Two-Gun Lady

Even calling this a B movie is stretching it some. Typical dusty western about a young woman(Peggie Castle)who happens to be a very good shot with both pistol and rifle putting on shooting demonstrations while she hunts down her parents murderer. Has all the appearances of being a low budget "quickie". One character(Marie Windsor) accidentally walks into a scene she wasn't suppose to. She leaves as quick as she enters. The same character later awkwardly tries to wrestle a pistol from a bad man. Also in the cast are:William Talman and Robert Lowery.

This is I assert a very important and influential movie, notwithstanding its inexpensive sets and generally impoverished feel. Its producers, writer and co-author Richard Bartlett, co-star and associate producer Earle Lyon and co-star/associate producer Ian MacDonald gave it a generally competent and intelligent feel. It is rather well-acted by Peggie Castle as Karen Marshall aka Kate Masters, William Talman as the marshal, Earle Lyon and Ian MacDonald as the Ivers, Robert Lowery as Big Mike, Marie Windsor as the unscrupulous Bess, Joe Besser as "Doc", Barbara Turner as Jennie Ivers, Norman Jolley and the rest of the cast. The importance of the film lies, I claim, in the fact that it is the first time in film history that a female central character was shown as being capable of committing physical violence as a volitional course of ethical action. in the same year that this film was produced, in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" author Jack Finney had to explain to his hero that his fiancée was capable of and willing to help him during a fight; the usual Hollywood myth had the female standing and biting her knuckles while the male in an action film tried to fight three or four roughnecks. This is the film that changed that stereotype. The story-line is an unusually good one, I suggest. Castle was a child when she watched the Ivers take over the valley, goading her farmer father into a losing gun duel and murdering her mother before her eyes. She gets herself trained as a sharpshooter in the Annie Oakley model, her ultimate goal being to prepare herself to draw against the murderer, Jud Ivers. Ben Ivers, the father, has meanwhile been shot and paralyzed; and the marshal who is after the gang tries to talk her out of risking her life, committing homicide and ignoring the fact that his way is better; during the contest, he falls in love with her and she with him. It takes him walking up to her as she holds a gun on him to prove the rightness of his argument that, "learning to use a gun isn't learning to kill'. She won't kill him to have her way, but when the time comes, she has to have a showdown with her enemies, which leads to a surprising and very satisfying conclusion. Cinematographer for the film was Guy Roe; music was provided by Leon Klatzkin, who also conducted ably. Thomas Connolly did the set designs while Harry Reif was the set dresser; Henry Helfman made the costumes seem more expensive than they were. Richard Bartlett managed to keep the dialogue believable and the action moving at most points; minor errors do not matter to a film--this is by any standards an unusually well- acted "B" picture. Castle is very good, Talman quite good as both marshal and admirer. Lowery is powerful as a nice-guy barkeep and Windsor effective as saloon woman. Earle Lyon underplayed Ben Ivers with high-voltage; Ian MacDonald made an effective killer, and Joe Besser made his alcoholic partner memorable. By the time "Maverick" is produced, "Support Your Local Sheriff", "Cat Ballou" and "The Hallelujah Trail" are created, the insulting and unAmerican puritanic stereotype of the passive female--that kept so many fine actresses in Hollywood bondage to reactionary producer ""tsars' for decade--has been effectively shattered. This is one of the films that helped to do that; it is inexpensive and occasionally flawed, but it has a coherent story line and, to the objective appreciator, is always sincere and above-average

Ok it's not JOHNNY GUITAR (1954), but so what? I like it, anyway.

An Annie Oakley-type trick-shot artist named Kate Masters (Peggy Castle) comes into town to put on a show at the local saloon. She also let's a couple of fresh rednecks know that she's not about to be pushed around by pulling a gun on them. A local drifter Dan Corbin (William Tallman) isn't too impressed with what's happening and he shoots up a poster of Master's show.

But no matter. The real reason Master's is in town is she's looking for the ones who killed her father and burned down their farm when she was a little girl. She knows who did it and she reluctantly enlists the help of Corbin, who it turns out is a federal marshal who's been after the same people Masters been after, for a long time now. It's a local family, the Ivers, who aren't too friendly with their neighbors and have been suspected of cattle rustling.

The ending quick-draw in the saloon between Ben Ivers (Earle Lyon) and Master's is a real hoot! She's pretty quick, although not quick enough not to get wounded in the draw. Ben in turn gets it with a rifle from his kid sister Jenny Ivers (Barbara Turner) who was angry at him for abusing her and shooting her lamb. Good thing she did him in, too. He was a real scumbag.

Also notable for having my favorite 50s B movie scream queen Marie Windsor as the local saloon gal who has a big mouth and gets punished (permanently) for it. Her part in this film raises it up a couple of notches for me. I always enjoy seeing her up there on the silver screen, no matter how lousy the film is.

Even though this was made by a little B movie outfit AFRC, it has no more of a cheap look than many of those oaters Republic, PRC or even bigger studios like RKO & Columbia put out in the late 40s, early 50s.

6 out of 10 for keeping me enthused.

Amazing what will make it into release sometimes. This one ranks with anything that Ed Wood ever put together. Marie Windsor walked into a shot that she was not in and scurried off. It's in the finished film. Even the usually reliable B stalwart Robert Lowery comes off like an amateur. Fun to see in a theater full of college students.

Long before NIKITA and today's - 2020's - fashion action movies involving female fighters, shooters, rough characters, you could find from time to time some gems, such as this one and also DALTON GIRLS, GIRLS ON THE LOOSE and many more films. Especially in the sixties, with exloitation B pictures involving bikers, more or less nude action films, in any topic proposing couter culture, revolt against the system, where women were too often in the kitchen. I agree that Calamity Jane and Belle Starr characters were used by the industry, but they were historical characters, and it was impossible to avoid those topics. Such actresses like Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford or Marlene Dietrich also served this kind of schemes, strong women. But they were exceptions. This very film from Richard Bartlett - an interesting and offbeat director - is not his best however; I highly prefer MONEY, WOMEN AND GUNS. This topic remains too predictable, despite the two gun lady. DALTON GIRLS from director Reg Le Borg was more exciting. And what a surprise to have Bill Talman in a role where he is not the bad guy. Very rare. The showdown scene in the bar, in the end, is terrific for such a B western.