Le Californien

"Guns of Diablo" currently has a rating of 5.7...which is rather on the low side. I was surprised, as I loved this film and nearly gave it a 9! It's original, well acted and directed as well as quite enjoyable.

The film begins with Linc (Charles Bronson) leading a wagon train across the country during the old west period. When a member of the expedition is badly injured, they decide to stay put for a few days to enable him to recover as well as allowing Linc to go into town to get provisions. He takes a precocious young man (Kurt Russell...who is excellent here) with him and although the trip should have been uneventful, they walk into a hornet's nest of sorts. This is because some sociopathic brothers have moved there and they run the place...and they would love to kill Linc. Can he and the boy survive this hellish town and the trio of bullies waiting to exact revenge?

The film really delivers in many ways. It's tense, exciting and really interesting. Bronson is simply terrific in one of his earlier starring roles and as I mentioned before, young Kurt Russell is shockingly good. Overall, a real sleeper which deserves to be seen.

It starts with a wagon train heading for westward and leading a master called Murdock : Charles Bronson, as while guiding a wagon train he saves a colonist from a wild river. Shortly after, he along with his young helper , 14-year-old little boy named Jaimie : Kurt Russell, teaching him the riveting tricks of the trade while going to a small town. There Murdock runs in problems when he meets his old flame, Maria : Susan Oliver, at an abandoned little town, she is now married to Rance Macklin : Jan Merlin. Then the jealous Rance imprison Murdock at a livery stable, but Maria frees him, permiting Murdock to carry out a vendetta . At the end embarking on new adventures involving a lost gold mine from an old man : Douglas Fowley .

This is an agreeable Western with thrills, action , shootouts and a romantic love drama. A simple drama western about a wagon train scout who runs in difficulties when he meets old enemies, being developed by means of a long flashback in which during a troublesome time our starring reminiscences the old feud when worked at the Macklin ranch . It results to be a blending of two episodes of the TV series The Travels of Jamie McPheeters. Stars Charles Bronson in his usual tough style as a brave scout . Bronson subsequently to play a lot of notorious roles in Western genre as in "From noon till three", "Chato", "Red Sun" , "Villa rides" , "Valdez" , "Nevada Express" , "White Buffalo" and especially : "Magnificent Seven" and "Once upon the time in the West" . Co-star pretty Susan Oliver as the old beautiful flame and the very young beardless Kurt Russell in one of his first roles. And other decent secondaries as Jan Merlin as revengeful husband, John Fiedler as the saloon barman, Morris Ankrum as the ranch owner and Douglas Fowley as an old sick man.

It contains atmospheric and colorful cinematography by John Nickolaus. As well as thrilling musical score by Walter Scharf, Leigh Harline and Harry Jackman. The motion picture produced by Boris Ingster was professionally directed by Boris Sagal. He used to work for television, making Telefilms and TV series such as : Rich man poor man, Columbo, Diary of Ana Frank, Dial M for murder, Masada, Sherlock Holmes in New York and WWIII. And occassionaly for cinema directing the classic Sc-iFi : Omega Man. Rating 6/10. Enjoyable western. The flick will appeal to Charles Bronson fans.

This is a fair movie to say the least. Not one of Charles Bronson's better movies. Only the die-hard Bronson fan might want to check it out. Look for a very young Kurt Russell in the film also.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I knew beforehand it was a snippet of the series released as a full-length feature, but it plays as a movie very well. The acting was great, some of the best I've seen of Bronson, and Kurt was just as good as the young Jamie. My only complaint is the very low video quality, but it was not enough to stop me from wanting to finish it. I was completely intrigued within the first five or ten minutes. Deserves way more than the 4.9 rating on here.

Strong acting and story, realistic dialog, and neat to see Kurt as a young boy.

During the Sixties MGM packaged episodes of TV series as feature movies for distribution in Europe. "Guns Of Diablo" represents two episodes of the series "The Travels Of Jamie McPheeters". Some comments note the daring love scene (for TV at the time). Actually sometimes MGM would add footage not in the original episode to make the feature more adult for European audiences. This was the case for "Guns Of Diablo".

This feature has been released on both video and DVD on budget labels. The print quality is fairly good under these circumstances.

When you consider its origins, "Guns" comes off as a reasonably entertaining western. It certainly showcases Bronson's talent and on screen charisma. For an example of how not to turn TV episodes into a feature check out "The Meanest Men In The West" also starring Bronson. It consists of two episodes of "The Virginian" with Bronson and Lee Marvin as brothers who do not share any scenes together but with editing appear to.