John Carroll plays Clint Jones, a gunman brought to Painted Flats to help cattle king Ed Sampson (George Macready) clear out the “squatters.”
He’s a fast gun with just one rule: He makes sure any man he kills has a gun in his hand.
His companions on a stagecoach ride to Painted Flats are a trio of mail-order brides, including the lovely Kathy Martin (Corinne Calvet), who’s trying to escape the life of a saloon girl and start fresh out West.
Jones doesn’t know it at the time, but their husbands-to-be are among the squatters. And the men’s wedded bliss could be short-lived with Jones around.
That’s especially true since former fast gun Ned East and Kathy’s husband Joe (Skip Homeier) are among the men determined to stand up to Sampson and his henchmen.
Kathy, meanwhile, wants her new husband to avoid a confrontation with Jones and threatens to end their marriage when he won’t listen.
Neat little film, far superior to most of its B Western contemporaries. All three mail order brides are worried heading West because they’ve fibbed in letters to their future husbands. Two have lied about their ages; Martin hasn’t told her intended about a tarnished past as a saloon girl.
Carroll turns in a neat performance as a hard-drinking gunfighter, who has little faith in Kathy’s attempt to turn her life around, a fatalistic vision of his own future and no respect for her new husband.
The early portion of the film is filled with light-hearted scenes, including Kathy’s botched attempt at cooking Joe his first meal as a married man.
Homeier has one of his more likeable roles as the gentleman husband who insists on sleeping in the barn until he and his new wife make sure they’re compatible.
The film offers up a neat ending too.
Directed by:
Albert C. Gannaway
Cast:
Corinne Calvet … Kathy Martin
Skip Homeier … Joe Martin
John Carroll … Clint Jones
George Macready … Ed Sampson
Edmund Lowe … Ned East
Madge Kennedy … Mary East
Bea Benaderet … Ella Heather
Joe Besser … Andy Heather
Allan Lurie … Cass Becker
Richy Allen … Timmy Martin
Candy Candido … Bartender
Herb Vigran … Mr. Perry
Bob Kline … Carl
Burt Topper … Bart
William Foster … Bill
Runtime: 77 min.
Memorable lines:
Clint Jones: “Girl like you can have any man she wants.”
Kathy Martin: “Maybe I don’t want that kind of man. Maybe it’ll be different. Maybe there will be a lifetime look in his eyes instead of … maybe to him I won’t be just a woman, a sudden thirst.”
Kathy Martin: “Listen, every 24 hours, a day disappears, ends, it’s finished. And a brand new beautiful one starts. I don’t know if I can do this with my life. But that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Clint Jones: “Get him (Ned East) off the street. I want him buried.”
Ed Sampson: “Getting sentimental?”
Jones: “Once he was like me, fast and tough. Someday, I’ll be like him, old and slow and laying face down in the street. I want him buried. Now.”
Much more enjoyable to watch this movie than anything they produce nowadays. Thank you for making this available.