okay for others. Genre stalwarts Paul Fix and Forrest Tucker are a solid presence. This was shot in CinemaScope though most of the film is indoor scenes -- kind of a waste but the exterior scenes in glorious black and white make good use of the widescreen process. There is an adage posted on-screen for the ending.

This seems to be a loose re-make of "Rawhide"1951). The original being the better of the two. Tucker, Blanchard, and Fix tend to their acting chores adequately, however, considering producer Lyon brought to the screen such low-budget classics as 'Silver Star" and "Silent Raiders" this routine effort is decidedly disappointing. Nominated for 'best B&W photography, this is one of the last movies to be considered in that category, the Academy dropping it shortly thereafter.

A stagecoach with a mixed group of passenger en route to the town of Fury makes a stop at a layover. Upon arrival the passengers are held up by Lorenzo Garcia (Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.) and his gang of bandidos capture and disarm the passengers, shooting one when he stops to raise his fallen trousers when he puts his hands up. The two staff of the coaching stop are missing presumed murdered. Garcia questions former Army captain Frank Townsend (Forrest Tucker), now riding shotgun on the stagecoach on the location of the Federal Government gold shipment they expected to be carried by the stagecoach.

Forest Tucker heads the cast in this neat little B-western that has some unusual flourishes with its flashbacks. A group of passengers are held hostage by some bandidos until the gold arrives at the relay station. During the course of the film we get flashbacks of three passengers, giving us an insight into their flawed characters and two of them are not any worse than the bandits holding them. Matter of fact, the gunslinger gets tricked during a countdown to a showdown with a bandit just like how he had shot the sheriff (seen in the flashback)without warning. Mari Blanchard's character uses her hotness to get people do things for her, even murder, but when she tries to use that skill on a bandit in order to get away she gets her up-commence. Some good action rounds up a solid little B-western. It's a pity Forest Tucker didn't do more leading roles in westerns. He does so well.