Fusillade à Tucson

This is a tough one to like for several reasons. Mark Stevens stars as a guy who turned outlaw because as a kid he was forced to watch some ranchers lynch his pa for helping himself to one of their horses. His big brother went the other way, becoming a hard-nosed marshal who later sent his brother off for an eight-year paid vacation to the nearest graybar hotel with a very restrictive checkout policy.

Fresh out, Stevens has a plan to go mostly legit, but lands in a simmering range war. One greedy Ben Cartwright wannabe rancher vs. Some pious, hard working farmers who just want a humble piece of the valley to raise crops and young 'uns. How original.

But the script overflows with a**holery beyond the rich rancher and his cadre of bullies. The two brothers are jerks toward each other and everyone else - including the women (Kobe the ingenue; Robbins the hardened saloon gal with a heart o' gold) what loves Stevens - for far too much of the running time. When the inevitable ending arrives, it plays out so hastily and oddly that it seems like they ran out of film or budget, and cut the script short. Couldda been a lot better than it was.

Same old story coupled with confusing characters - one with the highly unlikely name of Blue Chip. Sodbusters versus Cattlemen but not very convincing. Script seems to be written by 7 graders and acting, except for Forest Kelly, is wooden. I watched this movie because it was filmed in Old Tucson (movie set) and surrounding area which is where I grew up about this same time. Photography is representative and good. Nothing else is.

As young boys, two brothers, Jed (AKA: Chip) and John, witness their father being hung by a vigilante gang. Chip, angry and bitter, grows up to be an outlaw and leader of the feared Blue Chip Gang. John goes the other way and becomes a U. S. Marshal. Two brothers on opposite sides of the law, destined to become embroiled in an Arizona range war between cattlemen and farmers.

Gunsmoke in Tucson is a formulaic yet watchable western with a brother-against-brother theme which plays out against a plot that mixes fistfights and shootouts with questions of guilt and redemption. There's a tendency of talkiness, but enough things happen in the plot to keep the wheels turning, though towards the end the pace lags. Good performances, characterisation and some nice action scattered here and there lifts this above the average sagebrush actioner. Forest Tucker as Mark Steven's' brother is great as usual though hasn't got much screen time. Mark Stevens, who I think fits the genre really well with his gaunt features and laconic style, does really well, though that mustard colour of his outfit looks dodgy.

Gunsmoke in Tucson is directed by Thomas Carr and written by Paul Leslie Peil and Robert Joseph. It stars Mark Stevens, Forrest Tucker, Gale Robbins, Vaughn Taylor, John Ward, Kevin Hagen, Gail Kobe and William Henry. A CinemaScope/De Luxe Color production, music is by Sid Cutner and cinematography by William Whitley.

As young boys, two brothers, Jed (AKA: Chip) and John, witness their father being hung by a vigilante gang. Chip, angry and bitter, grows up to be an outlaw and leader of the feared Blue Chip Gang. John goes the other way and becomes a U.S. Marshal. Two brothers on opposite sides of the law, destined to become embroiled in an Arizona range war between cattlemen and farmers.

Pretty formulaic stuff here but performed and constructed admirably. Plot machinations revolve around the hopeful salvation of Stevens' outlaw, but as he tries to leave his Blue Chip Gang past behind him, he finds himself being set up by shifty land baron Ben Bodeen (Taylor). Joining the "two brothers on each side of the law" axis are threads involving religion, political power games and testosterone lowering in the form of twin lovelies Lou Crenshaw (Robbins) and Katy Porter (Kobe), with Robbins as a sultry saloon gal getting to warble the tune "I Need a Man". Location photography is pleasing (Santa Clarita, Tucson and Chatsworth), Cutner's musical score is robust and appropriate and the final shoot-out/stand off is a good un'. 6.5/10

Very familiar western plot, but well worth watching. Two young brothers witness the hanging of their father and are forced to grow up on their own. One becomes a sheriff and of course the other an outlaw. Good enough to keep your interest.

Cast includes Forrest Tucker, Mark Stevens, Gale Robbins and Bill Henry.