Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Sterling Hayden plays Jay Turner, who pulls off a robbery in Monterey with Max Reno (Ted de Corsia).

But instead of splitting the cash, Reno shoots Turner in the back and leaves his to bleed to death … or perhaps drown … in the ocean waters off the California coast.

Turner is rescued by a pretty Mexican girl named Maria and begins plotting his revenge.

He shows up in Del Rey, where Reno has taken over a saloon with the help of a henchman (Lee Van Cleef as Kirby) and a prostitute/gambler (Mary Beth Hughes as Cleo).

Turner saunters into Reno’s bar calling himself John York and insisting he isn’t Jay Turner.

Reno doesn’t believe him — he just can’t believe him — and tries to have him killed.

When that plan fails, York gets himself deputized. By this time, he’s figured out the perfect revenge.

Since Jay Turner, the Monterey bandit, is presumed dead, he’ll take Reno back to Monterey where he’ll hang for pulling a robbery and killing a partner who is, in truth, very much alive.

Heck, York might even ride off with a reward for bringing Reno to justice.

Sterling Hayden as Jay Turner, planning sweet revenge for a double-dealing ex-partner in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Ted de Corsia as Reno, hearing some stunning news from an old partner in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Review:

A clever premise and couple of nice plot twists are wasted in a film that needed a lead actor with more charisma than Sterling Hayden to pull it off.

And some scenes are just downright silly. Like the one in which the sheriff gets so drunk he stumbles against the jail cell, allowing Kirby to escape.

Even more silly: Reno sends Cleo to Turner’s room with simple instructions. Find out if he has scars from being shot in the back. So Cleo goes to Turner’s room, immediately starts kissing him, then none too discreetly rips off his shirt!

The film benefits from a more prominent role than usual for the scene-stealing Lee Van Cleef. Pamela Duncan plays the woman who wins Turner’s heart. She’s best known for being to female lead in a pair of Roger Corman sci-fi flicks — “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and “The Undead.”

Lee Van Cleef as Kirby, the fast gun who becomes Max Reno’s enforcer in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Michael Vallon as Senor Salvador and Pamela Duncan as his daughter Maria, nursing a wounded Jay Turner in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Directed by:
Sidney Franklin Jr.
Carl Hittleman

Cast:
Sterling Hayden … Jay Turner / John York
Ted de Corsia … Max Reno
Pamela Duncan … Maria Salvador
Mary Beth Hughes … Cleo
Lee Van Cleef … Kirby
Charles Cane … Sheriff Mundy
Pat Comiskey … Frank
Byron Foulger … Carson
Mauritz Hugo … Charley
I . Stanford Jolley … Idwall

Runtime: 67 min.

Mary Beth Hughes as Cleo, the lady gambler who does Max Reno’s bidding in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

I. Stanford Jolley as newspaperman Idwall, fed up with Reno’s crooked ways in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Memorable lines:

Max Reno, holding his stolen loot: “The green stuff that most men would die for.”
Jay Turner: “One of these days, you will, Reno.”
Reno: “But I’ll grab me a fistful of life with it first. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Max Reno, ordering Cleo to find out whether the man identifying himself as York is his former partner Jay Turner: “If it’s Turner, he’s got scar wounds all over him.”
Cleo: “In the back?”
Max slaps Cleo across the face: “I don’t like funny people, Cleo. Now go do what I pay you for.”
Cleo: “Alright. I’ll take his clothes off piece by piece. And count his wounds, scar by scar.”

Cleo to Turner, moments after ripping a shirt off his back: “I hope you stay around a while.”
Turner: “If I do, I won’t have any clothes left.”

Charles Cane (right) as Sheriff Claude Mundy, wondering why the saloon owner is dead in his office in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Fred Sherman as Abbott, a saloon owner running out of time to live in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

George Baxter as Sheriff Romero, about to accept Max Reno as a new inmate in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Pamela Duncan as Maria Salvador, pleading with Jay Turner to do the right thing in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Ted de Corsia as Max Reno, returning to an old habit of gunning down partners in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)

Sterling Hayden as Jay Turner, passing himself off under a new name to and old partner in Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)