(1955)
2.5
Bruce Eder
Roger Corman didn't know just how far out in front of popular culture he was when he and R. Wright Campbell conceived Five Guns West. The basic plot outline of Campbell's screenplay eerily parallels that of The Dirty Dozen, which wasn't written until years later. Equally important at the time, Corman shows a good sense of how to move a story forward while developing character, so that by the middle of 78 minute movie, we have an amazingly good sense of who these characters are and why we should care what happens to them. It's difficult to ask for much more out of a B-western made for less than $60,000 and shot in eight days, but Corman does deliver more -- he was a fast learner, from his time at 20th Century-Fox's story department, about what kind of material audiences respond to; one can detect little "lifts" out of Johnny Guitar and Rancho Notorious, as well as any number of more expensive films dealing with the background of the War Between the States. And the script also included well written parts for all concerned, from John Lund on down -- the result was an awful lot of movie, and an awfully good movie for $60,000, good enough to give James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff's American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures) their second release, and to launch Corman's directorial career in fine style.
Five Guns West on AllMovie
Five Guns West (1955)
