Gun Duel in Durango

Dan Tomlinson, aka Will Sabre (George Montgomery), head of a gang of outlaws, states his intentions to go straight but is warned by the the new gang leader, Dunston(Steve Brodie)that he has thirty days to come back to the gang---or else.

On his way back to his hometown and girl, Judy (Ann Robinson), Dan picks up 10-year-old Robbie (Bobby Clark (I)) whose father has been killed. Dan gets a job as a bank teller and suspicion falls on him when a hold-up occurs and he doesn't use his guns. And, on top of that, Dunston and his former gang plants evidence to make it appear as if Dan cooperated with them.......wait, a minute, haven't we seen this before? A reformed outlaw comes to town, gets a responsible position (such as sheriff or stage guard or maybe even a bank teller---the reel west was getting really whimpy by 1956), and his old gang shows up, makes off with whatever is the most valuable and easiest to haul off...and the ex-outlaw is left to take the blame?

Well, by cracky and by gum, we indeed have...like in 1937'S TWO GUN LAW and 1939's THE THUNDERING WEST with Charles Starrett and 1932's Texas GUN FIGHTER with Ken Maynard and 1930's THE LONE RIDER with Buck Jones...and Universal trotted it out for Johnny Mack Brown in MAN FROM MONTANA...and Maynard liked it so much he used it again at Columbia in 1935 and in a 1940 Colony production and, all in all, it is probably the third most-recycled plot in the western-film genre.

No problem with the always-good George Montgomery filling in for the likes of Jones, Starrett, Maynard and Brown,or Bob Steele or Jack Perrin or Tom Tyler in other versions but Steve Brodie falls way short of the menace of Harry Woods or Dick Curtis.

Writer Louis Stevens shows once again what he lacked in originality, he more than made up for in total recall of plots that had been used before. In this instance, many times.

Gun Duel in Durango is directed by Sidney Salkow and written by Louis Stevens. It stars George Montgomery, Ann Robinson, Steve Brodie, Bobby Clark, Frank Ferguson, Don Barry, Henry Rowland and Denver Pyle. Music is by Paul Sawtell and Berts Shefter and cinematography by Maury Gertsman.

Standard 50s Oater as per formulaic story, but it's spiritedly played and it's not without emotional hefts. Story has Montgomery as Will Sabre, who has had enough of the outlaw life and quits the gang that are titled in his name. Only the gang wont let him quit and he has 30 days to change his mind or else! Not good since under an alias he's landed a nice job in Durango, become a surrogate father to an orphan, and if he can stay straight he'll get the hand of his honey, Judy (Robinson).

It starts with a callous murder and from there we are in no doubt that the one time Sabre Gang, now the Dunsten (Brodie) Gang, are bad dudes and Will Sabre (alias Dan) has his hands full from a number of angles. It's the various active threads that keep the pic from falling into mediocre hell, with Montgomery finding believable chemistry with both Robinson and young Clark. Action scenes are well staged, the Simi Valley and Chatsworth locales are nicely present and Gertsman's crisp black and white photography is most pleasant.

No surprises in store but this is above average and better than the plot would suggest. 6.5/10

OK, that's a pretty good time waster, but there were dozens, or even hundreds like this one where a former outlaw wants to redeem himself, forget his past and have a new life, facing his former associates. It is well done by a very professional Sidney Salkow, but the plot is sooo predictable and boring. I hardly made it concerning the viewing, me who likes being surprised. Here, not at all. This was actually not a deception because I am not naive enough to expect anything more. I had seventy four minutes to waste in my sunday afternoon and that's why. But, I insist, it will please to most western fans. I have seen far far worse.

George Montgomery plays Will Sabre--an outlaw. However, he's sick of the life and wants to retire--but his gang vows to kill him if he does. But, they like him so they give him 30 days to change his mind...or else.

On his way into town, Sabre happens upon an orphan. Robbie's father is dead and he's stranded along the trail. Sabre feels sorry for him and takes the boy with him into Durango. There he gets a job and tries to make something of himself--renaming himself Dan Tomlinson. But the gang is an ever-present threat. What is he to do? As is the case with all of George Montgomery's westerns I've seen, this is a very very competent and well made lower-budgeted film. Montgomery is excellent as always and they manage to make rather ordinary stuff a bit better than it should be. Well worth seeing.

By the way, the trivia section on IMDb is mistaken. It says that the boy Robbie was played by a 20 year-old. Bobby Clark was only 12 or 13 when the film debuted, as he was born in 1944.

Never heard of Director Salkow but he does a decent job with this B pic, and cleverly allows child actor Bobby Clark to steal the spectator's heartstrings.

Montgomery is not a great actor but he is effective as a gun hand trying to reform and stop killing. Ann Robinson is a dish, so they make a great couple. Steve Brodie is a convincing villain, and the action is somewhat slow and frustrating because initially Sabre wants to take on the identity of Bobbly Clark's father and allow killer Sabre to be reported dead but then he dithers and goes back on his plan, when all he had to do was to shoot all the members of the Sabre gang dead and the sheriff would not be able to identify him.

At one point he tells lovely Robinson that he has switched names because he does not want to kill anymore but, after much hesitation, he goes ahead and kills three or four gang members for good measure.

So go figure that contradiction. Apart from that, it's a touching and entertaining B pic.