Jim Bridger (Dennis Morgan) and “Dakota” Jack Gaines (Richard Denning) have settled into a safe life in the East, performing with a Wild West show, when the Army comes calling.
The government wants to build a new string of forts through Sioux country to pave a route for the railroad that is to follow. That could mean running into 8,000 none-too-happy Indians.
But the Army has a secret weapon on its side, a new Springfield rifle that’s far superior to any of the weapons the Sioux have.
Gaines, though, is hardly the reliable scout the Army remembers. He’s turned into a drunk to the point where his wife Max (Paula Raymond) is about to leave him.
As a result, he stays behind when an Army expedition heads out to start work on the first fort — before the new guns arrive.
After an initial skirmish demonstrates the Indians’ advantage in numbers, Bridger convinces the commander to hide out in the hills until help arrives, in the form of reinforcements or the new guns.
Meanwhile, Gaines, now sobered up, takes one of the new guns and heads off to the Indian camp to convince Red Cloud how futile war would be for his people.
Dennis Morgan as Jim Bridger, taking Jack Gaines’ place in his Wild West show in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Richard Dennis as Jack Gaines, proposing a demonstration to scare the Sioux out of thoughts of war in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Review:
Having the film’s hero drunk for the first half of the film, to the point where he nearly pushes his wife into another man’s arms, is a rather unique twist for a William Castle Western.
But the performances of Robert Brice and Michael Morgan as Red Cloud and Afraid of Horses — what a name for an Indian brave — are laughably bad, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a Western that makes more extensive use of stock footage.
Oh, and that stock footage might have worked better if it fit the plot. But in the climatic battle scene, there isn’t a Springfield rifle in sight. The cavalry is armed with six guns and sabers.
Paula Raymond, the female star here, appear in one other Western of note– as the female attorney who tries to help Civil War vet Robert Taylor, an Indian, in “Devil’s Doorway” (1950).
Paula Raymond as Max Gaines, disappointed to see her husband was unable to perform again because of his drinking in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Howard Wright as Gen. Pope, getting a demonstration of the new Springfield rifles from a salesman named Lang (Richard Travis) in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Directed by:
William Castle
Cast:
Dennis Morgan … Jim Bridger
Paula Raymond … Max Gaines
Richard Denning … Jack Gaines
Chris O’Brien … Sgt. Carnahan
Robert Brice … Red Cloud
Michael Morgan … Afraid of Horses
Roy Gordon … Col. Carrington
Howard Wright … General Pope
Richard H. Cutting … Edwin Stanton
Kenneth MacDonald … Col. E.M. Still
Runtime: 71 min.
Robert Brice as Red Cloud, determined to strike before the whites new weapons arrive in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Michael Morgan as Afraid of Horses, a Sioux chief against any dealings with the whites in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Memorable lines:
Jim Bridger, after setting Afraid of Horses free: “Killing one Indian wouldn’t do any good. But letting one live might. He means a lot to Red Cloud. That means Red Cloud owes us something.”
Jack Gaines: “Red Cloud needs to be scared. And what are we going to scare him with? Dirty looks?”
Sgt. Carnahan, as he and Bridger finish a buffalo hunt: “I can’t help thinkin’, if Red Cloud was around, it’d be us losing our hair, not the buffalo.”
Red Cloud: “Did you come to warn me of this new gun because you once were my friend?”
Jack Gaines: “I came because I wanted to scare you, Red Cloud. Scare you enough to drive you and your people out of your war paint.”
Chris O’Brien as Sgt. Carnahan and Dennis Morgan as Jim Bridger, reunited in another campaign against the Sioux in The Gun that won the West (1955)
Paula Raymond as Max Gaines and Richard Denning as Jack Gaines, their relationship on the rocks because of his drinking in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Roy Gordon as Col. Carrington, relying on scout Jim Bridger’s (Dennis Morgan’s) advice in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Dennis Morgan as Jim Bridger, Paula Richards as Max Gaines, Richard Dennis as Jack Gaines and Roy Gordon as Col. Carrington in The Gun That Won the West (1955)
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