Feu sans sommation

Audie Murphy is one of my favorite actors, in westerns he's real good. Clint Cooper returns to the town he was run out of, 2 years prior to the start of the movie, and he Audie, tells a flash back-like story. He returns because he wants to redeem himself, and in the beginning it's tense, but as per usual, the town begins to let Clint Cooper know, everything isn't as it seems. So, without giving the plot away and telling how well lit the scenes are, I will just end by saying if you like to root for the good guy turned bad guy, turned good guy, then you might like this film. One funny thing is seeing a rough tough rancher with a bright purple shirt on. Something tells me, that wouldn't have happened back in the day. The trouble starts when Tom Morris finds out that Clint Cooper is back in town! Tom want's revenge for Clint killing his two sons in a gun fight while Tom Morris and his sons were trying to steal Clint's families land. So the towns people hate Clint and want him gone! But the town doesn't have time to run him off this time. Spangler's on his way with his gang to rob the town and burn it to the ground if "I feel like it, nobody could stop us". Clint's been thinking about the cute little school marm he left behind, figures he can come home and pick up where he left off! But she's gonna marry Clint's old buddy the Town Sheriff. So watch and see how all this untangles! But be careful 'couse Clint's gun "got to fast"

This is the third time this story by Steve Fisher has been done. The first time was "Top Gun" starring Sterling Hayden done in 1955 in black and white, and then done again as "Noose for a Gunman" in 1960 starring Jim Davis, who later became Jock Ewing on "Dallas" (Ted DeCorsia even played the same role as in "The Quick Gun" with John Dehner taking the main villain role in "Top Gun"). All three are good if you like the old fashion type westerns, which I do. They were simple, your kids and grandkids could watch them, and they always had a good ending. Need more of them today. To me, Audie Murphy will always be a hero on the battlefield (The most decorated soldier in WWII including the medal of honor)and on the screen.

This western from the Audie Murphy's second part of career is really lame, not precisely boring, but so tedious, predictable, despite a Ted De Corsia's presence, in a role that reminded me a bit some Dan Duryea's characters. The villain who seemed to be at first sight the hero's good pal. But it's watchable for Audie Murphy's fans. Forget NO NAME ON THE BULLET, in terms of Murph's characters, here, you feel that any Rory Calhoun, Dale Robertson or George Montgomery would have also done the job the same. The early sixties are recognizable if you watch closely enough the production design and story telling. This seems to evoke the AC Lyles' productions, involving old timers only. But strangely never Audie Murphy by the way. Very Strange that I just realize it now, when writing this review, that Audie Murphy never played in an AC Lyle's productions. With directors such as Lesley Selander, RG Springsteen, William Claxton....

'The Quick Gun' never exerts itself, but it's still a western that (only just) held my interest from start-to-finish.

The premise is watchable enough, which is fortunate as the acting, dialogue and fight scenes aren't great. All of the acting is on the wooden side, with the exception of Ted de Corsia who is pretty good as Spangler. The cast are all likeable, though don't quite give top performances in my opinion.

Dialogue-wise it's boring, there's quite a few moments with blocks of speaking. The combat isn't pleasing on the eye either, given its slow nature. The music and camera work is OK, I guess.

If you want to sit back and chill with a western that doesn't take much effort, then this is one for you. It's fine to watch, if underwhelming overall.

The Quick Gun is directed by Sidney Salkow and written by Robert E. Kent. It stars Audie Murphy, Merry Anders, James Best, Ted de Corsia, Walter Sande and Rex Holman. A Techniscope/Technicolor production with cinematography by Lester Shorr and music by Richard La Shelle.

1964 saw three Audie Murphy Westerns released, Bullet for a Badman was rather good, Apache Rifles was just above average and The Quick Gun was quite frankly poor. Which is a shame since the premise and double pronged dose of villainy showed good promise on the page. Plot essentially sees Murphy as Clint Cooper, a gunman returning to the town of Shelby two years after he had left because of killing two men. Although he was forced into the fight, many of the town denizens consider him an evil force, a problem since he is trying to get the whole town to understand that a gang of outlaws are on their way to pillage all and sundry. With the father of the two men killed by Cooper after his blood, the gang on their way and very much having Cooper in their sights since they know him well, Cooper has got it all to do to win the heart of the gal he loves and settle down in peace on his deceased father's ranch.

Of course it's a narrative tailor made for a Murphy character, defend the town against all hostilities whilst proving himself as a just man. But it never amounts to much more than a few half hearted up-tempo scenes. There are a number of villains for Cooper to deal with, but they are weakly performed by the actors, marking them out as unconvincing, with Walter Sande as Tom Morrison laughable as we are expected to believe his old and bulky frame can give a lithe Murphy a good fist fight. This is one of the many false things that dominate the picture, the fights are ultra slow, the stunt doubles all too obvious and the town of Shelby itself is one of the most unconvincing I have seen in a B Western. The interiors are all pristine and pretty, often looking like how someone would decorate a Wild West themed restaurant, badly artificial.

There's a decent sequence involving flames and as ever, Murphy is watchable and likable even in the most tawdry of Oaters, but this really smacks of unprofessionalism by those around him. Making it hard to recommend to anyone but the staunchest of Audie's fans. 5/10