Four Fast Guns

Four Fast Guns is an interesting if not completely successful B western, done at a time when these kinds of films and stories were finding more of a home on the small screen. I could have seen this one as an episode on The Virginian for instance which was a 90 minute show.

James Craig has an encounter with a 'town tamer' on the trail and when he gets prodded into a fight he kills the prodder. Craig goes on into the town with the name of Purgatory and proceeds to take the job of town tamer.

Who Purgatory wants to eliminate is Paul Richards, once a fast gun himself, but now limited to running the saloon and all the organized outlawry in the area. Richards is limited also because he's in a wheelchair due to a broken back. And apparently he's also limited as far as wife Martha Vickers is concerned.

Richards sends a series of gunmen against Craig, Four Fast Guns to be precise. Three come up short, but the fourth is Brett Halsey who presents some unique problems no one foresaw on both sides.

The B western had certainly moved way beyond the Saturday matinée kiddie trade. You wouldn't have a Roy Rogers western dealing with something like impotence. Four Fast Guns probably would have been more explicit but for the Code.

Four Fast Guns was done on the cheap so it won't get a higher rating from me. Still it's an interesting work.

Grade C story, grade B+ direction, grade B- actors, grade C- acting, and grade B+ ending, so a grade C+ film.

I really stumbled across this "Western" film. I had clicked on a Charlie Chan film while searching through YouTube and Four Fast Guns popped up instead.

Edgar Buchanan had star billing. Yes, Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction and from over 150+ films and TV shows where he earned fame from being listed as uncredited or with characters named: Bartender Dan, Applejack, Uncle Willie, Old Willy, Dr. Samuels, Uncle Harry, and Will "Bill" Dowdy to name a few. So, when the credits began for Four Fast Guns and Buchanan was the star, I had to watch. Especially as Buchanan intoned the opening lines with "This man came along the trail one Sunday morning in '73, taking it slow and easy, keeping his eyes open and his gun hand ready. He came from nowhere, I guess. Anyhow, he never said from where and we never asked. He was going to stop off in Purgatory, to make his stand like he lived - alone. This is Number One. He called himself Sabin."

And then there was the action from the get go as Sabin is about to be gunned down by what is termed "a town tamer." After killing the man who would have murdered him, Sabin rides into the town of Purgatory where he is taken for the sent for town tamer.

The plot is typical in that there is a villain (monster) holding a town (castle) captive, and the townsfolk gather enough money to hire a fast gun (knight errant) to save them and free the villain's wife (damsel-in-distress).

For the most part it works. The director, William J. Hole Jr., makes the most of shooting in black and white, and he know how to "show" the audience by not showing them. But he doesn't know how to keep the story tight and focused. Most of the "starring" actors are recognizable-James Craig, Brett Halsey, Richard Martin, Paul Richards-but aren't names you know. Usually, they turn in a good performance, but here there is a feeling they could have all done better.

The ending is true to the film and could have been powerful and memorable but instead it comes off as mediocre. The final shot was worthy of a Clint Eastwood Western, but here it comes close to laughable.

With someone else at the helm, this might have had a chance to be a High Noon. Instead Four Fast Guns has ended up a forgotten film.

I still recommend giving this film a viewing because the majority of what's there on the screen is pretty darn good.

The title might vaguely ring a bell as the final film of Martha Vickers; who fifteen years earlier had a father in a wheelchair in 'The Big Sleep' and this time has a husband similarly challenged.

Despite being shot in CinemaScope, the general monochromatic drabness of the town of Purgatory (which the script is fond of reminding us the town is called, and doubtless inspired the name of the town in 'Support Your Local Gunfighter') captures the cramped bleakness and propensity for violence that probably characterised the authentic Old West.

What a great surprise to watch first a B western in a splendid LBX copy, with a great acting and directing for this kind of production. I hardly know the actors bt who cares? The topic is classic as thousands of other westerns, but that's the least of my problems with this movie. And it is short, sharp, very pleasing to watch. The director was a producer I guess but he did not let a major mark in Hollywood history. I really enjoyed this film and highly advise it to every western buff, and keep in mind that's a rare item, not widely known so don't miss your luck to see it. I have hundreds and hundreds of this kind of westerns in my collection, but not necessarily of this quality.

The film's striking poster, the title, it just kind of drew me in. Four Fast Guns started off kind of slow for me but oddly enough as the film progressed I was actually starting to become involved. The basic story is kind of fun, but as is often times the case with these old westerns, and maybe with the old west in general, there are so many contradictions to how and when the law is actually enforced. This is something I have noticed about many westerns, and this one in particular. I don't recall ever seeing James Craig before, and while he does a decent job here, I do think he lacks the charisma to carry the lead role here. Who knows though, perhaps he was so focused on being the stoic, unfeeling, tough-guy cowboy that he forgot to bring the rest? Anyway, the remainder of the performances are nothing special but adequate. It's kind of a slight film and yet I did find it kind of entertaining. Check it out and see for yourself.