User reviews

An average Western on the hands of hard-boiled director Roger Corman and a tough-as-leather cast as well as mostly female , headed by Beverly Garland , John Ireland and Allison Hayes , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring Western flick . After her hubby (William Schallert) is gunned down , Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) takes his place temporarily as marshal of a small Western town , Oracle , and she fights for peace and tranquility . She takes his badge and sets out in personal revenge to find the murderers , and as soon as she meets the outlaws to kill and bury them at Boot Hill cemetery . Meanwhile, the nasty Erica Page (Alison Hayes) , the gorgeous saloon owner , along with her moronic underling , Jake Hayes (Jonathan Haze), are busy buying up local properties because of the railroad is going to make an Oracle depot stop . Soon after , villain Erica hires a quick-draw gunfighter called Cane Miro (John Ireland) to come kill Rose . But the unscrupulous hired hand Miro falls in love for Rose and brings back a double-crossing and start to confront among themselves . At the end there appears the famous sheriff Sam Bass.

This is a middling Western with crossfire , fights , thrills , shotdown , pursuits , go riding , but some boring and slow-moving . Unique Western with little action , excessive talking and a surprising ending . It has some good shots but lots of dull spots . It's made in low budget ; however , being well played by acceptable actors as John Ireland , Beverly Garland and Allyson Hayes . Passable support cast , including ordinary players from Corman factory as Dick Miller , William Schallert and Jonathan Haze who acted in ¨Little shop of horrors¨ and many others Corman products . The secondary actors , technicians (cameraman Fred West , musician Ronald Stein) and writer (Charles B. Griffith who wrote various Corman's scripts and also directed) will repeat with Roger in subsequent films .

The motion picture was regularly made by Roger Corman and shot in seven days. During the 50s-60s Roger Corman directed 3 Westerns as ¨The Oklahoma Woman ¨ , ¨Apache Woman¨ and ¨Five guns West ¨ , but his specialty were terror films , Edgar Alan Poe saga , and monsters movies . As Corman realized all kinds of genres as Mobster movie : ¨Bloody mama¨ , ¨St. Valentine's massacre¨, ¨I Mobster¨, ¨Machine Gun Kelly¨ ; and especially known the Edgar Alan Poe renditions : ¨Fall of the haunted house¨ , ¨Tales of terror¨ , ¨Raven¨, ¨Terror¨, ¨Pit and Pendulum¨, ¨Tomb of Ligeia¨, ¨Masque of the red death¨, ¨Premature burial¨; Juvenile movies : ¨Carnival rock¨, ¨Rock all night¨ , ¨Sorority girl¨, ¨Teenage doll¨ ; Monster movie : ¨Attack the crab monsters¨ , ¨It conquered the world¨, ¨ Beast with a million eyes¨ , ¨Viking women and great serpent ¨ , ¨Swamp women¨, ¨Wasp woman¨ ; Sci-Fi : ¨Gasss¨, ¨The man with X-ray eyes¨, ¨Last woman on earth¨ ; Horror : ¨The Undead¨, ¨Tower of London¨, ¨Haunted palace¨, ¨Frankestein unbound¨ ; and Motorcycle films : ¨Wild Angels¨, ¨The Trip¨. Although Corman also produced several films as ¨ Night of the blood beast ¨ , ¨ Attack of the giant leeches¨ and several others . ¨Gunslinger¨ rating : Mediocre : 4.5/10 , only for Roger Corman aficionados .

"Gunslinger" was an early "B" western drama from Producer/Director Roger Corman. Shot in color on a shoestring budget, it is nevertheless an interesting little western.

When Rose Hood's (Beverly Garland) husband the Marshal is murdered, she is forced to strap on a gunbelt and take over his job. The local saloon madam Erica Page (Alison Hayes) feels threatened, she sends her lovesick bartender Jake (Jonathon Haze) to hire a gunslinger to kill the marshal. All in black gunfighter Cane Miro (John Ireland) rides into town to take on the job. It seems that Cane also has an axe to grind with the town's mayor (Martin Kingsley). Of course Cane becomes attracted to Rose and she to him. Cane is torn between the two women. But he ultimately succumbs to his dark side and the finale involves the final shootout between Rose and Cane.

Corman adds a few little twists that make this film a cut above your average "B" western. First there is a female villain in Erica and a knock down drag out fight between herself and Rose. Next there is a sequence where the three saloon girls try to lynch Rose. There is also an excellent scrap involving Ireland and Chris Alcaide playing the deputy Joshua.

The acting is above average for a Corman picture of this period. Garland, always one of my personal western gals, is good in the lead. Ireland, always under rated, is excellent as the title character. Alison Hayes makes a chilling villain and Corman regular Haze is quite good as the simple minded Jake.

This film is certainly worth a look.

I'll admit that I don't expect much from a Roger Corman film. Generally, I expect a lot of walking and bad scripts. Yet in this case, I am pleasantly surprised.

The Gunslinger is a story of a woman (played by the spunky Beverly Garland) who takes over as sheriff after her husband is brutally murdered. Ms. Garland is a pretty good shot herself, killing one of the murderers the next day at her husband's funeral. Her first task is to shut down the local bar that is violating the town curfew. The bar's owner is trying to buy land in anticipation of being bought out by the (hoped-for) railroad. However, Ms. Garland is a thorn in her plans, and the bar matron hires a man to kill Ms. Garland.

Because of Ms. Garland's plays her role honestly and realistically, there is absolutely no temptation to go to Suzanne Somers "She's the Sheriff" jokes. With the exception of a couple of faux pas (the apartment door that opens OUT from the inside, jeep tracks, and the two horsemen waiting on screen for their cue to ride around a corner), the movie becomes quite passable as movie fare. However, Corman could not resist padding his film with horse riding scenes, much like he does walking in other films.

Sterno says The Gunslinger is a horse opera worth your time.

Beverly Garland is the only reason I gave this a good rating. She acts very well and is very pleasing to watch.

Other than that, typical Roger Corman production. Lots of mediocre actors, lack of continuity, lots of women displaying themselves, making out, and humorous scenes when not meant to be humorous. I love Bev's stoic reaction in the beginning. Plus, the whiny barkeep guy was so kooky and annoying. He got his just desserts. Interesting situation: boy meets girl, boy was hired to kill girl, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, boy and girl get into shootout.

We do have fun.

Roger Corman, alternately lionized as a visionary filmmaker limited by low budgets and tight production schedules, and berated as an overrated producer of shoddy cliche-ridden movies, tries his hand at a Western. Here he seems to be trying to make a brooding adult Western of the Anthony Mann type, but as good as John Ireland is, he just ain't no James Stewart. The bargain basement production values don't help (it's obvious that this movie was made very quickly on a shoestring budget), and the overall look and feel of the film is oppressively gloomy. (Apparently this was due in part to bad weather during filming.)

On the plus side, this movie does have Beverly Garland (r-r-r-owrr!) and Alison Hayes (va-va-va-voom!). These two will help distract the viewer's attention from the sight of Bruno Vesota waddling about and looking shifty.

Being a big fan of Corman's horror movies I expected from his western a bit more than I got. Well, I was entertained all right. I had almost as many laughs as watching Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles.

See the spectacle of mobile tire tracks on the prairie of the old west. You can kill time by counting them if there happens to be an otherwise boring scene going on. And the horses seem to have gears in them too, considered the fast-forward chases. See also the swinging bar room queens of the traditional wild west saloon doing a number that reminds of a certain fashionable dance from 1920's, here decades before the style was invented. Hope the saloon around them won't crumple.

In the middle of all this mayhem the main actors do a decent job. Ireland, Garland and Hayes are all truly fine. A special praise for them for doing the best they could with the material that seems mostly having been lifted from 'Johnny Guitar', but doesn't quite impress the same way. But there is really nothing wrong with a laughable western like this. Just like a really bad old horror movie, it might fail one way but succeeds to give joy anyway. That is one of the reasons Corman's work appeals to me and that is why I dare to recommend you to experience this movie if you get the chance.

One of Roger Corman's first films is this lively and involving little western that has a gender role-reversal going on as a grieving widow (Beverly Garland) becomes the marshal of a violent town in which at least one of the inhabitants is going on a murderous rampage of land-grabbing. I was at first surprised to see that this film was in colour given that the rest of Corman's B-movie sci-fi and horror films of the 1950s are in black and white, and then pleased to see that this was just as entertaining as those genre movies.

GUNSLINGER is fast-paced and fun, and even the romance scenes don't feel slow or dragged out. Garland makes for an enthusiastic heroine given decent support by John Ireland as a hired gun who has a change of heart. You know it's a Corman movie when you spy Dick Miller in a low down supporting role. GUNSLINGER is no masterpiece, that's for sure, but for a film which must have been made for a fraction of the budget of acclaimed classics like HIGH NOON, it's a nice surprise.

I guess that "Gunslinger" wasn't quite as god-awful as most of the movies that "Mystery Science Theater 3000" shows, but westerns just aren't Roger Corman's forte. Portraying Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) becoming sheriff in an Old West town after her sheriff husband gets murdered and having to fight off baddies, the movie is pretty predictable. John Ireland is Rose's new hubby, secretly working for unctuous Allison Hayes (yes, the 50-foot woman). Also appearing briefly is frequent Corman co-star Dick Miller as a mailman (Miller nowadays stars in Joe Dante's movies).

I do wish to assert that you'll probably want to watch the "MST3K" version to really enjoy this movie. They had a great time with it.

When the town sheriff is gunned down, his wife Garland pins on the badge. Hired killer Ireland is sent to off her, but instead falls in love with her. Corman, directing a great cast, culled from Poverty Row, seems to do nothing with the delicious plot that is bubbling away here. What we end up with is characters we don't care about, walking through a very stiff script. It shoulda been better...it coulda been a contendah!

Two tough women, one good one bad, dominate "Gunslinger", a nice B western, early work by Roger Corman. In spite of being so patently low-budgeted and made in a rush, the movie have several things to its credit. First of all, a considerable originality for the 1950s. The woman marshal Rose (Beverly Garland) is an uncommon character in western movies, all the more her outstanding guts and toughness. The early scene, when she shoots dead the killer during her husband's funeral service, is a shocker which, in some sense, sets the gutsy standard of the film. Personally, I never saw such an unexpected scene elsewhere. Fine stuff. Rose's counterpart is the cruel Erica (Allison Hayes), always ready to murder anyone interfering with her dirty schemes. She is uncommonly bad for a female character. These two beautiful mortal enemies are related in a love triangle with the gunslinger Cane Myro (John Ireland). I like this character, entangled in a Greek-tragedy-like strait of being hired to kill the woman he loves. John Ireland, slouching along with his dark suit, cold eyes, sad fixed grin, cynical sense of humor, is perfect for the role. In my opinion he makes a first-rate job, even too good for an unpretentious B-movie. The romantic scenes with Myro and Rose have an intensity which makes a fine contrast with the merely carnal interchange between Erica and the gunslinger. A remarkable sexy aura permeates a number of scenes, mainly thanks to three sensational saloon-girls. Even the final general killing, though far-fetched, has the merit to be non-standard. The tough, dry dialogue is praise-worthy, Garland and Hayes act adequately, and there is some good camera work (rarely, to be honest). Several sub-plots give a fast pace to the narration. It is almost impossible to get bored. After all, that's the main purpose of a B-movie, isn't it?

Unfortunately, sometimes "Gunslinger" is non-standard for goofiness, as well. An early take is so mistaken that I even suspect to be a director's deliberate choice. We see the pony-express starting from a stage-post, in theory some ten days far from Oracle, the village where the action takes place. Few seconds later he rides close to a big tree, under which we see the funeral service of the murdered marshal, in Oracle! And we have many takes of rushing horses, patently in "fast-motion". What's the point of such useless stupidity? Two potentially exciting scenes, namely the fist-fight between Rose and Erica and the attempt of the three saloon-girls to lynch Rose, are marred by a very poor editing. We find several faults in the cut of the movie, as well.

Anyway, I go back to my main point. The two pretty tough girls are exciting, the romance is pleasant, the flick is entertaining and presents some interest for a study of B-movies.

Sure it takes place in the west, but the title makes it seem like it is a conventional western. Instead, it is a movie of a woman sheriff. Make no mistake though this is a bad movie about a woman sheriff. She becomes sheriff when her husband is gunned down; she is only a tad bit upset by this. Her main goal is to go after the villain who is also a woman, but the villain hires a guy to kill her. So this is what happens, the hero falls in love with the killer and vice versa. Utterly stupid, as anyone killed in this movie has the new sheriff to thank. She had more than a few chances to put the killer behind bars, but I guess because she liked him she wouldn't do it. The killer is also after the mayor of the town for personal reasons that are also rather dumb. This movie is very boring and not really worth watching...it is not one of the better episodes of MST3000 they made. I can not imagine anyone seeing this without them because that would make it that much more painful. Corman is a low budget director, but even he should know better than to have people go into one place and coming out another.

I first saw this movie one Friday night/morning in the 80's while staying in a cheap Midwestern motel room. It was the late late show on a small local UHF channel. After a few minutes I knew why it was small local UHF channel affordable. It was perfectly dreadful even for an early Roger Corman effort. Which is saying something in and of itself. I was also struck by the thought of perhaps how desperate John Ireland's, an actor already with solid accomplishments (My Darling Clementine, Red River, All the King's Men), finances must have been in 1956 to appear in this disaster.

Years later it popped up again without warning on the late great MST3K television show where it received a proper and hilarious skewing. Of course, Corman had served up inning after inning of softballs for the boys to drive out of the park, but they still managed to find gems I missed the first time. Two that had me in tears were the room/hallway scene, "come out," and the "authentic" old west saloon chorus girls.

The original version of the Gunslinger should be mercifully forgotten. The MST3K version should not be missed! Somehow I think even Roger Corman is laughing too.

Not one of Roger Corman's more impressive efforts, this movie introduces us to a Western town whose citizens, judging from their acting skills, are all made of wood. Beverly Garland takes what could be a fascinating character, a wife avenging the death of her husband (the town's Marshal), and does nothing with it, while John Ireland, playing a hired assassin/love interest, is just as bland. The dialogue, meanwhile, is so bad it's hilarious. Corman ought to be ashamed.

'Gunslinger' is strange little western - unique and experimental where 'King of B's' Roger Corman went against usual western rules and the main gunslinger is a woman - town marshal Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) who is as fast with her thinking as with her hands, and as coldblooded as her male counterparts. And her cruel scheming sworn enemy Erica Page (Allisson Hayes) is as evil and dirty as one greedy villain should be. As the director himself said, that he was tired of using same formulas, so he came up with an idea about woman gunslinger and hired Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna to write the screenplay.

After her husband, the marshal of of Oracle City is murdered, Rose Hood is appointed as new marshal and she plans to take the law into her own hands. With that she starts feud with saloon keeper Erica Page who is ready to use every method to get rid of the new law-woman. She hires gunslinger form out of town (super cool John Ireland whose performance seems even too good for this unpretentious cheap entertainment) to kill Rose. Romance, double games, deceptions and a lot of blood shedding follows. Although unconventional in casting and with many interesting and original twists and turns mixed with lousy clichés, and enough entertainment value, the film is still uneven mess which proves that western wasn't Cormans forte. Not to mention those fast-motioned horse chasing scenes that felt unnecessary and more like self parody.

'Gunslinger' might not be up par with Cormans finest works (or even with some of his previous westerns like 'Five Guns West') the film is still worth enough to give it a chance, even for the sake of the inventiveness of it.

Temporary female marshal in the Texas town of Oracle tangles with the crooked saloon proprietress, her nefarious showgirls, and the outlaw from Tombstone hired to bump her off; the gunslinger, dressed in black, plays romantic smoothie with both ladies, but it's clear to whom his heart truly belongs after a romantic conversation in a tree with the badge-wearing blonde (during which time Beverly Garland is upstaged by an overactive black bug on her blouse). C-grade western from producer-director Roger Corman, probably patterned after "Johnny Guitar", keeps a needless time-line of events--ridiculous since all the exterior scenes appear to have been filmed on the same chilly morning and each of the actors seems to possess one outfit apiece. Garland does the only decent acting in the picture; otherwise, "Gunslinger" is a turkey looking to get shot. *1/2 from ****

Disappointing Roger Corman western about a woman (Beverly Garland) who becomes marshal after her husband, the previous marshal, is killed. She clashes with saloon owner Allison Hayes and falls for hired gun John Ireland before her hubby's cold in the ground. This should have been great but, unfortunately, it isn't much fun. It needs more scenes like the cat fight between Garland and Hayes near the beginning. Basically it's just a routine oater with the novelty of a woman being the marshal. If you really want to see a western from the 1950s with badass female characters and significant cheese appeal, see Johnny Guitar. This one is pretty boring.

What the world anyone truly sees in Roger Corman movies is at loss to me. While this one may be part of his early days - he never improved all that much for my tastes - his appeal is surley limited to those who have a bent towards BAD movies. This one offers us a female lead in the lovely and talented Beverly Garland who clearly deserved far better material but, with stinkers like 'Gunslinger' on her résumé she never had a chance. She plays a 'female sheriff' who has to look for her holster each time she puts her gun away - then there's the saloon with all of three small tables and less than a dozen clients who sit around watching all three (3) dance hall gals doing their best to keep in time (in a Randolph Scott Picture, any less than 23 song and dance ladies would have been cheap). John Ireland is OK in his limited way but the script gives him nothing to work with - same goes for the whole cast of a dozen or more. MGM/UA who has given us some fine rare gems - must have far more deserving movies to transfer to DVD than this penny pinching, idea stealing, dog eared oater. For the very easily pleased, if even they want to bother.

Gunslinger is directed by Roger Corman and written by Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna. It stars John Ireland, Beverly Garland, Allison Hayes, Martin Kingsley, Jonathahn Haze and Chris Alcaide. Music is by Ronald Stein and cinematography by Frederick E. West.

When the sheriff of Oracle, Texas, is murdered by outlaws, his widow Rose Hood (Garland) takes over as Marshal and sets about cleaning up the town...

As Roger Corman started out directing, a few years before he would turn his hand to the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations that would find him respect and leave his mark on cinema, he ventured into the realm of the Western. None of these Westerns were particularly good, in fact they are some of the lowest rated Westerns on IMDb, with Gunslinger currently at the bottom of the pile with a 2.8/10 weighted average! Yet, and it's really not a movie you would want to revisit often - if at all, there's a quirkiness and feminist angled bravery about the whole thing that earns a tiny bit of respect.

The problems are many. It's over talky and slow, and what action there is is so badly staged it comes off like an amateur playhouse production. Then there's the acting. Ireland kind of escapes criticism because he walks around in a dazed state, it's like he can't believe what he is doing there, you can see him thinking to himself that he was working for Howard Hawks and Anthony Mann not long ago! Garland is OK, spunky and at least correct in line deliveries and visual reaction to situations, and Hayes is sexy enough to get away with the incredulity of it all. The rest, however, are desperately poor, with some of them resorting to auto-cue type acting.

Visually it's also poor, with barely dressed sets looking as fake as fake can be, especially when they shake as actors bump into them. Filmed in Pathecolor, the exteriors are sadly lifeless, the colours bland, and this in spite of the decent DVD print that I viewed. The sped up horse riding sequences raise a chuckle, while goof spotters will have a field day here. All told, with a weak and preposterous finale sealing the deal, it's a well below average "Z" grade Oater. One that's fun for the wrong reasons, but still! The sight of Garland blasting away with shotgun in hand, with star badge on chest, is a sexy image I shall not forget in a hurry! 3.5/10

I saw this on an episode of the divine MST3K, and I think it would have been almost as funny without Joel & co. mocking it. This is truly an awful movie, but it's definitely worth seeing in MST3K-vision.