Cinq fusils à l'Ouest

Done on a dental floss budget Five Guns West tells the story of the Confederate Army recruiting five outlaws and pardoning them from sentences of death to help recover several thousand dollars of gold bullion. It's kind of a different slant on the plot of the much bigger budgeted Virginia City. We learn that the Confederacy is much interested more in getting their traitorous agent back to stand trial as he has a lot of contacts to give the Union and pretty much blow up their spy system.

The five recruited are Michael Connors, John Lund, Paul Birch, R. Wright Campbell, and Jonathan Haze and they're about what you would expect from outlaws. The mission is to intercept a stagecoach at a particular station that will be carrying the agent and the gold.

That station is operated by Jack Ingram and his niece Dorothy Malone. Remember these guys are outlaws and haven't been with a woman in a while. As that line from Casablanca would read transfered here, Dorothy constitutes a second front all her own.

There are a couple interesting twists in this film involving the characters and the film was Roger Corman's directorial debut. If Corman didn't have a penchant for other genres he might have made some more interesting westerns like Five Guns West.

Five criminals, some smarter than others, are pardoned by the Confederacy in order to rob a stagecoach of Union cash and capture a Confederate traitor. The five make their way to the rendezvous, where some of them menace a young woman and her elderly uncle, leading to in-fighting and the eventual battle with the US Army.

It's surprising to discover that the directorial debut of Roger Corman is not only a western, but is in color as well, with good photography by Floyd Crosby and some decent outdoor locations. On a technical level, this looks better than some of Corman's later, shoe-string black and white productions.

On hand is frequent collaborators like actor Jonathan Haze, Crosby, and writer R. Wright Campbell, as well as it's distributor, the soon-to-be renamed American International Pictures.

As far as the actual movie goes, it gets a bit talky at times, but it's a solid enough B-picture. Also, it's easy to see why villain Mike Conners went on to bigger and better things.

This was Roger Corman's directorial debut and was a good indication of his ability to produce a brisk formula movie although it is also clear that the Western was not his real forte and that it was not until he turned to genres more suited to the youth exploitation market that he really found his niche.It is not without significance that in The Variety Book of Movie Lists neither Joe Dante or Martin Scorsese who contribute "Best of Roger Corman" lists mention any of his Westerns . The movie under review here is a version of the theme he returned to in a Second World War setting in The Secret Invasion and was used by Robert Aldrich for the bigger budget extravaganza The Dirty Dozen-this time given an American civil war setting.Five men are recruited from the criminal element to rescue confederate gold and apprehend a traitor.One is not however what he seems .The group is riven by internal tensions especially when waiting for the stage bringing their prey to a way station inhabited by Dorothy Malone and James Stone as her alcoholic and cowardly uncle .The group disintegrates and turns on their leader as played by John Lund

Good performances especially by Paul Birch(not the Lambchop and solo alternative country genius)as the grizzled veteran J.C

It is crudely done but never outstays its welcome

During the Civil War, five condemned Southern prisoners conscripted already destined for death row are freed to execute a risked mission . The desperate outlaws are drafted to go on a near-suicide aim and attempt to capture a traitor throughout Indian territory . They must carry out the objective in several days with the understanding that if the Confederate don't murder them, the Union Army won't, either . The ambitious confederates commanded by Sturges (John Lund) , join forces to rob a lot of money at a stagecoach . In the hands of hardboiled director Roger Corman and a tough-as-leather cast headed by John Lund and Mike Connors , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring Western flick. The mission is displayed in ¨Dirty dozen ¨ style and promised pardons on the condition that they undertake an assignment to head west and bring back a double-crossing Confederate spy who has a stagecoach full of Confederate gold . Meanwhile ,Shalee Jethro (Dorothy Malone) helps her uncle run a desert stagecoach station. The confederates arrive in the station to await a gold shipment they scheme to steal , and Shalee becomes their hostage bait and then the outlaws start to confront among themselves .

This is an average Western with crossfire , action , thrills , shotdown , pursuits but some boring and slow-moving . It's made in low budget , however well played by two major actor as John Lund and Dorothy Malone . The secondary actors , technicians ( cameraman Floyd Crosby , musician Bregman ) and writer ( Wright Campbell who wrote various Corman's scripts ) will repeat with Roger in subsequent films . Passable support cast as Paul Birch , Wright Campbell , Jonathan Haze who acted in ¨Little shop of horrors¨ and Mike ¨Touch¨ Connors ( His Touch nickname comes from his college basketball playing days) who worked in ¨The Oklahoma Woman¨ , ¨Day the world ended¨ and many others Corman products. Furthermore , brief acting , almost extra , of James B. Sikking . The motion picture is regularly directed by Roger Corman . During the 50-60s Roger Corman directed Western as ¨The Oklahoma Woman ¨ ¨Apache Woman¨ and ¨Five guns West ¨ , but his specialty were the terror movies , Edgar Alan Poe saga, and monsters movies as ¨Attack the crab monsters ¨, ¨ It conquered the world, ¨ Beast with a million eyes¨, ¨ Wasp man ¨, ¨ Viking women and great serpent ¨ , ¨ Little shop horrors ¨ though Corman also produced several films as ¨ Night of the blood beast ¨ and ¨ Attack of the giant leeches¨ . Rating : Mediocre , only for Roger Corman aficionados .

Near the end of the Civil War in Texas, five hardened convicts are pardoned to participate in a dangerous mission to apprehend a traitor and a gold shipment. Mike "Mannix" Connors plays one of the ne'er-do-wells while Dorothy Malone is on hand as one of two people living at the stage stop. John Lund co-stars.

"Five Guns West" (1955) is a B Western, known for being the directorial debut of trailblazing Indie filmmaker Roger Corman. It's not bad and thankfully shot in color. But the geography is disingenuous and the early reference to 1867 is laughable in light of the fact that the Civil War ended in 1865.

There are similarities to the earlier "Hangman's Knot" (1952), but it's different enough to stand on its own, although it lacks the budget and isn't as good. The movie focuses on the bickering social dynamics of the five former convicts and which one will get the woman.

The film runs 1 hour, 17 minutes, and was shot at Jack Ingram Ranch (in Woodland Hills) & Iverson Ranch (in Chatsworth), both in northwest Los Angeles.

GRADE: C+