Darn Good Westerns Box Set #2 [DVD]

A 3 DVD Edition from The Hollywood Studio Collection each western here was either B-Western or Co-Feature film in its day and taking into account the age of the films all three have stood the test of time pretty well. 4 Stars and a good buy!

HELLGATE (1952) black & white 87 minutes. This film has much in common with John Ford's PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936). Sterling Hayden stars as the innocent man locked up in New Mexico's notorious Hellgate Prison and fighting for his freedom Ward Bond (Wagon Train) is the prison governor he is up against! The director was Charles Marquis Warren.

PANHANDLE 1948 sepia-tone 84 minutes. Rod Cameron stars as the reformed gunman John Sands who buckles on his gun belt to avenge the killing of his kid brother plenty of action and gunplay ensues. The love interest is between the local bad man's secretary played by Anne Gwynne and Sands kid brother ex girlfriend played by Cathy Downes (MY DARLING CLEMENTINE 1946).The director was Lesley Selender.

SHOTGUN 1955 colour wide-screen 80 minutes. Sterling Hayden stars as the deputy who is on the trail baddies who had blown the marshal in half with his shotgun, along the way he ties in with saloon girl Yvonne De Carlo and bounty hunter Zachary Scott as they pursue the gang to a way-station and then on to the climatic shotgun shootout.
The director was Lesley Selender and the result is a pretty violent western for its time.

Of the two main stars here, Sterling Hayden (1916-1986). A tall man Hayden stood six-feet five-inches, he was a real life medal-winning hero served in the US Marine Corps later joined the OSS and saw action behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia and Croatia. Hayden was also a real Hollywood maverick he hated filming and only done it as a necessity to finance his sea-going sailing trips, he was also a noted author.

Rod Cameron (1910-1983). Another tall man Canadian born Cameron stood six-feet four-inches tall a real rugged outdoor man built like a redwood tree. He spent ten years in the construction industry he had once aspired of becoming a Royal Canadian Mountie before making a belated start in films as a man of action in dozens of films but most notably as hero of many Hollywood westerns.

I was so impressed with "Darn Good Westerns Box Set 1" which included the excellent films "Stranger on Horseback", "Four Fast Guns" and "Outlaw Women" that I decided Volume 2 was worth a shout. I wasn't wrong because it turned out to be just as a good. A great opportunity to watch little seen B westerns. This one has three more great little westerns.

"Shotgun" was interestingly co-scripted by Rory Calhoun who hoped to star in it before it became an Allied Artists project. It was directed by the prolific B western director Lesley Selander and starred the physically imposing Sterling Hayden who also happened to be a very good actor. Better than Calhoun! Hayden is the deputy on the trail of the man who's blown a marshall in half with a shotgun. He is joined by a bounty hunter, played by another great actor Zachary Scott and the pretty Yvonne De Carlo who he picks up along the way. Pretty women always seemed to get picked up along the way! The colour cinematography is superb by Ellsworth Fredericks and it is a decent script. Well done Calhoun! The film has an excellent climactic gun battle. A very decent film indeed.

"Panhandle", is slightly marred by the poor quality sepia print. Otherwise it is an excellent film. This one is again directed by Selander and is perhaps more interesting as it was Blake Edwards first foray into production. This one and "Stampede" won him praise as an inventive and literate writer/producer of B westerns. This film is notable for a very decent script. Edwards also multi tasks as a chief heavy. Rod Cameron is the gunfighter out to avenge the death of his brother. He takes on the villains with guns and fists, both of which he is mighty handy with! Not easy when they are more comfortable shooting you in the back! Edwards of course later became more famous for the Pink Panther films, but returned brilliantly to the genre in 1971 with "Wild Rovers".

"Hellgate" is a very unusual and interesting film. Directed by another B western specialist Charles Marquis Warren it is very slickly handled. It again stars Sterling Hayden, this time as a man wrongly accused of of being a confederate spy and imprisoned in the brutal Hellgate prison in New Mexico where escape is not an option, or so Ward Bond the officer in charge thinks! One of the more interesting scenes was where those two Hollywood giants Hayden and James Arness of "Gunsmoke" fame go head to head. This was one of the better pictures to come out of the poverty row Lippert Pictures Studio. Not only did it boast the John Ford stalwart Ward Bond but it also boasted the always excellent Robert Wilke. The film is an imaginative reworking of John Ford's "The Prisoner of Shark Island" and is well worth watching.

This is a very strong box set of little seen B westerns that are well worth catching. Both box sets are well worth adding to the collection of the avid western fan.

Being a bit of a nurd when it comes to westerns. These three really are great value for money. Shotgun Sterling Hayden and Yvonne whatsername good early color western plenty of action and intrique. Panhanle bit of an oddity made in sepia which I find is worse than crystal clear black and white, nevertheless not a bad western Rod Cameron never did really make it as a leading man.The third movie is really just a stocking filler but not bad . Overall package well worth the small price