Fury at Gunsight Pass

The most interesting in this western is that there is no real lead hero, as we can see in other movies of this kind. There are many characters and some subplots, thanks to an intelligent script. It seems that it's difficult to say who the good guys are in this film where honesty seems very rare. It reminds me some Universal western of this period, bringing unusual plots, agreeable for a change. And not always predictable miles ahead. Produced by Wallace Mac Donald and not Sam Katzman, maybe this explains that.

The last half or so of the film takes place in a sandstorm in a town, which makes it extra exciting. The plot is pretty riveting and kept me glued the whole time. Neville Brand and Richard Long are the standouts in the cast, not as stodgy in acting style as sometimes movies in the 50s and earlier were. Unexpectedly enjoyable shoot-em-up, well worth the watch if you're into that genre.

Howdy: This one was good or average, I ought to say, but better than 99% of the spaghetti westerns.

A gang of outlaws are going to rob the bank at 1 p.m. which is when the wedding ought to be over and most people lulled into nothing-ville from the after wedding party. But the wedding is running late. When they do rob it, and only four of them do because they are going to betray the others before they arrive in town, they get caught. They escape, of course, and are chased by a posse that resembled more the keystone cops than a real posse. (Example: When they are chasing outlaws and they arrive at the spot where the outlaws went into the rocks, they turn around and don't even bother to check the ground for horse tracks.) The characters were unreal and unbelievable. Yes, it was a low budget black and white job so what can we expect. Or can we expect more? After all, other westerns like The Ox-Bow Incident and High Noon were also black and white and those were excellent. But they had such greats as Gary Cooper and Henry Fonda and this one only had some "almost" greats.

Anyway, I video taped it and will watch it again when it rolls around as I watch my video tapes in order. And I will enjoy it because it is a western and I am a lover of westerns--even if they are severed with spaghetti.

A group of bank robbers ride into Gunsight Pass. The robbery goes awry, part of the gang is captured, but the money isn't recovered. The men of Gunsight Pass quickly become a mob, ready for a lynching. As the prisoners are being escorted out of town (to avoid the vigilantes), the rest of the gang (lead by Neville Brand) ambushes the posse, frees their cohorts and returns to town to locate the loot. With a windstorm raging, they announce they'll start shooting civilians - one every 30 minutes - till the money is handed over.

An action-packed western with an interesting plot. What's unique that there isn't a main hero - not unless you count Richard Long - and it's just the town folk vs bank robbers. It's a well-made b western with some good suspenseful touches. The finale in the wind storm is a nail biter.

David Brian and Neville Brand are appropriately shifty as double-crossing bank robbers. Percy Helton and Katharine Warren are impressive as the crooked undertaker and his wife. Morris Ankrum is terrific as the town doctor.

I didn't plan to watch this film but found it channel surfing as it was starting. It caught my attention because as it opened you could see three people though a window of a bank talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying. This scene led into one where four outlaws were making plans to double cross their other four partners. For a 1956 black and white, low budget film, it had a lot of interesting sub-plots. I enjoyed the movie quite a lot, due I think, to the many strong character actors. Nothing great, but worth watching if you like the old shoot-them-up Western films.