Gregg Barton Movies

Allied Artists' Gun Hawk puts Rory Calhoun through his usual paces as an aging gunman. Calhoun has pretty much retired from shoot outs, and now runs a small town populated by outlaws. He befriends hotheaded fast gun Rod Lauren, who behaves as impulsively as Calhoun had in his earlier days. When the outlaws turn on Calhoun and shoot him down, the mortally wounded gunslinger tries to goad Lauren into a fight so that he can die with a modicum of dignity. Producer Richard Bernstein co-wrote the screenplay of Gun Hawk from his own story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Only one of three films directed by screenwriter Charles Lederer, known for movies as disparate as The Thing (1951) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), this crime comedy-drama-musical obviously defies categorization. Mixing James Cagney as a gangster out to control a big union, with musical numbers and cute songs is about like mixing onions and vanilla pudding. Jake MacIllaney (Cagney) wants to be elected president of Longshoreman's union 26 and, being a top mob boss, is used to getting his way. He is not past almost any stunt or method of coercion to get votes. Dan Cabot (Roger Smith) is Jake's lawyer, and after Jake meets Cabot's wife Linda (Shirley Jones), he sets his sights on conquering her affections. Disregard the husband, he can be taken care of. Setting this to music introduces some entertaining songs (I'm Sorry -- I Want a Ferrari) but the seriousness of the mobster's immorality and power is hard to reconcile with a perky tune about not stealing the small stuff. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Cliff Brandon (Victor Mature) is a US pilot serving in China in 1943, flying supplies to Allied soldiers in Burma. He's the best at what he does in the air, but he's also emotionally cut off from everyone around him, disillusioned by the loss of men in his command during nearly two years of war. When he's not in the air on a mission, or riding his new men (including Stuart Whitman, Tige Andrews and Johnny Desmond) to learn their jobs as fast as they can so they can survive, he's usually either passed out drunk or getting there on the ground. One night, while staggering out of his usual watering hole, he chances to meet an elderly Chinese man and, after a barely understood conversation, hands him a pile of money. When Cliff awakens the next day, he discovers that he's bought three months of housekeeping service from the man's daughter, Shu-Jen (Li Li Hua). At first he's at a loss over what to do about her -- he would gladly send her back to her father, until he learns from local missionary Father Cairns (Ward Bond) that Shu-Jen (whose name means "precious jewel") is the sole supporter of her family; and that if he sends her back, they'll return his money as a matter of honor, and have to sell her services as a housekeeper again; and that the next time that may be to someone who is a lot less honorable than Cliff, and could destroy the rest of the girl's life. So they're stuck with each other, and in the course of three months together Cliff discovers through Shu-Jen a joyous side to life that he'd forgotten -- his men even notice that he smiles occasionally, and he actually seems like a human being, enough so that Cliff soon wants more out of life than just day-to-day survival; he wants a life with Shu-Jen. And despite her initial misgivings, they decide to marry. But duty constantly beckons to Cliff, especially when he's moved to a forward base to support a new Allied offensive -- he isn't there for the birth of their child, but he is able to bring them both to him, only to find that the war is now on both their doorsteps. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this western, a trigger happy sheriff is asked to step down by the townsfolk who want to have a quieter, safer town. He obliges and then travels to Sundown where he and a war buddy team up and drive all the criminals out of the town. When the streets are safe, he then falls in with a saloon girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A tall horseman (Jock Mahoney) rides into the small town of Arborville, deserted except for redheaded Jody (Luana Patten), who's uncomfortable about it. Outside town, the rider finds all the townspeople working on an oil rig on a small ranch. They're led by Cal Moore (Charles McGraw), and include brothers Aaron (Claude Akins) and Adam Grant (Lee Van Cleef). The stranger asks a few questions, rousing the ire of the hot-tempered brothers, who toss him into a pool of oil. Glossy black but unconcerned, the stranger ambles out and rides back to town. Jody helps him clean up, so he tells her he has come to meet an old Indian who lived on the property where the oil well now is; he's clearly surprised when she refers to the old man, now missing, as Joe Dakota. Meanwhile, the townspeople gather, and we learn that Cal is a newcomer to town, an oil expert who decided to cast his lot with Arborville. We also learn that something happened to the old Indian, and that the townspeople were involved. The townspeople later are horrified when the stranger announces that he owns the land where the oil well is, and that his name is Joe Dakota.

Later, Jody comes to see Joe at the ranch, and reveals that the old man was her friend; she often came out to visit him. Joe tells her that the old man, whom he'd known well some years before, had simply borrowed his name. Jody says that the last time she'd visited the old Indian, he'd been drunk and had attacked (but not raped) her. Egged on by Cal, the townspeople had lynched him. The next day, Joe hangs a noose on the Arborville town sign, and puts a cross on the old man's grave. He explains that he was a captain in the infantry, and the old man was the finest scout he'd ever known. Everyone gathers at the oil well, where Joe explains that it was Cal who had attacked Jody, framing the old man for the crime to get the town to lynch him. He and Cal have a fight, but the townspeople, ashamed of what they've done, side with Joe.

Universal-International turned out quite a number of well-down, medium-budget westerns in the late 1950s, often starring Audie Murphy. This time, however, the lead is former stuntman Jock Mahoney, whom the studio was trying to groom as a star; his easy-going but very masculine personality made him ideal for roles such as this. The movie, co-written by Perry Mason's "Hamilton Burger," (William Talman), seems to owe something to Bad Day at Black Rock, but the plot works well in this context, too. There are good small details, like a wine store instead of a saloon, the town's beloved water trough, and the stranger's midnight shave. Richard H. Bartlett's direction is as low-key as the movie -- scarcely a shot is fired, and few wear guns -- and as likable. Joe Dakota is "just another movie," but it's a very good example of its long-gone kind. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide

With this film, the final American-produced motion picture serial, the once so powerful genre went out with a whimper. Starring a couple of nonentities -- Lee Roberts, a former bit-part player, and Dennis Moore, who had the dubious honor of also starring in the penultimate serial, Perils of the Wilderness (1956) -- the serial was produced by the notorious Sam Katzman and thus consisted mainly of overused stock footage with a few new scenes added for good measure. Roberts and Moore played an army scout and a pony express rider who come to the aid of settlers terrorized by a greedy rancher-turned-outlaw. If nothing else, the last American action serial offered brief employment for several veterans of the genre, including Reed Howes, Kermit Maynard, Al Ferguson, Harry Tenbrook, and the ever popular Bud Osborne. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the historical epic The Conqueror, John Wayne stars as Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan. Red-haired Susan Hayward costars as Bortai, the Tartar princess whom Temujin claims as the spoils of battle. Eventually, Bortai's hatred for her captor metamorphoses into love, while Temujin's hordes lay claim to the entire Gobi Desert. Director Dick Powell, many of the actors (John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendariz, Thomas Gomez, Agnes Moorehead), and several of the crew members later fell victim to cancer, allegedly the result of producer Howard Hughes' decision to lens the film on location near the atomic testing grounds in the Utah desert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The breathtakingly beautiful Technicolor cinematography of Irving Glassberg is but one of the many small pleasures of the big-budget western Backlash. Set in post-Civil War Arizona, the film stars Richard Widmark as Jim Slater, who hopes to prove that his down-and-out father (John McIntire) was not involved in a gold robbery. To prove this, Slater has to find the money, which is also the goal of Karyl Orton (Donna Reed), the supposed widow of one of the thieves. Eventually, Slater discovers that his father is every bit as rotten as the law claims he is, though he can take some comfort in the fact that Karyl is now in love with him. As in his earlier Bad Day at Black Rock, Backlash director John Sturges is more concerned with building tension than with overt displays of wanton violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most entertaining of the Western movies to come out of the 1950s, this is a Stewart vehicle in which he must take on the ruthlessness of the frontier. Set in the Yukon, Stewart and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Stewart et al are forced to fight for their herd. Together with the female saloon keeper of another town (Ruth Roman), they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Stewart's friend (portrayed by Walter Brennan) is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil sheriff. Good versus evil in incredible Yukon settings makes this an above average Western. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Audie Murphy is at his taciturn best in the Universal western Drums Along the River. Murphy is cast as Gary Brannon, a peaceful homesteader living a quiet existence with his father Sam (Walter Brennan). No-account Frank Walker (Lyle Bettger), hoping to open up the Ute Indian territory for gold-mining purposes, tries to foment a war between the Utes and the local whites. As an added filip, he steals a gold shipment and pins the blame on Brannon. Now a fugitive from justice, Brannon joins Walker's gang, much to his father's dismay. Actually, it's all part of a plan to expose Walker's perfidy and prevent Ute hostilities, but no one knows this until Brannon wants them to. Jay Silverheels, best known as Tonto on TV's Lone Ranger, co-stars as Ute warrior Taos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yet another serial from penny-pinching producer Sam Katzman, the fifteen chapter Gunfighters of the Northwest suffered from the usual Katzman shortcomings, including grainy stock-footage and slapdash writing. As an added economy measure, not a single scene was filmed indoors! Jock Mahoney plays Northwest Mounted Police Constable O'Mahoney, assigned to track down a mysterious villain known only as The Leader. Trying to locate a secret gold mine, The Leader pits the Indians against the Mounties, whom he blames for creating trouble. All in all, Gunfighters of the Northwest did nothing to re-establish the serial genre as a viable alternative to cheap television Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the last of his four western programmers for Allied Artists, Wayne Morris plays frontiersman Jim Bisby. Mistaken for a notorious gunslinger, Jim is appointed deputy sheriff of a wide-open cattle town. Playing along, our hero gets down to business -- and by the time his true identity is revealed, it hardly matters, since most of the bad guys are pushing up daisies on boot hill. Beverly Garland turns in another exceptional performance as the heroine, while Morris Ankrum, Roy Barcroft and I. Stanford Jolley fulfill their usual responsibilities. Two Guns and a Badge is of historical interest as the very last "B"-grade "series" western ever produced in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide