Five Guns West (1955)

Shalee Jethro (Dorothy Malone) helps her father run a desert stagecoach station. Five desperate outlaws arrive at the station to await a gold shipment they plan to rob, and Shalee becomes ... See full summary »

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

R. Wright Campbell (screenplay)

Stars:

John Lund, Dorothy Malone, Mike Connors

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Lund	...	Govern Sturges
Dorothy Malone	...	Shalee
Mike Connors	...	Hale Clinton (as Touch Connors)
R. Wright Campbell	...	John Morgan Candy (as Bob Campbell)
Jonathan Haze	...	William Parcell 'Billy' Candy (as Jonothon Haze)
Paul Birch	...	J.C. Haggard
James Stone	...	Uncle Mike
Jack Ingram	...	Stephan Jethro
Larry Thor	...	Confederate Captain
Jack Bohrer
Boyd 'Red' Morgan	...	Hoagie (as Boyd Morgan)
Lionel C. Place	...	(as Lionel Place)
William Taylor

Storyline

Shalee Jethro (Dorothy Malone) helps her father run a desert stagecoach station. Five desperate outlaws arrive at the station to await a gold shipment they plan to rob, and Shalee becomes their hostage bait in several ways, and then the men begin to fight among themselves. four of them attack her but she is saved by Govern Sturges (John Lund), who also turns out to be a Confederate officer planted among the gang.

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Taglines:

GUNS, GOLD AND A GIRL! (original print ad-all caps)

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

5 Ружей На Запад

Filming Locations:

Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Palo Alto Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Made it's New York TV debut 14 September 1956 on WCBS (Channel 2).

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Goofs

When Touch grabs the gun from the uncle at the ranch the wall he leans on moves a few inches showing its a flimsy set.

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Quotes

Govern Sturges: Don't string out. Indians like to pick off the last man.

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Connections

Featured in The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (1999)

User Reviews

Considering its minuscule budget, it's not so bad.

As I watched this Roger Corman production, I could see that westerns were not his forte. While this is a very good film considering it's tiny budget, it's really not that great a film. However, for cinemaniacs like myself, it's still well worth seeing to see what Corman could do with only $60,000. And, in light of the money spent, it's a decent picture. How did he manage to do it with so little money? You get a couple B-list stars (John Lund and Dorothy Malone) and a bunch of unknowns (including Mike Connors well before be gained stardom). And, you use very simple sets--in this case, just a few western buildings.

The plot is VERY reminiscent of the later film, "The Dirty Dozen"--but in this case it involves just five misfits who are given a choice--go on a mission for the Confederacy or have their sentences carried out immediately. The two youngest are clearly psychos, the gambler is a sociopath (Connors), there's a grizzled older man who is a bit of a cypher and a seemingly nice guy (Lund) who is quite out of place. Their job is to ambush a stagecoach carrying gold and use it to fund the South in the Civil War--but as the film progresses, it seems pretty obvious that several of them have no intention of giving up the gold. And, when they arrive at their destination, they find they are early and the two young sociopaths are mostly concerned with raping a lady at the stage office (Malone) and it's up to Lund to keep these creeps in check. What happens next? See the film.

The acting is fair, though it was hard for me to see Lund as a heroic type. He just didn't have the macho persona you'd expect and I kept thinking of him as the greasy sharpie from the "My Friend Irma" films! But he was game and a professional. As for the rest, they were also decent. The film does NOT have the ultra-cheap look of Corman's more notorious horror films (like "Wasp Woman" or "Little Shop of Horrors") but it still isn't great by any means. Watchable and mildly interesting, that's about all I can say for it. But, considering I've seen tons of Corman's films as well as a recent biography/filmography of the guy, it was worth my time. As for you, it's at best a time-passer.

A low point in the film is the guy running and yelling "I'll get 'em!" and getting shot. This scene made absolutely no sense whatsoever and seemed to just be an excuse to wipe out one of the baddies!