Reviewed by JONATHAN LEWIS:         


THE GUN THAT WON THE WEST. Columbia Pictures, 1955. Dennis Morgan, Paula Raymond, Richard Denning, Chris O’Brien, Robert Bice. Director: William Castle.

   The gun may have won the West, but the movie quickly lost my interest.

   I won’t go so far as to say that the William Castle’s The Gun That Won The West is the worst Western I’ve ever seen, but it’s probably the most lackluster and altogether uninspiring. The characters are poorly drawn, there’s a fair amount of what appears to be stock footage of marauding Sioux on horseback, the fight scenes are poorly choreographed, and the ending is … well, let’s just say the ending leaves you wondering what the point of it all was.

   Here’s the thing. It didn’t need to be this way. Sure, Castle is known more for his later horror/schlock films, but he was certainly capable of competently directing a slightly quirky B-Western such as Conquest of Cochise that I reviewed here. As for Dennis Morgan, he’s not the best actor ever cast in Westerns, but he was more than competent in the surprisingly enjoyable Cheyenne, which I reviewed here.

   But in this tired affair, the real star of the film was the shiny and new Springfield rifle that allowed the film’s protagonist and his allies to defeat the Sioux. Trust me when say that unless you are a William Castle completest, there’s no reason to go out of your way to watch this forgettable matinee Western.