Waco (1952)

Bill Elliott is Matt Boone, a cowboy who’s just landed a new job in Waco when he finds himself in a crooked card game.

He winds up shooting and killing the cheat, who turns out to be well-known cattleman Bull Clark.

Rather than risk a lynch mob, Boone flees Waco and finds himself an outlaw on the run after his very first killing.

He winds up stumbling upon and joining a gang led by Curly Ivers (I. Stanford Jolley).

Boone makes quick friends with the outlaw boss; he makes a quick enemy of his fast gun, Lou Garcia (Paul Fierro).

Seriously wounded during one of the gang’s subsequent holdups, it looks like Boone’s at the end of his road.

That’s when town leaders from Waco show up in Pecos, offering to put him on trial in their town.

They have no such intention. Instead, they want to try what’s worked in other Western towns that needed taming: Give a badge to an outlaw and let him do the dirty work.

Boone welcomes the opportunity for a fresh start.

But it’s threatened when Curly’s gang robs a stage out of Waco. And again when the outlaw leader Boone’s so fond of lands in his jail.

Bill Elliott as Matt Boone, reflecting on the outlaw life in Waco (1952)

I Stanford Jolley as Curley Ivers, remembering his start as an outlaw in Waco (1952)

Review:

A bland Elliott Western, done in by an implausible plot that bites off more plot than it can effectively chew in such a short runtime.

As Curly Ivers, I Stanford Jolley gets way too much screen time. As female lead Kathy Clark, Pamela Blake doesn’t get nearly enough.

The daughter of the cheating cattleman Boone killed, she goes from wanting Boone dead and trying to ruin his chance at a pardon to hanging out in his jail as his wannabe girlfriend in a heartbeat.

It all starts off badly. Farley, the man who hires Boone for that first job in Waco, offers him a $40 advance. Boone is mighty grateful, saying he could sure use the money.

Moments later, he’s wagering many times that sum in one of those Western movie poker games where the stakes make no sense at all.

Pamela Blake as Kathy Clark with her foreman Wallace (Lane Bradford), confronting Matt Boone in Waco (1952)

Paul Fierro as Lou Garcia and Rand Brooks as Al, members of Curly’s gang, hoping they’ve lost the posse in Waco (1952)

Directed by:
Lewis Collins

Cast:
Bill Elliott … Matt Boone
I. Stanford Jolley … Curly Ivers
Pamela Blake … Kathy Clark
Paul Fierro … Lou Garcia
Rand Brooks …. Al
Richard Avonde … Pedro
Pierce Lyden … Farley
Lane Bradford … Wallace
Terry Frost … Will Richards
Stanley Price … Waco sheriff
Stanley Andrews … Judge
Michael Whalen … Barnes, banker
Ray Bennett … Bull Clark
Roby Mallinson … Crawford
Dick Paxton … Ace Logan
House Peters Jr. … Doctor
Russ Whiteman … Pecos sheriff

Runtime: 68 min.

Terry Frost as Will Richards, one of Waco’s leading citizens in Waco (1952)

Pierce Lyden as Farley, one of the Waco residents who recruits Boone to clean up the town in Waco (1952)

Memorable lines:

Farley: “If you know the right people in Waco, you can commit murder and be acquitted by a paid jury. Or a scared one.”

Curly Ivers to Matt Boone: “Just remember this: A real lawman has just as lonely a life as an outlaw does. He’s either feared or hated, just as we are.”

Kathy Clark to Matt Boone: “So that’s what the trial was all about. They needed a sheriff and they got a dirty, rotten killer!”

Matt Boone: “You don’t believe I could hang you, do you, Curly?”
Curly Ivers: “Oh, what does it matter who hangs me, Matt. I’ll be just as dead no matter what.”

Dick Paxton as Ace Logan, a fast gun who balks at Boone’s efforts to clean up Waco in Waco (1952)

Bill Elliott as Matt Boone and Paul Fierro as Lou Garcia, butting heads for the first time in Waco (1952)