The Quiet Gun

Far from simple minded, this film raises some moral questions in an intelligent way. Actually, fairly relevant for today. Oh, and there's a bit of unobtrusive humor, as well. The plot makes sense. The film moves along at a good pace and is neither too long or too short.

Nicely acted in an understated way - particularly Forrest Tucker (far removed from his later "F-Troop" days). Old stand-by Hank Worden plays his usual eccentric character. The ominous Lee Van Cleef is also present. Definitely worth 80 minutes of your time.

The Quiet Gun was an understated and underrated little western from the B picture unit at 20th Century Fox. This film would have been a classic, but for parameters from the omnipresent Code that held its themes in check. An unclear script keeps it in B standards as well.

The villains are saloon owner Tom Brown and henchman gunfighter Lee Van Cleef who want to get Jim Davis off his ranch so they can have use of it to graze some rustled cattle. Davis is estranged from his wife Kathleen Crowley and now living with a young Indian woman Mara Corday. Apparently there are some laws on the books regarding miscegenation and these two get town attorney Lewis Martin all filled with self righteous wrath as well as the rest of the town. When Martin goes out to serve papers on Davis he gets shot for his trouble and only after Martin goes for a rifle.

Through all this town sheriff Forrest Tucker who is a friend of Davis smells more than self righteous wrath working here. It all gets resolved, but a lot of people die before it does.

The Quiet Gun is representative of the adult westerns that were becoming more and more common on the big and small screen. Films like this with a B picture cast though would more likely be on the small screen. This could easily have been the plot of a Gunsmoke episode. It also hints at certain things that ten years later could have been frankly discussed.

The film is a bit ahead of its time, but held in place by the Code to make it not as good as it could have been.

Twentieth Century Fox created a subsidiary in the mid 1950s to release films it deemed not good to enough to release under its banner. Regal Pictures, like Fox, released most of its films in wide screen, using "Regalscope," which appears technically indistinguishable from Cinemascope. Ironically, most of Regal's output was as good or better than the B movies from Fox. "The Quiet Gun" is no exception, with fine performances from Forrest Tucker and Jim Davis and some surprising plot twists which lift this movie from the humdrum. Tucker plays a sheriff who must reluctantly pursue his friend (Davis), after Davis kills a busybody "district attorney" in self defense. Mara Corday and Kathleen Crowley provide the eye candy and Hand Worden plays the comic relief in a role similar to that of Walter Brennan in "Rio Bravo".

ENCORE's WESTERN CHANNEL shows the movie in full screen, which is a shame. Several effective scenes are undercut by the aspect ratio conversion. Still, "The Quiet Gun" is worth watching, if only to see Lee Van Cleef with a full set of hair. I rate it a "6".

To tell you the truth, I really wasn't expecting much out of this picture. William F. Claxton was an undistinguished director. Regal Films was 20th Century-Fox's low-rent "B" unit, and I didn't know anything about writer Eric Norden's work. The main reason I watched it was because it had three of my favorite western actors--Forrest Tucker, Jim Davis and Lee Van Cleef.

Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a well-written, tightly directed, extremely well acted, solid little "B" western with a lot to recommend it. Norden's script is thoughtful and thought-provoking, showing the consequences of mob rule and how "morality" can be manipulated by those who neither have it nor care anything about it. Tucker, who had a tendency to be blustery, gives a very controlled, sympathetic performance as a sheriff whose love for his friend's wife conflicts with his duty as a lawman. and has to go up against a town which is basically one big lynch mob. Davis actually doesn't have all that much screen time, but as always makes the most of what he has. Claxton's direction is tight and controlled, and there are several plot twists that are nicely handled.

A surprising, intelligent, well-made little "B" western, it's not full of gun-blazing action--although there is some--but is a good story told well. Highly recommended.

Director William F. Claxton wastes no time in starting "The Quiet Gun," a modern-ish western with lots of story and dramatics and personal conflict, and not so much gun-play.

Excellent performers take a taut story and render it believable and exciting.

As a long-time fan of Forrest Tucker, I believe he has never given a better performance. He is smooth, controlled, even nuanced, and makes us, the audience, completely on the side of his character, Sheriff Carl Brandon.

Jim Davis plays his friend, Ralph Carpenter, who is lured into a ridiculous situation, certainly by Old West standards, but, remember, the city attorney is one of those blue-nosed Easterners, played very well by Lewis Martin (a really interesting name, considering that Jerry and Dean were at about the peak of their team effort).

(I do have to question, though, whether a city attorney would actually have any jurisdiction out in the ranch-lands, but that really isn't important. It's more important to accept the flow of the action, and question the script only afterward.)

Jim Davis, another of my favorites, is not on screen very much, even though he's third billed. But he is a strong presence when he is there.

Hank Worden gets a chance to shine, and he too shows himself to be more than a character: He's a character actor. Great performance by him.

The two women are pivotal to the story, especially the one played so beautifully by Mara Corday, but they are also not on screen much.

Of course we must mention Lee Van Cleef, who had a most fascinating career. His last years saw him as a major TV series star and a very highly paid movie performer, especially of Italian westerns. And he deserved every penny.

There is a relevant lesson in this story: The town council is composed of some rather rascally and self-aggrandizing men, not so foul or corrupt as, for example, the city councils of Los Angeles or Chicago, but enough power-lust is in them to create the conflict that finally results in several deaths.

Sheriff Brandon is savvy enough to know that some laws should not and can not be enforced, but the power-lusters and the busybodies over-rule him, resulting in the tragedies.

Even beyond some superb performances, especially by Forrest Tucker, this story is enough to grab an audience and leave us tense and torn, right until the end.

I highly recommend "The Quiet Gun," available at YouTube in a very good print but, alas, interrupted several times by intrusive -- though brief -- commercials.