Quatre tueurs et une fille

Richard Carlson is more known as an actor than as a director, and that's unfair because he brought us very good surprises, unusual and charming stuff as this one now. Wally Brennan and Rory Calhoun are in the cast and several other figures such as Charles Drake, George Nader and John McIntire Universal Studios "home" actors. It is short, a bit over eighty minutes, good paced, never boring nor cheesy. So, a good moment to spend. Rory Calhoun is not really a good hero here, rather ambivalent dude and that suits him well. In real life, don't forget that he was a bad boy, former inmate in institution for young offenders. Charles Drake in a sheriff role, not far from the one he had in NO NAME ON THE BULLET, where he fought against a very ambivalent Audie Murphy in the lead. A rather good character study that concerns the outlaws around the female, daughter of Walter Brennan.

This dull shoot-'em-up, a typical run-of-the-mill, cowboys 'n' Indians, robbers vs.posse oater, has one remarkably fascinating aspect: a bare-bones plot punctuated by surprisingly sexual imagery, much of which can be interpreted as homoerotic. Some scenes are steamingly obvious in their depiction of passion, and others are so gratuitously injected that they can only be seen as surreptitiously symbolic. (There's even a totally irrelevant pussycat with kittens). The creators must have had a bang-up good time foisting such a naughty piece on mid-fifties audiences, and modern viewers should have just as much fun ferreting out each and every nuance! Fans who favor peeking below the Production Code will have a ball!

I'm a western nut who's been watching horse-operas since the '50s and somehow I'd never heard of this before a TV showing here in England. The cast is superb, including Oscar-winner Walter Brennan in a more restrained performance than usual. Each of the four bank robbers has his own little quirks and it's fun to see Jay Silverheels in a more lively part than his legendary Tonto act, which was often so wooden you'd pick up splinters just from watching it. There's a familiar face playing the tiny role of the town barber - Paul Brinegar, who found TV fame five years later as trail-cook Wishbone on Rawhide.

Richard Carlson's direction is surprisingly effective. It's a darn shame he didn't do much else, though his 1964 low-budget Kid Rodelo was nowhere near as nifty a job as Four Guns, which must be filed as "underrated and worth a look." Both movies came from Louis L'Amour stories.

This is a very enjoyable movie, though you wouldn't know it from its low (5.8) user rating. I guess that rating is due to its rather friendly disposition -- no evil bad guys, no murders, not so much action. There is a lot of amiable camaraderie amongst the protagonists, and maybe the theme of the movie (good women civilizing their menfolk) doesn't turn most Western fans on.

However, if you disregard this movie, you are missing a superior B-Western (or mediocre A-Western). It was directed by a TV and movie actor familiar to most of us, Richard Carlson, who acted in over 100 productions, including "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" and "King Solomon's Mines." Among the film's many pluses are:

¶ a surprisingly superior cast beginning with Rory Calhoun. As one reviewer said, "the rest of the cast is first choice with the a young Colleen Miller and remarkable supporting actors (the Best of Universal's contract actors) : Walter Brennan, John McIntire (in only a handful of scenes) and Charles Drake."

¶ By far, the best actor and scene in the movie is from Nina Foch. Calhoun and Drake used to be friends and hellions in town. Both apparently were friendly with Koch, who ended up marrying Drake, who became sheriff. Calhoun moved away, but continued as an outlaw. The best scene in the movie is when Calhoun returns to town to stage a fist fight with sheriff Drake as a diversion while his gang robs the bank. Great are Calhoun's reminisces with Koch, and Koch's breaking up of the fistfight.

¶ the entire production was competent and pleasant -- cinematography, scenery, color, music, direction, acting, etc.

This is a really enjoyable movie, a tale of romance, self discovery and of course Native Americans. The performances are convincing and quite passionate, which really help sell the story to the audience. However the star of this movie is actually the musical score. It is tremendous. The music underscores the action on screen as well as any movie I have ever watched. Highly recommended.