Pistoleiros do Arizona

During the Civil War , Lee Travis (Howard Keel) is hired by government authority to protect townspeople from revenge-seeking outlaws and avoid arms contraband . As a spy taking job as sheriff in small western town as a cover for his espionage activities . As Travis dons a damn Yankee uniform to pull the most daring plot of the war in the West , but he is actually a confederate spy . However, he soon finds out that a local businessman is selling weapons to a band of rampaging Indians . Once there , he has to straighten out a few bad guys who have been selling guns to the Apaches . As the confederate lawman up against gunfighters , and gunrunners as well as usual Indians . As the marshal on the trail of the smugglers is accompanied by a spy woman (Ivonne De Carlo) . Town boss (Scott Brady) is behind the crime and corruption of the little town called Colton but the townspeople are too scared to help sheriff out except for Saloon gal (Marilyn Maxwell) . In the Old west there are always the men who live breathe violence and the women who hold their breath.

This ordinary western is plenty of thrills , go riding , shootouts and suspense as the dreaded final showdown approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone against impossible odds , as his fellow town people for help , nobody is willing to help him ; meanwhile he attempts to clear an issue about weapon gunrunning . This routine Western has the customary story of a sheriff-for-hire who takes the law on his own hands and based on a story and screenplay by Steve Fisher. It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and passable plot . This short runtime tale is almost ordinary , a pacifier comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . Although made in low budget by the producer A.C. Lyles , it has its good moments here and there . Acceptable acting by Howard Keel as a Confederate spy who takes a job as marshal . Notable for the presence of old Western-movie veteran such as John Ireland , Marilyn Maxwell , Scott Brady , Brian Donlevy , Barton MacLane and James Craig . Atmospheric and colorful cinematography in Technicolor , though is necessary a remastering.

This horse opera was realized in low-budget by producer A.C. Lyles and distributed by Paramount Pictures . Lyles produced a lot of Western in short or average budget such as ¨Black spurs¨(1965) , ¨Apache uprising¨(1966); ¨Johnny Reno¨ , ¨Waco¨ , ¨Red Tomahawk ¨and ¨Hostile guns¨(67) , among others ; many of them directed by R.G. Springsteen or Lesley Selander and starred by old glories such as Dana Andrews , Rory Calhoun , George Montgomery and Howard Keel . This quickie was middlingly directed by Lesley Selander , a craftsman working from the 30s . Selander is generally considered to be the most prolific director of feature Westerns of all time, with at least 107 to his credit between 1935 and 1967 . He realized his first feature in 1936, a horse opera , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career . He began in this genre with series starred by Buck Jones and ¨Hopalong Cassidy¨ series starred by William Boyd such as ¨Silver on the sage¨ , ¨Three men from Texas¨ and ¨Wide open town¨. In Republic production he directed his better movies such as ¨Panhandle¨and ¨Stampede¨ starred by Rod Cameron and in RKO he directed Tim Holt in 20 films such as ¨Rio Grande patrol¨ and ¨Overland telegraph¨. He subsequently shot B-movies such as ¨Fort Vengeance¨, ¨Arrow in the desert¨, Shotgun¨, ¨Town tamer¨ and his last picture ¨Texas Kid¨. Although Selander couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He also filmed detective thrillers , action/adventure motion pictures and even a horror film or two . Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable and passable

Despite several reviews, that state, that Richard Arlen is not, in this movie, he appears, unbilled, in a quick scene, as a banker exiting his bank. This was archive footage, from another A.C. Lyles western, that was used, to fulfill a promise, that Lyles made, to Arlen, about 40 years, previously. In the late 1920's, Lyles was an office boy, at Paramount, where Arlen was a star, who befriended him. He told Arlen, that if he ever became a producer, he would put Arlen, in every one, of his films. This was a promise, that he fulfilled, even if it was only a picture, of him, on a mantlepiece, of a brief clip, such as, in this film.

When I see a name like Howard Keel listed for a film, I can't resist having a look, particularly as Keel was probably my first screen hero (perhaps alongside Roy Rogers) as a six year old when I was taken to see Annie Get Your Gun. I still have vivid memories of him in that although it was around 65 years ago. I find it rather sad that stars like Keel ended up having to take jobs in feeble B westerns like Arizona Bushwhackers when they have so much more to give. Rather sad also that he's remembered better for Dallas than Seven Brides for Seven Brothers by some people. However, on to this film, Arizona Bushwhackers is a very tired looking picture that looks like it was made for TV, rather like those Warner Bros series in the 50's like Bronco with sets where everything looks so clean. Everyone wears clean clothes with shirts perfectly pressed and dresses that look like they've just been hired from the fancy dress shop. The movie is packed with actors and actresses who have seen better days, quite big stars some of them in their day like Yvonne De Carlo, John Ireland and Brian Donlevy (who doesn't look at all well here, in fact he died a few years later as did Marilyn Maxwell). Barton McLane although only in his sixties, looks about 80. Actors seemed to age far more quickly back then (1968) than they do today. Too much alcohol and cigarettes I think. The script here is very tedious, nothing I've not seen in westerns hundreds of times before, the colour is washed out and the direction listless and lazy. The final Indian attack is comical as this group of so called renegades just roar into town riding up and down and get picked off by the towns folk waiting for them. Must have been the most stupid Indians ever in a western. The only reason for watching this is to see your favourite old time movie stars of B films which does give one a sort of peculiar warm feeling as their easily recognisable faces appear. I thought John Ireland as a one armed deputy came off best in the acting stakes. Bless them all.

This is one of a string of cheap westerns ground out by producer A.C. Lyles in the mid- to late '60s. The only thing they were notable for was that they gave work to faded stars who were otherwise unemployable. Everything about these films was second-rate--the stories were recycled (most of them were written by the same man, Steve Fisher), the photography was usually washed out and at times unsteady (Lyles was not a believer in shooting more than one take) and they looked rushed, which is what they were--they were usually shot in two weeks or less. This one is no different. The only advantage it has over Lyles' other pictures is that the beginning of it is narrated by none other than James Cagney, who did it as a favor to Lyles, a longtime friend. Other than that, this film has absolutely nothing going for it. It's tough to swallow even for diehard western fans like myself. Avoid it.

1967's "Arizona Bushwhackers" was #12 of the 13 A.C.Lyles Westerns between 1963-67, missing both of his most prolific stars, Lon Chaney (8) and Richard Arlen (11). There are nine actors returning to the series, all but one (Barton MacLane) for the last time: top billed Howard Keel (3rd, in his final starring role) plays the Civil War rebel now fighting for the North, a former riverboat gambler sent West to Colton Arizona to settle a town rampant with corruption; Yvonne DeCarlo (3rd) as the town salesgirl, later revealed to be a Confederate spy; John Ireland (2nd), whose deputy appears to be the only honest citizen left in Colton, now that Sheriff Grover (Barton MacLane, 3rd of 4) has decided to go straight by leaving town; Scott Brady (5th) is the lead villain Tom Rile, running the saloon/gambling house when not selling stolen rifles coveted by Keel's supposed lawman to a band of renegade Apaches; Brian Donlevy (3rd) enjoys his role as the Mayor, but occasionally struggles to deliver his lines; Marilyn Maxwell (2nd) plays the hostess who knows the new sheriff from his days on the Mississippi; James Craig (3rd) as one of the title bushwhackers, killed in a clever bait and switch by one of his own men; finally, the ubiquitous Reg Parton shows up for his 10th Lyles oater, twice trying to murder the sheriff, unsuccessfully. As if that wasn't enough, we have the only feature film role of Roy Rogers Jr., who gets a nice closeup in his lone scene, then disappears from the picture, never to be seen again. Also, the opening narration is dramatically delivered by the unmistakable voice of James Cagney, his only screen work between "One, Two, Three" in 1961, and "Ragtime" in 1981. All things considered one may be thankful that it's as watchable as it is, with an exceedingly tired script sucking all the life out of the film, concluding with an appallingly feeble Apache attack that shows that director Lesley Selander couldn't wait to yell cut, on what turned out to be his screen farewell after 135 features. For my money, Scott Brady and Barton MacLane come off best, Howard Keel not so much.