Mr. Pettigrew (2024)

Shane Clouse is Beau Boone, a Civil War vet left with a lame leg thanks to a Confederate cannon ball. He finds himself penniless on the streets of Nemesis, Nevada in 1867.

Mr. Pettigrew (Davy Williams) pulls him out of the proverbial gutter, treats him to a steak dinner and gets him a job as shotgun guard / bouncer in the Angel Cloud Saloon.

Alice Hockstead (Chris Enss) owns that saloon, but Pettigrew is her lover and the man who financed the venture.

Within minutes of meeting Boone, Pettigrew guns down Roscoe Wilkenson, who barges into the saloon, rifle cocked.

That’s going to cause bad blood, because Roscoe’s daddy Caleb is one of the most powerful men around. He also has the local law and the local judges under his thumb.

In other words, he has two options for avenging his son’s death — violence, perhaps doled out by fast gun Arless Blackthorne (Eric Roberts) or a hangman’s noose, perhaps prescribed by Judge Rankin.

Mr. Pettigrew is going to count heavily on new friend Beau Boone to help him escape either fate.

Review:

In one of the film’s opening lines, Mr. Pettigrew tells Beau Boone that it will be worth the four-bit (50 cent) cost of a steak dinner to hear him tell his story.

You know what wouldn’t be worth four bits? Paying that much to stream this low-budget Western.

The plot has potential. A man who’s down and out gets a helping hand from a well-off gentleman he embraces as a new friend, only to discover that friend is determined to lead him down a lawless path.

But this is not the production team or the group of actors and actresses capable of exploiting the plot’s potential. The production standards are worse than you’ll find in a Christopher Forbes directed film. The acting? Wooden. The action scenes? Yikes.

Here’s an example. A drunken Judge Rankin goes stumbling down the sidewalk. He passes a soldier. The judge is yanked into an alley. A gunshot rings out. The soldier keeps right on walking.

Eric Roberts is on hand for a two-minute cameo to give the cast a “big name.” He’s been doing that a lot in low-budget Westerns. Here’s the irony fans of the genre should be catching on to.

After his appearance in film misadventures like “A Town Called Parable” (2022), “Doc Holliday’s Revenge” (2014) and “Day of the Gun” (2013), Western fans should realize the presence of this particular “big name” in the cast likely means it’s a film best avoided.

That’s certainly the case here.

Directed by:
L.J. Martin

Cast:
Shane Clouse … Beau Banquo Boone
Davy Williams … A. Pettigrew
Chris Enss … Alice Hockstead
Wyatt McCrea … Ivan “Pete” Petrovich
Eric Roberts … Arlis Blackthorn
Blake de Pastino … Caleb Wilkinson
Dennis Tuberty .. Horace (bartendeer)
Dennis Shackelford … Judge Rankin
Kira Rogala … Jessie Kurtz
Douglas Koester … Marshal McCallester

Runtime: 86 min.

Memorable lines:

Alice, spotting Roscoe Wilkenson lying on her saloon floor in a pool of blood: “You and Mr. Wilkenson had a disagreement, did you?”
Mr. Pettigrew: “Why yes. I disagreed with being shot full of holes.”

Alice to Beau Boone, after hiring him as shotgun guard: “Your task will be to calm the situation down, not to kill the customers, even if they have a mind to kill one another.”

Beau Boone, as he and Mr. Pettigrew prepare to face off against Caleb Wilkenson and four of his men: “Before I met you, I was on my way to hell. Might as well finish the journey.”

Beau Boone to Mr. Pettigrew: “Good thing about having partner with a bum leg. I gotta stand there and fight.”

Mr. Pettigrew: “Would you like a cup of coffee? You seem a mite grumpy today.”
Marshal Petrovich: “Territorial judge murdered in my jurisdiction, makes a fella grumpy.”

Marshal Josiah McAllister: “You’re a bit of a smart ass, ain’t ya?”
Beau Boone: “Better than being a dumb ass.”

Alice to Beau Boone: “You don’t owe Pettigrew anything unless you’re hoping to earn a five-foot drop that ends in bulging eyes and a swollen tongue … Pet’s good for granting one favor and asking ten in return.”