Missing No Longer: THE QUIET GUN (1957) and BARQUERO (1970)

 
Quite an eventful month for Western fans.  Within a four week period, two long requested cult favorites will finally be surfacing on DVD and Blu-Ray.  As luck would have it, both films star two of the Golden Boot Awards' inaugural class: legendary badass Lee Van Cleef and the great Forrest Tucker, who needs no introduction here.

Tuck was still known for playing truculent villains and taciturn heroes when he starred in Fox's RegalScope feature THE QUIET GUN in 1957.  (Not for long; his image-changing roles in AUNTIE MAME and THE MUSIC MAN were only a year away.) While his Republic vehicles had bigger budgets and his British science fiction efforts (THE CRAWLING EYE) are better known, for my money THE QUIET GUN is Forrest Tucker's best leading role, period.

Tucker plays Rock River's Sheriff Brandon, a gruff but fair-minded man who, like Marshal Will Kane, upholds the law in a town that doesn't deserve his efforts.  Rock River is plagued by bigotry and corruption, and those two elements collide to take the lives of a city attorney and Brandon's estranged friend (Jim Davis).  It's up to the Sheriff to stand alone against vigilante justice and to investigate the sinister motives behind unwarranted harassment (for "moral" reasons, mind you) that resulted in tragedy.

THE QUIET GUN was adapted from the novel Law Man by Lauran Payne, whose OPEN RANGE MEN was filmed with much greater success at the box office some forty-six years later.  While THE QUIET GUN found little notice initially, its reputation has grown over the years.  Toby Roan calls THE QUIET GUN "maybe the best of the RegalScope Westerns" and DVD Talk's Adam Tyner and High-Def Digest's Matthew Hartman are among others sharing my enthusiasm for it.  Thanks to Olive Films, THE QUIET GUN is now out on both DVD and BluRay as of March 31.  Mara Corday and Kathleen Crowley also star.

Jim Davis and Mara Corday in THE QUIET GUN

If THE QUIET GUN isn't the DVD release that I've been waiting on the longest, the month's other new arrival almost certainly is: 1970's BARQUERO, which will be coming to us courtesy of Kino Lorber on April 28th.

BARQUERO was the very first film review here at the Horn Section, and I've revisited it since to sing the praises of Marie Gomez for Forgotten Films' Crushathon.  Tucker and Van Cleef co-starred for the first time in thirteen years, with billings reversed.  By 1970, it was Van Cleef who was playing tight-lipped leads, with BARQUERO being his triumphant return to American films after six star-making years in Italian westerns.

No surprise that the ultraviolent BARQUERO is heavily influenced by the films Van Cleef became famous for.  There's also an unmistakable WILD BUNCH vibe, and you'd be hard pressed to find more of a "guy movie" cast.   Formidable (if mentally unstable) opposition to Van Cleef is provided by Peckinpah's go-to actor, Warren Oates.  Oates' right-hand man is Sinbad himself, Kerwin Mathews.  Armando Silvestre and John Davis Chandler (another Peckinpah regular) are among Oates' mercenaries, and Mariette Hartley provides temptation for our antihero.

BARQUERO ended up being Forrest Tucker's final theatrical western, and the ant-eating, bearded Mountain Phil was one of his best supporting roles.  He's just as violent as the two leads, able to smile affably mere seconds after slicing a man's throat.  Director Gordon Douglas was a last-minute replacement for Robert Sparr, who was tragically killed in a plane crash while scouting Colorado locations for the film on August 28, 1969.  Cinematographer Gerald Finnerman was the sole survivor of that crash (spending several years in full metal body brace afterwards).

Despite the appeal of its cast, BARQUERO was even more neglected than THE QUIET GUN, as it was never even released on VHS in the U.S. before this month.  In fact, it was largely ignored altogether, until Showtime and Encore Westerns began airing it in the 2000's, earning the film its long-deserved cult following and eventual home video release.

I didn't see a single review written in 1970 that made note of BARQUERO as a Vietnam allegory.  Hartman has a another take, seeing an Old Testament theme in the proceedings.   Patrick Bromley at DVD Verdict and Ian Jane at DVD Talk have offered their reviews this week as well.  My 2006 review is here, and I have to say it's a proud moment for the Section to have our very first spotlighted film out on DVD and BluRay on April 28th.  If the print on MGM HD Channel is any indication, the release should look fantastic.

More Film and TV reviews to come, as always!

Film Review: THE QUIET GUN (1957)

 "Why the Hell isn't THIS on DVD yet?" -- Volume 16

THE QUIET GUN (1957 20th Century Fox/Regalfilms) Starring Forrest Tucker, Lee Van Cleef, Jim Davis, Mara Corday, Kathleen Crowley and Hank Worden. Directed by William Claxton.


The film adaptation of Lauran Paine’s Open Range Men was a somewhat surprising box office success in 2003. However, OPEN RANGE wasn't the first adaptation of a Paine novel for the big screen.  To find that, you’ll have to track down this effective little “B” sleeper that predates the big budget Costner vehicle by some 46 years, adapted by Eric Norden (PLEASE DON’T EAT MY MOTHER(!)) from Paine’s Law Man.

Forrest Tucker is the Sheriff of Rock River, a small town full of moral-minded busybodys who are outraged that Tucker’s longtime friend, rancher Jim Davis, has underage half-Indian Mara Corday living on his ranch after separating from his wife. Tucker’s friendship with Davis is complicated and somewhat strained--Tuck is also close to Davis’ estranged wife Kathleen Crowley and possibly in love with her himself.  With the flames being fanned by numerous townspeople, Davis is eventually forced to shoot an attorney in self-defense.

Davis flees with Tucker in pursuit, but several of the community's pillars are concerned that he will friendship stand in the way of duty.  So a posse is formed in town to catch up with Davis first. It is up to Tucker to stand up to the vigilantes and uphold the law, even if it means bringing the entire town to justice--and it might. Tucker must also investigate what is behind the intense interest in Davis’ personal life: was there a sinister motive behind the harassment that ended in tragedy?

As directed by TV vet William Claxton, THE QUIET GUN chugs along at a lean 79 minutes, like an edgier, extended late-era GUNSMOKE episode. While it isn’t surprising to see a 1950’s Western making statements on McCarthyesque witch hunts, racism, and manipulation by powerful people for personal gain, there are a few wrinkles on the typical presentation here. There’s no redemption for the narrow-minded, intrusive townspeople who caused a murder, as a judge makes clear while passing sentence. But his speech is the only (brief) hint of sermonizing in this tight film.

There’s a lot going on in the the heads of Davis, Crowley and Tucker that they don't verbalize.  Scenes between them are stiff and formal in tone: all three relationships, once close, are now in various degrees of estrangement. There’s also a neat twist in the method used by Tucker’s sheriff to hold off an angry mob until the arrival of the Circuit Judge.

The usually affable Tucker rarely cracks a smile here; he’s properly authoritative in one of his better starring roles. Van Cleef is his most physically imposing adversary and shows us a full head of hair in his first scene. Hank Worden’s comic relief is especially welcome here given the tense, grim tone of the story. Jim Davis, who worked with Tucker frequently at Republic (they were antagonists in the also underrated CALIFORNIA PASSAGE), is also in top form, and there are few films that Mara Corday didn’t help during her brief screen career. Matter of fact, Corday’s presence alone should make this a cult item.

While not quite a lost classic, THE QUIET GUN is unjustly neglected--short and sweet with a great cast and a few interesting variations on what is on the surface a standard plot.

So….why isn’t this on DVD?

 There’s literally hundreds of “B” westerns from the 1950’s that have been lost in the shuffle, and while this one is handsomely filmed in RegalScope, it is a low budget film, fifty years old, shot in black and white.

Why it should be on DVD:

This is one example of a “B” film of the era being better than many of the “A” features, and at 78 minutes it could easily fit on a DVD double feature with one of the other deserving B’s of the decade. Its only formal release to date: a VHS double feature with AMBUSH AT CIMARRON PASS, which co-starred a young Clint Eastwood with 1950’s stalwart Scott Brady.

What a great cast: Van Cleef, Crowley (the most prolific MAVERICK leading lady), Corday at her most gorgeous, Tucker in fine no frills form, and two other great western stalwarts in top form in Davis and Worden.

While it would likely be released without extras, any input from Crowley and/or Corday would certainly be welcome.

THE QUIET GUN has been a favorite on Encore Westerns in recent years. Unfortunately, it's in a pan and scan version. So why not a widescreen DVD? Apparently, someone out there is watching it besides me.

Film Review: BARQUERO (1970)

Why the hell isn't this on DVD yet? Number 1







BARQUERO (1970 United Artists) Starring Lee Van Cleef, Warren Oates, Forrest Tucker, Marie Gomez, Mariette Hartley, Kerwin Mathews, John Davis Chandler, Ed Bakey. Directed by Gordon Douglas.

Oates is the psychotic, ruthless leader of a gang of former military (now mercenary) comrades. His plan is to rob and wipe out an entire town before escaping across the river to Mexico with the booty of guns and money. While he and his gang take care of the town, he sends 3 advance scouts to secure the use of Van Cleef's barge for safe passage across the river. Van Cleef is briefly captured, but a timely assist from mountain man Tucker thwarts this part of Oates' plan. Van Cleef and Tucker quickly evacuate the townspeople and boat them to the Mexican side, setting up a standoff. Oates, now stranded on the American side with the cavalry surely coming, wants to use the boatman's barge to cross the river and then burn it.  Van Cleef cares little for the "squatters" and even less about their protection but refuses to give up his boat under any circumstances.

You'll have to suspend your disbelief a time or two, and Douglas, though solid, lacks the style of a Leone or Peckinpah for this material. These flaws aside, BARQUERO is an action packed western with breathtaking Colorado scenery, a tension-building score by Dominic Frontiere and sturdy performances by three of the genre's stalwarts.

As the title character Van Cleef plays his usual unsmiling hardass, but with some shadings to his character. Once a mountain man like Tucker, he built his barge to conquer the river and roam free on both sides of it.  However, in doing so he inadvertently rooted himself. With a route across the river in place, people began settling on the American side, building a small town and church (to his dismay).  Sentiment?  Van Cleef might well be bringing the squatters with him simply to sleep with Hartley.  Oates is as ruthless as Henry Fonda's Frank in Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Ruling his men with an iron hand yet haunted by his past, Oates is over the top at times but always fascinating to watch.

In a role that would have gone to Gabby Hayes or Edgar Buchanan a generation earlier, 6'5" Tucker (a leading man throughout the 1950's) is much more physically imposing than those actors while losing none of their humor. Whether pausing for candy canes in the middle of a shootout or interrogating the enemy near an anthill (in arguably the best scene), Tucker is very funny and all but steals the film.

Also leaving quite the impression, the (sadly) rarely-seen Marie Gomez (THE PROFESSIONALS, HIGH CHAPPARAL) as the barquero's sharp-shooting, cigar smoking, busty and incredibly sexy girlfriend and John Davis Chandler as one of Oates' slimier accomplices.

Since this is a western from 1970, it isn't too surprising to find a plot that serves as an allegory for U.S. involvement in Vietnam.  Here we have military commander Oates with superior firepower facing an enemy full of civilians that has home field advantage.  Oates stubbornly sticks to his plan despite having alternatives presented to him by second-in-command Kerwin Matthews and also despite the fact that he is battling mother nature and time in addition to the boatman (who he underestimates considerably).

Screenwriters William Marks and George Schenck were certainly daring in having the callous Oates serve as their metaphor for the Americans. When we first see him he's enjoying the favors of a prostitute who he subsequently kills in the process of massacring the entire town. When Van Cleef rebuffs his transparent offer to buy the barge, he immediately turns ugly and threatens to dam the river with dead bodies.  Finally, when faced with the reality of an unwinnable stalemate, he turns to hallucinatory drugs as an escape, becoming increasingly unbalanced and willing to kill his own men to avoid submission.

Political statements aside BARQUERO works as well as any American version of the spaghetti western--as these things go it is a much more interesting film than say, HANG 'EM HIGH, standing up to repeat viewings. MGM/UA has yet to put this out on DVD but it has been turning up regularly on Showtime Extreme and Encore Westerns Channel in recent years. As arguably Van Cleef's best leading role it is well worth searching out.

So, why isn't it on DVD yet?

Honestly, I have no idea. It's very violent, has a great cast and script...really, has everything except an iconic director for this material. This is a quintessential 'guy' movie that also has a thoughtful political subtext. Very underrated IMO.

Why it should be on DVD:

Van Cleef and Oates are western icons of the era and each has his own cult following;

Long overdue and has never even been released on VHS(!);

Repeated cable showings have given the film considerable recent exposure;

Marie Gomez recently participated in the extras for her 1966 film The Professionals and could provide some great "behind the scenes" information on this film as well.