The Quiet Gun (1957)

Forrest Tucker is Carl Brandon, sheriff of Rock River, and he’s about to have a bad week. Seems the townsfolk are in an uproar because a local rancher (Jim Davis as Ralph Carpenter) is living with a young Indian girl (Mara Corday as Irene) — a situation a local attorney dubs an immoral disgrace.

When Brandon won’t act, the attorney (Lewis Martin as Steven Hardy) takes it upon himself to serve notice on Carpenter. But he makes the mistake of aiming a rifle at the rancher in doing so and winds up dead.

Brandon can’t stop the lynch mob that finds Carpenter after the killing, but he’s determined to see that they’re brought to justice. And he’s determined to find out what’s really behind the town’s sudden concern with decency. Because he suspects someone had something in for Carpenter that had nothing to do with a young Indian girl.

Besides, Carpenter’s estranged wife Teresa (Kathleen Crowley) has returned to town. They were all good friends at one point. And Brandon has a particularly soft spot for her.

Forrest Tucker as Carl Brandon, sheriff of Red Rock in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Lee Van Cleef as Doug Sadler with Tom Brown as John Reilly, conspiring to steal Carpenter’s ranch in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Review:

Intriguing little “B” Western with a plot unique enough to hold your interest and Tucker turning in one of his better performances. And, for once, the sheriff can’t prevent a lynching. That doesn’t happen too often in Westerns.

Director William Claxton doesn’t forget to inject a small dose of humor into his twist-filled plot. Vince Barnett plays a businessman who dashes inside to change into his undertaking duds every time it looks as though trouble is brewing.

And at one point, Sheriff Brandon tricks the entire town council into being deputized when they show up at his office to demand that the lynch mob be released from jail. The film also features Lee Van Cleef; he’s one of the villains of the piece.

Jim Davis as Ralph Carpenter, on the run from Sheriff Carl Brandon with pretty Indian girl Irene (Mara Corday) in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Kathleen Crowley as Teresa Carpenter, returning to Red Rock to find her estranged husband dead in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Directed by:
William Claxton

Cast:
Forrest Tucker … Carl Brandon
Mara Corday … Irene (Indian girl)
Jim Davis … Ralph Carpenter
Kathleen Crowley … Teresa Carpenter
Lee Van Cleef … Doug Sadler
Hank Worden … Samson
Tom Brown … John Reilly
Gerald Milton … Lesser
Lewis Martin … Steven Hardy
Vince Barnett … Undertaker
Edith Evanson … Mrs. Merrick

Runtime: 77 min.

Gerald Milton as Harold Lesser, leader of the town council that presses the morality issue in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Lewis Martin as attorney Steven Hardy and Hank Worden as Samson, confronting Carpenter about his unusual living arrangement in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Memorable lines:

Blacksmith: “Hardy’s right about this Carl. Ralph is making a spectacle. Sorta.”
Sheriff Carl Brandon: “You know you just pulled the cork outta Hardy’s mouth, don’t ya? I want to tell you something. This could be a buzzard’s day. You remember that.”

Sheriff Carl Brandon: “Don’t let anyone come through that door.”
Samson: “Over my dead body, sheriff.” Then he thinks about it. “Over my dead body?”

Judge: “Everyone in this room should feel proud today. The town of Rock River is on the map. Big and black, speaking very poorly of the civilized frontier of the West. This court is dismissed.”

Forrest Tucker as Sheriff Carl Brandon scolding council members Frank Townsend (Gene Roth), Jackson McCready and Harold Lesser (Gerald Milton) in The Quiet Gun (1957)

Forrest Tucker as Carl Brandon with Tom Brown as John Reilly in The Quiet Gun (1957)