Gun the Man Down

This film begins with three cowboys by the names of "Remington 'Rem' Anderson" (James Arness), "Matt Rankin" (Robert J. Wilke) and "Ralph Farley" (Don Megowan) discussing plans on robbing a nearby bank. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse during their attempt when Rem is badly wounded and as a result when they get back to their hideout the other two men decide to take the money-along with Rem's girlfriend "Janice" (Angie Dickinson)-and ride off while leaving him behind. Not long after that a posse arrives which subsequently results in Rem being tried and sentenced to a year in prison. Needless to say, having a year to think about things, he is quite bitter when he gets out and makes it his mission in life to hunt down those who betrayed him if it's the last thing he does. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather odd film for James Arness in that he is better known for his iconic role as the marshal in the epic television series "Gunsmoke." Be that as it may, he put in a fine performance just the same and--while this might not be a great Western by any means--it still managed to pass the time and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Simple and plain Western with usual ingredients . This oater has a good cast and enough action , but in low budget. It deals with a gang of crooks planning a robbing at the Palace City Bank that goes wrong. The tough thieves : Robert J. Wilke , Don Megowan , James Arness and his faithless girlfriend : Angie Dickinson , take his share of the cash and ride to their cabin . They escape but James Arness is injured and left by his colleagues who run away with the loot . Then a posse arrives and they take him prisoner. Later on , being sentenced , condemned and once completed sentence he is released . Like an avenging angel he terrorized the west in search of the killers who had stolen his name , money and his woman. After that , James Arness seeks vengeance , and finally locates them in Gunther Wells where rules a brave sheriff , Emile Meyer, and his deputy , Harry Carey Jr. At the end rivals contend for each other in their opposing characters .

Entertaining Western including action , thrills , go riding , shot'em up and a peculiar love story between James Arness and Angie Dickinson . An agreeable and slight tale , almost rudimentary , though full of cliches , as the script lines too often settle for crude routine ; however , packing some surprises . It contains an atmospheric and evocative cinematography in black and white by William H Clothier who photographed several John Wayne films , as well as evocative score by Henry Vars . This oater is an acceptable and passable western that relies heavily on ordinary situations : treason, fights , shootouts , pursuits and final confrontation . Thrilling and enjoyable flick deals with a wounded robber who betrayed by his double-crossing partners , serving long time in prison and being released , subsequently seeking "vendetta", this issue to be a common plot in the subgenre Spaghetti Western of the sixties . Here stands out a pretty good main cast and support cast formed by notorious actors . James Arness plays efficiently as Remington, a gunslinger of formidable physical and the regular baddie Robert J. Wilke who is awesome as Matt Rankin . Angie Dickinson plays a saloon girl , as usual ,receiving introducing credit , being her first credited movie . Other important secondaries appearing are the followings : Emile Meyer ,Frank Fenton, Don Megowan , Pedro González Gonzalez and Harry Carey Jr , John Ford's regular actor .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Andrew V McLagen , though shot in very short budget and in nine days .This was the first Western movie of many directed by Andrew and his film debut . He directed John Wayne in several films, including the successful Undefeated , Hellfighters and Chisum . He was expert on all kinds of genres , as Westerns as Chisum , Shenandoah , McLintock , The Blue and Gray , The way west , Bandolero, undefeated , Cahill Marshall , Rare breed . And he directed 96 episodes of Gunsmoke reuníting again James Arness. He also made Wartime movies as Dirty Dozen next mission , Sea wolves , Wild Geese, The Devil Brigade , Breakthrough , among others. Rating 6/10. The movie will appeal to Western buffs .

No one else seems to like this film, but I sure do. Typical Burt Kennedy, good acting.

John Wayne's Batjac Productions produced this tight B western starring James Arness as a young outlaw seeking revenge on his running buddies who left him to die. I'm betting this was probably filmed before Arness started Gunsmoke in 1955. He was certainly riding the same horse in this film as he did as Marshal Matt Dillon.

Worse than just leaving Arness to die with a bullet in him as the posse was on his trail, Robert Wilke and Don Megowan also took Arness's woman Angie Dickinson with them. The posse gets to Arness and he's patched up, but he won't rat out his friends. He has his own plans for them even if he has to serve a year for the robbery to do it.

Arness cuts a fine figure as a young outlaw who won't stand for a double cross. Wilke and Megowan are both western veterans and Wilke is a long time favorite villain in westerns. Angie Dickinson was 'introduced' in Gun The Man Down as a girl who'd like to be good, but has long forgotten how.

Emile Meyer has a nice role here as a sheriff with Harry Carey,Jr. as his somewhat inpatient deputy. Meyer is a firm believer in what Noel Coward said about only mad dogs and Englishmen going out in the noon day sun. He's also a believer in letting the bad guys shoot it out so he has that many less to deal with. His philosophy seems to work.

Gun The Man Down is a no frills western which is good on plot and characters. Andrew McLaglen made his directorial debut here and this is a harbinger of more good work by him on the big and small screen.

This little B-Western with James Arness in one of his last non-Gunsmoke starring roles seems to have been heretofore almost forgotten, judging by the lack of ratings and reviews here. I recently happened upon it on Netflix and decided to give it a try. While perhaps not deserving of a spot among the great westerns, it surprised me because it was truly quite good and deserves more attention than it's received.

The plot, in short, involves Arness as one of three men who decide to hold up a bank. Arness is injured in the robbery, and subsequently left behind by his compatriots and, reluctantly, by his girl as well (Angie Dickinson, looking radiant in her first billable role). After being caught, convicted, and serving time for his part in the hold-up, he goes seeking his "friends" and his girl, bent on revenge.

The biggest thing that struck me about this little "BATJAC" western was the steady, deliberate pacing of the story and the focus on characters more so than on shoot-em-up, chase-em-down action. There's more tension than action (in fact, one could legitimately call it a suspense film), and I appreciated the refreshing change of pace from most B westerns (or westerns in general, for that matter). Besides, at a slim 74 minutes, it simply can't drag on forever.

This is a very thoughtful western in many respects. Characters are given much more life than you might expect. In particular, we see some interesting interaction between Sheriff Morton (Emile Meyer) and his deputy (Harry Carey, Jr.). The sheriff, who obviously is well past his gunslinging years, handles violence in his town sagely, keeping a close watch on events, while not putting himself in a position where his age would certainly compromise his life or his ability to do his job.

Again, it's not a perfect movie, but I was quite pleasantly surprised, and it's probably one of the best b-westerns I've seen. I recommend it.