Five Guns to Tombstone (1960)

Matt Wade escapes from prison and tries to persuade his brother Bill, a reformed gunslinger, to participate in a hold-up. Billy refuses but Matt frames him and he is forced to ride off with... See full summary »

Director:

Edward L. Cahn

Writers:

Richard Schayer (screenplay), Jack DeWitt (screenplay)

Stars:

James Brown, John Wilder, Walter Coy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Brown	...	Billy Wade
John Wilder	...	Ted Wade
Walter Coy	...	Ike Garvey
Robert Karnes	...	Matt Wade
Joe Haworth	...	Hoke
Quintin Sondergaard	...	Hank (as Quent Sondergaard)
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	...	Hoagie (as Boyd Morgan)
Jon Locke	...	Rusty Kolloway
Della Sharman	...	Arlene
Gregg Palmer	...	Mel Dixon
Willis Bouchey	...	George Landon
John Eldredge	...	Endicott
Jeff DeBenning	...	Marshal Sam Jennings
Brad Trumbull	...	Henchman
Willis Robards	...	Banker

Storyline

Matt Wade escapes from prison and tries to persuade his brother Bill, a reformed gunslinger, to participate in a hold-up. Billy refuses but Matt frames him and he is forced to ride off with the gang. Billy fights with his brother and accidentally kills him, while Matt's teen-aged son, Ted, who thinks his father had been paroled from prison, sees the shooting. Returning to town to explain the true situation, Billy is almost lynched by the townsmen mob who think he was part of the robbery. He escapes and goes back to the gang, pretending to join them but actually looking for evidence to clear himself and turn gang leader, Ike Garvey, over to Marshal Sam Jennings. Only his fiancée Arlene knows of his plan.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | gang leader | hold up | escape from prison | prayer | 

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Taglines:

THE BLOODY DAY TOMBSTONE GOT ITS NAME (original posters and print ads-all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Reiter der Vergeltung

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert E. Kent Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the chase at the end of the movie, after the attack on the station, when Billy Wade is fleeing the relay station with the Wells Fargo wagon and Ike Garvey and his gang are chasing him, twice at the very beginning of the chase scene Billy Wade turns around with drawn gun and fires at his supposed pursuers, with the camera in front of him looking back down the trail behind him, but the camera clearly shows that there is nobody at all behind him that he can even see (much less shoot at). The view shows the entire trail behind him both times, all the way to a bend in the road, with no other horsemen on it. Meanwhile, the film intersperses the clips of Bill Wade frantically driving the wagon and shooting behind him with clips of the gang chasing him and shooting at him supposedly right in front of them.

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Quotes

Billy Wade: There's the bank shipment. The rest of the loot is on Dixon there.
Marshal Sam Jennings: Then he's sure worth more dead than alive.

User Reviews

Five Tons to Tombstone

Wow, this is not a very good movie. The story line is really lame. One character shows up in town after a bank holdup in which he was not involved - but one of the robbers said he was, so when he comes to town everyone is ready to hang him immediately based on the say-so of a robber who WAS there robbing the bank. Not very likely. And when Ike Garvey opens the strongboxes full of cash onto an uneven-surface rock, what was he thinking? I could just see the money falling off and all over the place. Worst of all perhaps, I had to feel sorry for the horses - 3/4 of the actors in this film were somewhere between chubby and downright obese. Ike Garvey (again), the main bad guy, was particularly huge - from the back he looked just like his horse. I think his gun belt was full of Tootsie Rolls where there normally would be bullets. Anyhow, I've actually seen worse Westerns, but offhand I can't think which one(s). This movie is really lukewarm; the only actor I liked at all was James Brown, who was the marshal in the movie Gun Street. He plays a pretty good 'perturbed by life' Western character. The rest of 'em can all go to Weight Watchers.