Gun Duel in Durango (1957)

George Montgomery plays former outlaw Will Sabre, who has decided to break with his gang and try to go straight.

He finds an orphan boy (Bobby Clark as Robbie) in the process of burying his father and decides to try to find the youngster a place to live.

And he thinks the perfect place might be the small ranch where his longtime best gal (Ann Robinson as Judy) lives alone.

Judy relents, but it’s Will — a man she hasn’t seen for two years — who she really wants.

Will wants to settle down too, but he knows that gang wants him back, especially Dunston (Steve Brodie).

And they’ve threatened to kill him if he doesn’t return to his outlaw ways.

Well, Sabre changes his name to Dan Tomlinson, takes a job as a teller at a local bank and tries to steer clear of trouble.

But the local sheriff is suspicious.

And, sure enough, his old gang shows up.

Review:

So-so Montgomery Western, more family oriented that most because of the presence of child actor Bobby Clark.

He’s a young boy who doesn’t understand Will Sabre’s reluctance to use a gun, even for good. The George Montgomery character tries to explain to him that, by the time he grows up, law and order will have prevailed in the West and men won’t rely on gunplay to settle disputes.

Of course, by the end of the film, Will Sabre has proven quite capable of strapping on the six-gun again, because his old gang manages to put him in a situation where he has to help rob the bank where he works.

Clark, by the way, also played the son of John Payne and Ruth Roman who is accidentally shot and killed early in the 1956 Western “Rebel in Town.”

Directed by:
Sidney Salkow

Cast:
George Montgomery … Will Sabre
aka Dan Tomlinson
Ann Robinson … Judy
Steve Brodie … Dunsten
Bobby Clark … Robbie
Frank Ferguson … Sheriff Howard
Don “Red” Barry … Larry
Henry Rowland … Roy
Denver Pyle … Ranger Captain
Mary Treen … Spinster
Al Wyatt Sr. … Jones

Runtime: 73 min.

Memorable lines:

Robbie: “You’re not going into a bank?”
Dan Tomlinson, formerly outlaw Will Sabre: “Dan Tomlinson and banks have a lot of respect for one another now-a-days.”

Banker, to former outlaw Sabre, who’s looking for a job: “Ever done any banking, sir?”
Dan Tomlinson: “Not exactly your kind.”

Will Sabre: “No more splitting (loot from holdups), Jack (Dunsten). For once in my life, I’ve got something to look forward to.”

Denver Pyle as the Texas Ranger captain with Sheriff Howard (Frank Ferguson) in Gun Duel in Durango (1957)

George Montgomery as Will Sabre telling Robby (Bobby Clark) why he’s now reluctant to use a gun in Gun Duel in Durango (1957)