40 fusils manquent à l'appel

Director William Witney is no John Ford. But it's doubtful that even the great Ford could have done anything with this lame western which has possibly one of the dullest screenplays ever written.

Saddled with bad material, it's no wonder that AUDIE MURPHY finds himself floundering about in a role that's so poorly written, he never has a chance. The actor himself admitted to being a "no talent" when it came to screen acting, and here he really gets his chance to prove it. The only other respectable performance in the film is given by KENNETH TOBEY, usually Mr. Nice, here cast as the bad guy who wants to sell rifles to the Indians and ends up in a heap of trouble when Audie decides to single-handedly take care of the situation and put Tobey and his cronies out of business. It takes more than an hour to get to this situation and by that time it's doubtful whether anyone was left watching.

Filmed in muddy color with some interesting background scenery the only thing to dwell on during long stretches of dull dialog, it's no wonder Murphy's career was in decline by the time he did this film away from his home studio, Universal. Unfortunately, a tragic plane accident took his life only a few years later.

This is certainly not at the level of ULZANA'S RAID, but this William Witney - Audie Murphy western is quite good, efficient, though I will forever prefer the couple Randolph Scott - Budd Boetticher in terms of western topics. It evokes the topic of gun runners purchasing rifles, to Indians. This is not new at all and after watching hundreds of those movies speaking of this matter, I am already tired, no matter the directing. No shining in characters, it remains flat, tepid but acceptable enough to resume the film till the end. So, this is a William Witney's western made during his last half of career; and useless to say that I prefer reminding Bill Witney as the G MEN VS BLACK DRAGON serial and other ones, from the late thirties and early forties. Here, he was a real genius for action sequences.

This is just superficial, weak, clichéd Hollywood crap. There's hardly a western movie cliché that's left out. I should say that I've enjoyed quite a few Audie Murphy movies, but when the movie is otherwise bad, he comes across very unconvincingly. He's such a brave boy isn't he ! What is interesting and museum-worthy is the basic premise of the story, namely that the natives are the bad guys for trying to stop the European settlers taking over their land. I was surprised that this ethos could be on display as late as 1966 when the movie was made. If this was the mainstream attitude at that time then it is no wonder the US felt no reluctance in waging war on Vietnam as punishment for its outrageous behaviour in objecting to the US invasion. Times were of course achangin' : "Little Big Man", one of America's greatest movies,was made only 4 years later in 1970.

40 GUNS TO APACHE PASS (1966) was the last starring western for war hero-turned-western star Audie Murphy, who had ended his fruitful 15-year association with Universal Pictures the previous year. Released by Columbia Pictures, it turned out to be an unfitting send-off, undercut by an extremely low budget, a talky script, and an undistinguished no-name cast (aside from Murphy and screen vet Kenneth Tobey).

The plot might have made a good western had it been accorded a bigger budget and a stronger cast. A beleaguered Arizona cavalry division harassed by Cochise and his Apache warriors is expecting a shipment of repeating rifles, which could mean the difference between life and death for Apache Wells, an outpost housing the army and surviving settlers. The weapons become the object of less-than-intense conflict involving the Cavalry, the Indians and, later, a renegade group of army deserters. Murphy plays Captain Coburn, a no-nonsense type who romances a settler's daughter (Laraine Stephens) and agrees to take her two younger brothers (Michael Blodgett, Michael Burns) into the undermanned regiment after their father is killed in an attack. A display of cowardice by the youngest brother (Burns) has dire consequences, resulting in a meandering subplot requiring his redemption.

The production values here are far less polished than one would find in a typical TV western of the time, such as "Wagon Train" or "The Virginian." The no-name performers overact and are given reams of unnecessary dialogue in order to pad out the film's running time. Frequent narration tells us things we can see for ourselves. Most of the film was shot at ordinary-looking Southern California ranch locations. All this is especially disappointing given the participation of director William Witney, a one-time action specialist at Republic Pictures, who'd been directing for 30 years at this point.

Things pick up, however, in the film's final third when Corporal Bodine (Kenneth Tobey), a vengeful ex-sergeant with a grudge against Murphy, decides he has other plans for the 40 rifles and convinces four of the remaining soldiers from the escort to accompany him. Murphy, who'd been left for dead, has to get the rifles back while Burns, the cowardly brother, has to prove himself a man. This section of the film was shot in more remote California locations which actually pass for Arizona and features a larger band of Apaches on the prowl as Murphy undertakes a holding action, guarding a pass alone with a stack of fully loaded repeating rifles. Director Witney's considerable expertise kicks in during this stretch and gives a hint of what might have been. Composer Richard LaSalle pumps things up with a rousing, if clichéd, score

Audie Murphy only appeared in two more films, both little-seen. First was the international thriller, TRUNK TO CAIRO (1966), directed by future Cannon Films mogul Menahem Golan, while his final film was the Budd Boetticher western, A TIME FOR DYING (1969), which Murphy produced and appeared in briefly as Jesse James.

Audie Murphy plays a tough, by-the-book Cavalry officer in Apache territory who's hard on his men. He's sent to pick up 40 automatic rifles and bring them back to the fort, but he runs into difficulties (of course). This is one of those very routine minor movies that Murphy kept turning up in after the end of his Universal contract. The "fort" is a one-rail corral; the soldiers are colorless, minor character actors--with one exception (see below). Distances shrink and enlarge at the whim of the plot (sometimes the action takes place a couple of days from the fort, then it's an hour's ride). The locations are overly familiar--a couple of day's shooting in Red Rock Canyon, a couple of days probably in the Owens Valley, and a couple more in rolling California hills. But--and it's a big one--Bodine, the antagonist, is played by the reliable Kenneth Tobey. As always, he gives it his all--turning this minor role into a distinct, peculiarly likable heavy. He's wry, vindictive, amusing, and--unusually for a Western where most of the good guys are former Confederates (unless the name "Quantrill" is evoked)--he fought for the South, but he's a bad guy.