La parole est au colt

Audie Murphy's western films of the 1950's were entertaining, action-filled and capitalized on his likable, resolute personality. The budgets for those '50's films were higher than his subsequent films in the 1960's. This average film has that weakness, but is still entertaining when viewed in that context.

This film's mediocre budget and production values disappoint, while still showcasing those aspects of Audie Murphy's talent that always appealed to his many fans. I especially liked the casting in this one, with western favorites Royal Dano and the crusty old Edgar Buchanan.

For fans of Murphy, this one is a must see...... for others, watch it in context and you will be surprised. Worth a closer look .........

Gunpoint is directed by Earl Bellamy and written by Mary and Willard Willingham. It stars Audie Murphy, Joan Staley, Warren Stevens, Edgar Buchanan, Denver Pyle, David Macklin, Nick Dennis and Royal Dano. Music is by Hans J. Salter and Technicolor cinematography by William Margulies.

It's early 1880s Colorado and lawlessness is rife, mostly perpetrated by The Drago Gang who were able to enact their crimes and escape afterwards to the sanctuary of their New Mexico stronghold. One man, however, is not going to go down without a fight, the sheriff of Lodgepole, Chad Lucas (Murphy).

There's a school of thought that Audie Murphy's 1960s Westerns are far weaker than his 1950s ones? Which with one or two exceptions is rightly the case. The decade brought a wind of change in the Western genre, for soon Spaghetti would offer something new on the menu and revisionism was not far away either. With most of Audie's 60s output hindered by budget restrictions and a battle against the changing tide, one has to just hope there's enough on offer to not waste your time.

Gunpoint is a right mixed bag that shows the best and worst of Audie's genre output of the decade. Murphy is just fine in is characterisation, his fans suitably catered for, while around him is a stoic and reliable group of Western performers. There's some nifty stunt work on show, plenty of action (property destruction, horse pursuits, shoot-outs etc), and the location photography out of Utah (St. George/Snow Canyon State Park) is gorgeous. While there's also a splendid old fashioned locomotive to enjoy as well.

Narratively it's not high end, though a turn of events suggesting our hero to shockingly be a bully of sorts - which gives him emotional conflict - is a smart addition. Unfortunately the good in the production is off set by poor rear protection and polystyrene props etc, which while still carrying nostalgic value, comes with a hint of sadness of where these productions had landed at. Still, this is far from a waste of time, it holds all the requisite genre tropes for fans of Audie and the "B" Westerns we loved so much in the 50s. 6.5/10

After a violent robbing, a posse is created to pursue the cutthroats. As a Colorado sheriff called Chad : Audie Murphy, and a suspicious deputy : Denver Pyle along with a gambler : Warren Stevens, chase a band of train robbers who have abducted a woman, Joan Staley, an old flame of the obstinate marshall. Things go wrong when the posse goes into New Mexico, a territory where sheriff Murphy doesn't have jurisdiction. The ominous gang is led by a ruthless nasty, Morgan Woodward, and all them are attacked by Apache Indians. The story of a town with a gun in its back !.

Passable but neither notable, not extraordinary, but a run-of-the mill Audie Murphy Western from his worst and final period. That's why Audie was in his fall, in late sixties when he made low-budget westerns as " Texas Kid, 40 guns to Apache Pass, Legend of Sam Guard, Apache rifles" . While in the 50s Murphy played better and more budgeted Westerns such as : "Night passage, Column South, Duel at Silver Creek , Ride a crooked trail , The Red badge of courage , Cimarron Kid" . Besides, Audie made some other notorious non-Western films as "The American" and his self-biography : " To hell and back" . Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII and in "Gunpoint" Audie gives a cool acting as a determined sheriff who seeks for justice, but he is partially blinded, spoiling his attempts to shoot and defenceless against enemies . Here Audie is well accompanied by a good cast, many of them familar faces in Western genre, such as : Warren Stevens, Denver Pyle, John Hoyt, Edgar Buchanan, Roy Barcroft, Mike Ragan, Robert Pine's film debut and Morgan Woodward as the cruel villain.

It contains a thrilling and moving musical score by Hans J. Salter, Universal Pictures's regular. As well as atmospheric and functional cinematography by William Margulies. The motion picture was professionally directed by Earl Bellamy. This prolific filmmaker shot hundreds of television episodes and some films. As Earl made episodes of known and popular TV series such as : " V , Blue Thunder, Fantasy island, Get Smart, young Daniel Boone, Lassie, Fury, Masquerade, US Marshall, I spy, Resltless gun, Mike Hammer, Crusader" . And a few feature films , such as : " 3 guns for Texas, The toughest gun in Tombstone , Seminola uprising , Fluffy , Incident at Phantom Hill , Walking tall 2" , among others. Rating 5.5/10 . Acceptable and passable. The flick will appeal to Audie Murphy fans.

There's a murderous outlaw named Drago played by Morgan Woodward who keeps committing all kinds of crime in the state of Colorado and then running back to the New Mexico territory where the local sheriffs can't catch him.

That's not going to stop Audie Murphy, sheriff of Lodgepole, Colorado. Woodward's robbed a train that was carrying funds for the bank and because he's got the town nest egg, a lot of businesses will fold.

Murphy puts together a posse to go after Woodward and it's some posse, with just about everybody in it working off their own agenda. There is no way Murphy should have accomplished his mission in this film.

Which is of course why Gunpoint, though entertaining, is highly unrealistic. Still a nice cast of western veterans give Murphy some good support. Particular to note are Warren Stevens as the saloon owner and Edgar Buchanan as a leader of a family of equally bad rawhiders whose camp the posse stumbles across.

Gunpoint has a lot of action and a great cast that make up for a highly unrealistic story.

One of Audie Murphy's last westerns. It's the usual assembly-line job most of whose more spectacular moments are stock footage but it's all perfectly competent, well-acted and in Joan Staley has a robust leading lady who can convincingly ride a horse. (The women in westerns tend to be either schoolteachers or saloon girls; Miss Staley is the latter, and she's plainly ridden more than just horses in the past.)