Country singing stars Webb Pierce, Carl Smith and Marty Robbins plays themselves, but the year is 1875 and they’re trying to prevent an Indian uprising.
Specifically, they’re federal agents, sent West to find out who stole a shipment of buffalo guns and who’s rustling cattle intended as rations for the reservation Indians.
If the Indians get the buffalo guns, they could once again terrorize the territory. If they don’t get their rations, they’re bound to cause problems anyway.
And since Webb Pierce is an Eastern “dude,” he’s brought along Smith and Robbins to help get to the bottom of the mischief.
There’s certainly mischief going on. The men are working undercover, pretending to be cowboys delivering beef to the Indians.
But no sooner do they arrive in the area than rustlers strike, trying to steal their herd.
The three men wind up in the town of Las Cruces Junction, where they think a telegraph operator named Vin might know who’s behind the trouble.
Marty Robbins as himself, romancing Clementine when he isn’t investigating in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Webb Pierce as himself, entertaining with a song in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Review:
A novelty that, according to IMDb, was filmed in 1957 but not released until four years later.
Western fans are familiar with Robbins, but Pierce and Smith were also big names in country music at the time.
Pierce had more number one hits than any other country artist in the 1950s; Smith had 21 consecutive Top 10 country hits at one point.
Here, all three get to sing a song or two thanks to a barn dance that’s wrapped around the film’s climax.
Don’t expect lots of violence. Two people die, neither by the hands of our heroes. Though they do take part in a climatic — and not very well done — brawl that leads to the discovery of the stolen weapons.
The good news is, neither the filmmaker or the actors seemed to take the project too seriously.
Carl Smith as himself, on the watch for trouble at a barn dance in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Wayne Morris as Roeca, the crooked Indian agent in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Directed by:
Albert C. Gannaway
Cast:
Webb Pierce … Webb Pierce
Carl Smith … Carl Smith
Marty Robbins … Marty Robbins
Wayne Morris … Roeca
Don “Red” Barry … Murdock
Mary Ellen Kay … Clementine Hubbard
Douglas Fowley … Sheriff
Harry Lauter … Vin
Eddie Crandall … Eddie Hubbard
Bill Coontz … Cocha
Eddie Little SKy … Sartu
Charles Soldani … Chief
Runtime: 72 min.
Songs;
“Buffalo Gun” by the Jordanaires
“Sugaree” by the Jorandaires
“You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore” by Carl Smith
“Someday” by Webb Pierce
“Clementine” by Marty Robbins
“The Same Two Lips” by Marty Robbins
Mary Ellen Kay as Clementine Hubbard, the object of affection and a song in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Don ‘Red’ Barry as Murdock, the man whose cattle doesn’t always make it to the Indians in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Memorable lines:
Webb Pierce, after someone tries to rustle the herd of beef they’re delivering to the Indians: “Things like this just don’t happen in Nashville.”
Clementine, after getting an immediate compliment from Marty Robbins when they meet: “Cowboy, you’ve been on the trail a long time.”
Marty Robbins: “Yeah, and I’m downright lovelorn.”
The Jordanaires: “Buffalo gun / buffalo gun / the one that won the west / a might too large / but a mighty charge / made fuffalo gun the best … / it was heavy as a cannon if you had to carry it / sounded like a cannon when it boomed / anyone on the receiving end of it / was boom boom boom boom doomed.”
Harry Lauter as Vin, the reluctant member of the schemers in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Douglas Fowley as the sheriff in Buffalo Gun (1961)
Marty Robbins wasting no time making the move on Clementine (Mary Ellen Kay) in Buffalo Gun (1961)
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