Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Dale Robertson is Sheriff Caleb Whales, who used his fast gun to clean up the town of Gold Ridge with a deputy nicknamed Bear (Charles Fredericks).

Now quiet times have come to Gold Ridge, and town leaders are wondering if they need a gunman for sheriff anymore.

When Bear goes on a drunken rampage, it’s the final straw. Caleb and Bear are fired; a town councilman named Bert is convinced to pin on the sheriff’s badge.

But trouble is on the way in the form of Happy Waters (Brian Keith) and his three sidekicks — Walt (Don Megowan), Nels and Stan.

With Bert away escorting a stage, they begin terrorizing the town, beating the stable owner, stealing the horse of one town leader and kicking another out of his hotel room so they can move in.

A young gun and wannabe deputy named Smiley tries to stand up to them and winds up being gunned down by Happy.

That’s when Caleb and Bear decide they need to intervene on behalf of the town that no longer wanted them around.

Dale Robertson as Caleb Whales and Charles Fredericks as Bear, watching outlaws run roughshod over the town they once protected in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Brian Keith as Happy Waters, leading of a gang of outlaws who terrorize Gold Ridge in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Review:

A strange little film that features one of Brian Keith’s better performances in a Western, but doesn’t handle the storyline nearly as well as the very similar “The Plunderers” would three years later. But it’s different enough to still be worth a watch.

Dick Kallman sings the title tune and also played the role of young Smiley. Attempts to make him a teen heartthrob failed and he wound up leaving acting to become a businessman and antique dealer. He was murdered along with his partner in their New York apartment during a robbery in 1980; Kallman was 46.

Rosanna Rory plays Caleb’s lover in her only Western. Fearing for his life, she’s constantly urging him not to get involved in the violence.

Rosanna Rory as lovely Maria, promising to chook the sheriff a delicious chicken dinner in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Don Megowan as Walt, a gang member throwing around his weight on the streets of Gold Ridge in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Directed by:
Paul Landres

Cast:
Dale Robertson … Sheriff Caleb Whales
Brian Keith … Happy Waters
Rosanna Rory … Maria
Dick Kallman … Smiley
Don Megowan … Henchman Walt
Mike Lane … Henchman Nels
Buddy Baer … Henchman Stan
Charles Fredericks … Deputy Bear
Alexander Lockwood … Bert
James Nussar … Oscar
James Maloney … Rudy
William Pullen … Tom
George Ross … Cliff
George Pembroke … Jed
Vincent Padula … Julio

Runtime: 72 min.

Title tune: “Tall Trouble”
Sung by Dick Kallman

Dick Kallman as Smiley, the young man who thinks his fast gun means he’s ready to stand up to the outlaw gang in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Alexander Lockwood as Bert, the man left holding the sheriff’s badge when Caleb Whales in fired in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Memorable lines:

Happy Waters: “What’s your name, friend?”
The sheriff: “Whales.”
Happy: “Whales? Guess we were bound to meet up sometime, since my name is Waters.”

Maria: “Hey, maybe you can order whole town around, but you can’t order me. I going to be wife and I’m going to be boss of you.”

Maria to Caleb, who’s late for dinner: “Do you know how much time it takes to pull the hairs from a chicken?”

Caleb Whales: “We wait three years for something to do, and they (Happy’s gang) show up after we get fired.”

Caleb of Happy: “That fella’s not going to leave til he’s got it all. He’s not going to touch the bank as long as there’s one old lady left in town with a gold tooth in her head.”
Bear: “What do you figure? Will he pull the tooth or take the whole head?”

Happy Waters’ three gang members — Nels (Mike Lane), Walt (Don Megowan) and Stan (Buddy Baer) in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Rosanna Rory as Maria and Dale Robertson as Caleb Whales, trying to avoid trouble with outlaws in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

George Pembroke as Jed, incensed when an outlaw wants to ‘steal’ his prized Appaloosa in a one-sided trade in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Buddy Baer as gang member Stan, with a gun in the back of Caleb Whales in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)