Skunkyrate
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Usamah Harvey
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
dougdoepke
A pacifist-minded ex-Confederate gets caught up in a land war as he seeks a new life in post- Civil War Missouri.Considering the bizarre cast, I guess I was hoping for too much. After all, the compelling Tierney, Elam, Chaney Jr. and Dell are all established movie toughies. Then there's the unpredictable Ireland and Morris, performers comfortable playing with a wobbly moral compass. And finally there's the luscious Malone playing the good citizen, though she could also wobble when necessary, e.g. Written On The Wind (1955). Trouble is Tierney's entirely wasted, disappearing early on. No scary stare or frozen face here. As a result, there's no logical showdown between him and Ireland, as dramatically promising as that would be. Also, Chaney only gets a few minutes of loopy screen time, while Morris seems unsure of what he's supposed to do as the Marshal. And the latter's really too bad since the Marshal's uncertainty could be the story's most interesting character. The narrative itself is fairly familiar—greedy plotters trying to drive settlers off their land so they can cash in on the railway coming through. Not exactly a ground-breaking premise. On the other hand, shifting alliances among the town folk add character interest, while a restrained Ireland carries the film even though in a clichéd role. Still, I like the fact that the settlers organize themselves without waiting for the hero to save the day. That's a good non- clichéd touch.All in all, I'm wondering how a budget indie like this was able to assemble such an exotic cast, and whether they had to haul legendary juicers like Tierney and Chaney out of the nearest Hollywood bar. Too bad the screenplay didn't make better use of these colorful characters. That would have made something truly memorable. Instead, we get an unexceptional if occasionally interesting western.
kapelusznik18
***SPOILERS*** Having hist fill of fighting and killing Confederate soldier Jefferson Waring, John Ireland, decides to turn over a new leaf and start a new life in the territory of Missouri as a farmer only to run into a gang of bushwhackers who plan to take over land that's to have a rail line go through it. The gang lead by the blind and crippled Artemis Taylor, Lon Cheney, plans to run out those living on the land by burning them out and killing them if they resist. Waring who takes the settlers side at first is totally against using armed forced against Taylor's toughs but after himself almost being killed by them he suddenly changes his mind. That after earlier he was worked over at a local bar by Sam Tobin, Lawrence Tierney, Taylor's top hit man when he refused a drink he offered him by insisting on him paying for one himself!Back at independence-the future home of Pres. Harry "S" for nothing Truman-Waring gets real friendly with newspaper editor Peter Sharpe, Frank Marlow, and even friendlier with his hot looking and gun toting daughter Cathy, Dorothy Malone,who caught him sleeping in her boudoir-bedroom-after a hard days work at her father's office setting type for the morning bulldog edition. Cathy soon realizes that Waring is an OK guy by him throwing in his lot with the settlers whom her dad is in fully support of.***SPOILERS*** It's Taylor's hot headed daughter Norah, Myrna Dell, who plans to escalate the situation by rustling up some two dozen bushwhackers and drive the settlers off their land in order to claim it and make a killing on it when the railroad is built over it. This has Waring with a number of settlers counter-attack and ambush the bushwhackers having their leader Norah flee the scene. This while her dad Artemis Taylor drops dead of a sudden heart attack due to all of the action and excitement going on in the movie. Norah planning to skip town with some $50,000.00 in cash is confronted by bank president Justin Stone, Charles Trowbridge, who won't let her take the money until the bank opens! That leads to a wild shoot out between the two with both ending up dead.
Spikeopath
Ah, The Bushwhackers, also known as The Rebel, a Western packed to the rafters with ever watchable actors, but unfurled like an amateur homage to Oaters a decade or so before.Co-written and directed by Rod Amateau, and starring John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Lawrence Tierney, Lon Chaney Junior, Myrna Dell, Wayne Morris and Jack Elam, film finds Ireland as Civil War veteran Jefferson Waring, who has vowed to never pick up a gun in anger again. However, upon wandering into the town of Independence, Missouri, he finds a town awash with sinister rumblings as Lon Chaney's Don Vito Corleone figure - backed by Dell's nefarious daughter - is plotting to own all the local land because the Railroad is coming and there's going to be a high premium placed on said land.Cue Waring being pulled from emotional pillar to emotional post, with Malone batting her eyelids amidst a strong portrayal of feisty sexuality, until he takes up the good fight for the greater good in readiness for the finale that holds no surprises. There's a mean spirited edge to the plot which keeps things interesting and spicy, and although they are under used, having Tierney and Elam as thugs for hire is always a good thing, but it's directed and edited in such a cack - handed way there's little to no flow to the picture. Making it practically impossible to invest in the characterisations.Unfortunately the DVD print provided by Elstree Hill is a disgrace, not even up to the standard of a VHS copy of a copy! A shame because through the gloom and scrambled fuzz of the transfer, you can see Joseph Biroc's noirish photography trying to break out. The actors make it worth a watch, in that Western fans can tick it off their lists, but nobody should be fooled into thinking there's an exciting picture here, or that it has observational intelligence about a scarred war veteran, because it has neither and Amateau's subsequent "non" career in film after this tells you all you need to know. 5/10
MartinHafer
Considering the film has two of my very favorite film noir heavies, John Ireland and Lawrence Tierney, I sure expected it would be better. I also expected it would not be a western, as both these actors were known for their contemporary performances--not westerns (especially Tierney).The film begins with the Civil War ending. Ireland is sick of the killing and vows never to harm anyone ever again. Frankly, this really telegraphed where the film would eventually go, as you KNEW that sooner or later he'd have to plug someone. And that someone or some people would be the gang run by a real nut-case, Lon Chaney, Jr.. The problem is that Chaney's performance is waaaay over the top--so much so that you terrible performance by Chaney can't help but laugh at him! Really. And there's also the insane lady who loves shooting people and acting, like Chaney, quite histrionic. They really help give the film a nice insane chic look! Overall, however, the film is a very ordinary western that wastes some good actors--mostly because they had no idea what to do in this sort of film. One of the only ones who did seem in his element was Jack Elam--king of menacing cowboys.
