La caverne des hors-la-loi

Cave of Outlaws (1951)

** (out of 4)

Technicolor Western set in 1880 finds a gang of outlaws robbing a train full of gold and hiding it in a cave. Before they can leave the cave all are killed with the exception of teenager Pete Carver. After fifteen years in prison, Pete (MacDonald Carey) is released and heads back to the territory where the cave is located only to learn that it's now a booming town due to copper being found in the mines. The good news is that the money was never discovered but now Pete must try and outsmart a few other bad guys who have their own plans for the money. It's amazing that someone like William Castle can remain so popular yet very few of his films are actually viewed by people. It seems most either never knew he had a career before his Horror pictures or perhaps they just don't care. As I slowly go through his Westerns it's clear that he was certainly a director-for-hire as his quick shooting and under budget reputation certainly got him hired to do this film. There's nothing overly horrible about this film but at the same time there's nothing good either. I think a lot of the problem is the screenplay, which gives us a fairly interesting idea but very little is ever done with it. Once Pete arrives back to town we get the typical bad guys following him and the typical women wanting him. There' some mild comic stuff dealing with every store owner giving him an unlimited line of credit because they think he knows where the money is but not enough is done with this. Castle handles the opening robbery pretty well but the rest of the film is rather lifeless. There's not too much energy in any of the scenes and the ending seems more fashioned for a comic book than an actual film. Carey isn't the most entertaining leading men and Alexis Smith doesn't get too much to do either. Edgar Buchanan, Hugh O'Brian and Hugh Sanders aren't too bad in their supporting roles but the screenplay does them no favors. There's some decent cinematography and fans of Universal's horror films will notice that a lot of the stock music is carried over here. If you close you eyes throughout the film you'll think you're watching ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN considering the scores. In the end, it's pretty hard to recommend this movie to anyone outside of someone like me who just wants to go through the director's entire career.

B-Horror Huckster Icon William Castle Directed this, aside from the Unusual Cave Scenes, Average Western Story about Hidden Treasure and the Lust for Gold.

Macdonald Carey Looks more like a "Dude" then a Man who Spent the Last 15 Years in Prison.

When He is Released, Returns to the Scene of the Crime and the Town-Folks Fawn at His Feet.

Because, Supposedly, He knows where the Gold from the Robbery that sent Him to Prison is Hidden.

You Guessed it...In the Cave.

It's all Rather Far-Fetched and Less than Engaging and is Staged Without much Flare.

The Highlights are "The Cave", of course, but Also Alexis Smith and Her Stunning Wardrobe and Edgar Buchanan Against Type as a Sober Agent.

Watchable but Unremarkable, Except for the Odd Cave Scenes.

The Rest is Ho-Hum Action with Ho-Hum Results.

I always think that this western belongs to the Columbia period of director William Castle, under of course the tyranny of the gruesome Sam Katzman; this sinister producer who oversaw many William Castle's westerns and adventure movies and so, this one could have perfectly been a Columbia one. But Castle worked for Universal studios before Columbia; however, for Universal, he mostly gave us crime thrillers instead of westerns. This explains why I thought this one was a Columbia film. Well, Macdonald Carey is not the best lead character ever for a western, though here he is OK enough to be convincing in this role. Good B western from a director whose filmography will always remains interesting to wath or re watch.

Arizona territory 1880 . A gang carries out a risked train robbing of the Wells Fargo and they are subsequently pursued by a posse, then they hide into a cave. In the stand-off kill everyone except the adolescent Pete : Russ Tamblyn who surrenders his followers. Being the only survivor of the band he is detained and beaten , but he does not tell about the stolen gold, refusing to locate the whereabout . Released after serving 15 years in Kansas state prison for the tren robbing, adult Pete: MacDonald Carey, arrives in a small town located nearly the caves to find the missing loot. Along the way he meets a beautiful wife, the local beauty and editor Elizabeth : Alexis Smith, whose husband disappeared some time ago while searching for the loot at the caverns and Pete then takes on the local land baron called Ben Cross : Victor Jory who is for her, as well .

A decent western with thrills, noisy action, crossfire, intrigue, duels and suspenseful final. The film is allegedly based on facts, upon a real robbing : The Colossal Cave Legend, whose thieves hid their loot at a caver . Stars MacDonald Carey as the ex-con who arrives in town and citizens offer him services and goods hoping to share in the loot. Alexis Smith is very good as a publisher, he is owner a Printing and Graving office called the New Clarion . While Victor Jory performs the nasty role as a poweful mine owner who wants to take the gold as well as the girl. Another important character is Edgar Buchanan who plays a Well Fargo agent, commissioned to follow Pete and retrieve the stolen loot. Here stands out the excellent art direction from Nathan Juran and Bernard Herzbrun, gorgeous cinematography by Irving Glassberg, showing spectacular frames from the spectacular caves and highly commendable musical score Joseph Gershenson. All the cave scenes in this production in this production were actually photographed at the Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico. Being shot on location in Mountain Park Vail, Colossal cave Arizona, Carisbard caverns National Park, New Mexico, Santa Clarita , California and Universal studios. As producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the United States Department of the Interior whose splendid cooperation made these scenes possible.

Well produced by William Alland and Leonard Goldstein for Universal Pictures. The motion picture was professionally directed by the known and prolific producer, writer and director William Castle. He was a good craftsman who in his beginings he made several westerns in low budget such as : The law rides again, Conquest of Cochise, Americano. Later on, he moved to direct terror movies, using peculiar gimmicks, that had success enough, such as : The tingler, 13 Ghosts, Mr Sardonicus, Homicidal, Zotz, Strait-jacket , Night walker, among others. Rating 6/10. Decent, acceptable, and passable Western.

Cave of Outlaws is directed by William Castle. It stars MacDonald Carey, Alexis Smith, Edgar Buchanan, Victor Jory, and Hugh O'Brian (later the lead on The Legend of Wyatt Earp).

It is 1895 and Pete Carver (Carey) is released from Kansas State Prison, he is the only survivor of a gold robbery 15 years earlier that saw his father killed in caves near Cooper Bend, Arizona. The gold was never recovered, which is hard to believe. Once Carver gets out of prison, he immediately starts looking for the gold.

Following Carver around is a Wells Fargo agent played by Edgar Buchanan. Unlike many other roles were Buchanan plays a hard-drinking and gruff character, in this movie Buchanan is totally different. Buchanan does a very refreshing turn as a dedicated and honest agent looking for the missing gold. I had never seen Edgar Buchanan acting like a very professional good guy before. It was surprising, and it made the movie even better.

Carver meets the owner of the local newspaper, The Clarion. She is played by the gorgeous Alexis Smith, who also wears some really amazing outfits in nearly every scene. She is such a knockout that she looks very out of place in the town she lives in. She almost immediately falls in love with Carver, which is also hard to believe. Macdonald Carey is not very handsome, and he has the body of a 1940s store clerk. Some folks claim he vaguely looked like Gregory Peck, but I cannot see the resemblance.

Anyhow, Alexis is in love with Carver/Carey, but Victor Jory is in love with Alexis. Working as Jory's main thug is Hugh O'Brien (Wyatt Earp). Between Jory and O'Brien, they keep Carver/Carey dodging bullets and punches. It is not a classic Western, but it is a lot more entertaining than I expected it to be.

A lot of the action takes place in the Carlsbad Caverns, and the spooky Universal Studios horror movie music is used to a good effect in some scenes. The movie flows along at a solid pace, and it is not trying to be more than just a fun movie. Overall it is pretty good.