Five Guns West

Rating:
Summary: Cheap is Corman's middle name.....
Review: Before going over totally to cheap creature features and the like, Corman directed this very low budget western that looks like it was made for $1,25 a film frame, shot in a week, and has a cast that mostly never became famous. Only interested in a movie where everyone acts wooden, this is the movie for you.

Rating:
Summary: Five Guns West
Review: Five thugs are released from jail by the Confederacy during the waning days of the Civil War and promised lucre and freedom if they can recapture a traitor in Union custody and return him "dead or alive."
FIVE GUNS WEST is an early film from independent movie icon Roger Corman. It's a bit like a young DIRTY DOZEN made on the cheap and played in chaps. Cheap is the word for it, too. Reports have it that this tale of an ornery fistful of sociopaths was shot in 8 days and came in on a budget of $60,000.
A good hunk of that budget must have gone to the movie's star John Lund, who gave the film a somewhat familiar name to put over the title and... well, that's about it. The handsome, blonde Lund wasn't known for projecting much personality during his film career.
Their mission, to intercept a Union-army guarded stagecoach carrying the traitor, takes them through Indian country to a deserted town where the stage is scheduled to change horses. The only folk left in the town are a feeble old sot and his beautiful, perfectly coifed niece, played by Dorothy Malone. The appearance of Ms. Malone provides a catalyst for a new round of ground dynamics.
Corman's popularity eludes me. I admire him for his independent success, but his movies seem rushed and cheap, and FIVE GUNS WEST is no exception. For Roger Corman and die-hard Western fans only.


Rating:
Summary: Pre-Dirty Dozen
Review: This western, directing debut of Roger Corman, pre-dates the Dirty Dozen by about 22 years and also Roger Cormans own 1964 film, The Secret Invasion. A group of criminals are pardoned and hired by the Confederate Government to intercept a Union Cargo Wagon and during the trip, the criminals try to form alliances with each other and what follows is a betrayel and a neat plot twist at the end. This is film is not very stylish or interesting in terms of its technical aspects. It is told in a straight-forward and unflinching manner. It is surprising also to find very little violence or action in this first Western by Corman. The plot, however, is what makes it interesting and worth watching. The opening scene introduces the five criminals and their crimes are listed as they are standing side by side. The Dirty Dozen starts off in exactly the same way and it may have lifted that scene from Five Guns West. The twist at the end could have pre-dated The Wild Geese and countless other movies. The climax proves that nothing is as it seems. Overall, it is a pretty tame exercise coming from Roger Corman. There is not an ounce of sex or excessive violence or even style but Roger Corman was not known for the quality of his films or even style but efficiency and an ability to mass produce low budget films for less than 2 dollars and no more than maybe 5,000 dollars. He also is known for starting the careers of such famed actors as Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro and Francis Ford Coppola. Even though this film is not what you would typically expect from Corman, it is well-worth seeing if anything just for the fact that the plot itself and premise seems to have been lifted by The Dirty Dozen 22 years later.

Rating:
Summary: Pre-Dirty Dozen
Review: This western, directing debut of Roger Corman, pre-dates the Dirty Dozen by about 22 years and also Roger Cormans own 1964 film, The Secret Invasion. A group of criminals are pardoned and hired by the Confederate Government to intercept a Union Cargo Wagon and during the trip, the criminals try to form alliances with each other and what follows is a betrayel and a neat plot twist at the end. This is film is not very stylish or interesting in terms of its technical aspects. It is told in a straight-forward and unflinching manner. It is surprising also to find very little violence or action in this first Western by Corman. The plot, however, is what makes it interesting and worth watching. The opening scene introduces the five criminals and their crimes are listed as they are standing side by side. The Dirty Dozen starts off in exactly the same way and it may have lifted that scene from Five Guns West. The twist at the end could have pre-dated The Wild Geese and countless other movies. The climax proves that nothing is as it seems. Overall, it is a pretty tame exercise coming from Roger Corman. There is not an ounce of sex or excessive violence or even style but Roger Corman was not known for the quality of his films or even style but efficiency and an ability to mass produce low budget films for less than 2 dollars and no more than maybe 5,000 dollars. He also is known for starting the careers of such famed actors as Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro and Francis Ford Coppola. Even though this film is not what you would typically expect from Corman, it is well-worth seeing if anything just for the fact that the plot itself and premise seems to have been lifted by The Dirty Dozen 22 years later.