Five killers are pardoned by the Confederate army on one condition. They need to ride through Indian country to a deserted town with a stagecoach station, fight off the stage’s Union escort, capture a spy turned traitor, recover $30,000 in gold and bring it back through enemy lines to Rebel headquarters.
The quintet includes the Candy brothers — one pure mean, one half mad; Govern Sturges (John Lund), who assumes command of the small band; Hale Clinton, a gambler with a quick gun; and J.C. Haggard, an older man with no use for this Civil War.
No sooner have they started the trip than the five men begin scheming with one another on how to join forces, kill off the rest of the gang and make off with the gold.
And things get more interesting when they arrive at the stage station and find it manned by a drunken old man and his pretty young niece (Dorothy Malone as Shalee). Now the men have something else to fight over.
But when the stage arrives, the truth comes out. The $30,000 isn’t aboard; it’s tucked in a bank in San Francisco.
And Sturges isn’t really a killer, he’s a Confederate officer sent along to make sure the other killers carry out the mission.
John Lund as Govern Sturges, leading five Confederates in mission to find a traitor and lost gold in Five Guns West (1955)
Dorothy Malone as Shalee, suddenly faced with five men who have gold and her on their minds in Five Guns West (1955)
Review:
Mediocre, though the script writers certainly tried their darndest to punch up the dialogue. This film is also somewhat reminiscent of “Yellow Sky” once the gang reaches the station, with the good bad man trying to protect an old man and a pretty young girl from the rest of the gang.
The film marked Corman’s directorial debut and early roles for Mike Conners, who was still being billed as “Touch” Conners, and Jonathan Haze, who made a career of paying offbeat characters, such as the contaminated man in the “Day the World Ended” (Corman’s first sci fi venture) and Seymor Krelboyne, keeper of the man-eating plant in “The Little Shop of Horrors.”
Dorothy Malone enlivens the film as Shalee, a curvaceous young woman stuck in a virtual ghost town with an uncle she cares for.
Mike Conners as Hale Clinton, trying his southern charm on Shalee (Dorothy Malone) in Five Guns West (1955)
Paul Birch as J.C. Haggard, the most cautious of the Rebels, with Mike Conners as Hale Clinton in Five Guns West (1955)
Directed by:
Roger Corman
Cast:
John Lund … Govern Sturges
Mike Conners … Hale Clinton
Jonathan Haze … Billy Candy
Bob Campbell … John Candy
Paul Birch … J.C. Haggard
James Stone … Uncle Mime
Dorothy Malone … Shalee
Jack Ingram .. Stephan Jethro
Larry Thor … Confederate captain
Runtime: 79 min.
Jonathan Haze as Billy Candy, trying to swap tobacco for a kiss from Shalee (Dorothy Malone) in Five Guns West (1955)
Bob Campbell as John Candy, forever trying to keep younger brother Billy out of trouble in Five Guns West (1955)
Memorable lines:
Hale Clinton, to Sturges, after he’s calmed down crazy Billy Candy: “You’re savvy. I think maybe you’ve got a loyal dog to follow you. Rabid, but loyal.”
Hale Clinton as he rides out toward Indian country: “Suppose they catch one of us?”
Billy Candy: “We’ll hear the yellin’. And we’ll feel sorry.”
Hale Clinton to Sturges: “You sure got one idea in your mind, Govern. Can’t get your mind off that gold, can you?”
Sturges: “Get your mind on too many things, you end up with nothing.”
Sturges to Shalee: “Seems like you can’t resist parading around like a pony at an auction and stirring the boys up.”
Dorothy Malone as Shalee, frowning as Uncle Mime (James Stone) downs yet another drink in Five Guns West (1955)
J.C. Haggard (Paul Birch), Hale Clinton (Mike Conners), Billy Candy (Jonathan Haze) and John Candy (Bob Campbell) in Five Guns West (1955)
John Lund as Govern Sturges with Dorothy Malone as Shalee as she watches for trouble in Five Guns West (1955)
Dorothy Malone as Shalee, being used as a shield by Mike Conners as Hale Clinton in Five Guns West (1955)
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