GUNPOINT

US, 1966, 86 minutes, Colour.
Audie Murphy, Joan Staley, Warren Stevens.
Directed by Earl Bellamy.

Gunpoint is a very effective 'B' western from Universal in the sixties. Audie Murphy had done very many films similar to this in the fifties. Earl Bellamy, who made many telemovies and action films, directs. It is conventional material but interestingly and effectively done.

1. An interesting and entertaining Western? An Audie Murphy vehicle of the sixties (in comparison with his many Western vehicles of the fifties)?

2. The Western conventions used: the heroic sheriff, the villain with his gang and robberies, the chaos, the conventional fights, the Indian attacks? How well were these drawn together? Better than average?

3. Colour photography, the atmosphere of the West, the towns, the plains, the mountains, the mining camps? Musical score? Special effects especially with the fights, stampedes and Indian attacks?

4. The basic Western plot and its use? The portrait of Chad Lucas and his effectiveness as a sheriff? The importance of his explanation of his background and his being outside the law for some years and trying to redeem himself? (And the irony of his being an outlaw and not going back to Uvalde so that she would go off on her own way?) His reliability in the town, the relationship with Nate Harlan and with Drago? His pursuit of Drago, the help of Nate, the presence of Uvalde? His coping with the posse, with the Apache attacks, the rescue of Uvalde, the going over the mountains? The confrontation with Bull and his two sons? The final fight-out with Nate and the end with Uvalde? A conventional hero - how well portrayed?

5. Drago and his outlaw gang, the picturing of the train robbery and its violence, the smug attitudes of Drago and his terrorizing the countryside, the taking of the money and his escape, using Uvalde? The irony of her brother riding with the outlaws and her not revealing the truth until the end? The confrontation and final fight? The reality of men like Drago and their power over the farmers and settlers of Colorado?

6. Uvalde as conventional heroine - night-club singer, the explanation of her background and relationship with Chad? The bond with Nate

7. The portrait of Nate and his being a man of the town, audience suspicions of him, his helping Chad, the final temptation with the money and his losing the gamble with fighting Chad?

8. The sub-plot with Bull and his two sons - an added ingredient to the Western conventions?

9. The portrait of the various men of the West, especially Uvalde's brother, the various members of Drago's team, of the posse?

10. The crises of the Western and how well they were handled? The stampedes, Indian attacks? The conventional right and wrong, good and evil? A conventional Western well done?