Gunmen of Abilene

Peter Brocco has discovered that an old gold mine is far from played out. He doesn't want to share the money with the people who live in the valley, so he conspires with Roy Barcroft and his gang of outlaws to raid the town, burn it, and drive out the good people. Sheriff Eddie Waller is a canny man, but he's too old to track them down and bring justice singlehanded, so his son gets Marshall Allan 'Rocky' Lane to come in. Lane doesn't want to hurt the old man's feelings, so he never mentions his job title, but allows himself to be sworn in as a deputy.

It's a thoughtful and compassionate script for a one-hour B western, and the acting is first rate. There's fine chemistry between Lane and Waller; they were frequent co-stars. In fact, Waller was one of three men at Lane's funeral, counting the undertaker and the minister. There's a real sense of community in script, as people admit that Waller is a good man, he just can't handle the trouble. Even the usual squeaky-voiced kid didn't annoy me.

It's quite a handsome little western, despite the low profile of most of the people in front of and behind the camera. Even Lane, if he is remembered, is usually remembered for voicing the horse in MISTER ED.

There is really nothing to recommend this movie other than an example of Alan "Rocky" Lane, a western star with over 125 films to his credit. The cast is so undistinguished that they even credit the horse! If you've seen more than a couple of westerns, then this one is familiar. The bad guys find gold/silver/whatever, and they want to get it before anyone else knows it is there. So, they start running people out of town. In rides the sheriff/Marshall/whatever and saves the day, but not before he is arrested himself or has to fight his way out of impossible situations.

Yawn!

Mild mannered Peter Brocco as the town pharmacist makes an unlikely villain in this Allan Lane western Gunmen Of Abilene. But he's the brains behind a very murderous gang who wants no less than to wipe out a town. And the rash of crimes has the townspeople wanting to replace Sheriff Eddy Waller.

Into this rides Allan Lane, a deputy US Marshal who is traveling incognito, so much so that Waller hires Lane for his deputy. It's a plot gambit taken right out of the Bing Crosby/Barry Fitzgerald films at Paramount, the younger man trying to gently ease the old guy into retirement, but ends up helping him.

Doing the heavy villain work is Roy Barcroft whose credentials in western villainy are well known. It's a tough job, but you know Lane and Waller will round up the bad guys. In fact this is one explosive climax.

Why all this villainy, it's because Brocco and Barcroft know there's a mother lode vein running from the shaft of an old mine to the town Main Street running right under it. A whole lot of people own property, but Brocco wants it all.

Good Allan Lane western, don't miss it if you like B westerns.

Abilene gunmen are bent on terrorizing the town of Blue Valley and massacring its inhabitants. They have been hired by local druggist Henry Turner, who has discovered gold beneath the town and wishes complete possession.

A serviceable Rocky Allan Lane western which is focused and quite clever with the plot twist regarding how Roy Barcroft steals Lane's Identity as Marshal and has Lane running like an outlaw. What I liked though was the ethics and the respect Lane shows the sheriff, an elderly man, by not revealing to him that he's a Marshal and being his deputy. There's the usual rip-roaring' and fast shooting, but the finale is exciting in particular with a dynamite erupting a landslide, and consequently the chief villain goes out with a bang - quite literally.