77 min
6.3
1953
USA
Gunfighter Billy Ringo decides to hang up his guns, buy a ranch and marry Arlene Reach. His brother Matt, father of Chip, the nephew Ringo is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, with three other outlaws, Dixon, Hollaway and Hoke, frame Ringo into pulling a bank robbery with them. Pretending to side with them, after accidentally killing Matt, Ringo informs Marshal Wyatt Earp of their plan to rob a Wells Fargo express wagon. A gunfight ensues at the robbery and the three outlaws are killed and Ike Clinton, the ringleader, is turned over to Marshal Earp by Ringo. Written by Les Adams
Overview
Reviews
John Chard wrote:Double cross marks the spot.
Gun Belt is directed by Ray Nazarro and written by Jack Dewitt, Richard Schayer and Arthur Orloff. It stars George Montgomery, Tab Hunter, William Bishop, Douglas Kennedy, John Dehner, James Millican, Hugh Sanders, Jack Elam and Helen Westcott.
Remade as 5 Guns to Tombstone in 1960, Gun Belt is for sure the much stronger film. Plot treads familiar ground as reformed outlaw gets roped into bad ways again via a frame up by his brother, and to compound matters his nephew is involved in the mess that follows. It essentially uses characters from the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral period of the Tombstone Law Versus Outlaws scheme of history. The makers retain some names, slightly change others, and of course add their own line of history.
It's a good old fashioned "B" Western that boasts a roll call of genre performers, and it's this what keeps Gun Belt from falling below average. Montgomery fronts up as the main man, a likeable presence in the genre, it's entertaining watching him weave his way through double cross after double cross. All of which culminates in a showdown where rat like trickery and bluffs form the denouement.
Nicely filmed in Technicolor, it's not a half bad production. When the story comes out of the town the Chatsworth scenery is very nice. Action scenes are competently staged as befitting a good old pro like Nazarro, with a pat on the back to the stunt workers who add perkiness to proceedings. As for the musical score, it's standard fare from Gertz. The acting is a mixed bag, and some such as Elam barely get anything to say or do, and Westcott's stock love interest character is barely in it. Leaving us with a decent but not great Western, one for the undemanding after a brisk and tidy time filler. 6/10
