Tue 14 Jan 2014
Archived Western Movie Review: GUN FEVER (1958).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[4] Comments
GUN FEVER. United Artists, 1958. Mark Stevens, John Lupton, Larry Storch, Jana Davi, Russell Thorson, Iron Eyes Cody. Director & co-screenwriter: Mark Stevens.
Back in 1958 “adult” TV westerns were all the rage — Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel and many others. And in many ways, that’s what I think Mark Stevens had in mind when he put so much effort into this movie: an “A” (for adult) western movie; what he also had was a “B” (for budget) expense account, and it shows.
From the opening scenes on, however, this is one of the grimmer westerns I’ve seen in a while. The interior backgrounds, the homesteaders’ shacks and so on, all are stark and barren; outdoors it seems as though the wind in always blowing: with the incessant tumbleweeds and eternal sand in everyone’s faces, it makes you grit your teeth even to watch.
Storywise, there’s not much to it. A young lad splits from his father’s gang when he decides the bloodletting has gotten too much for him. Six years later, he goes on a trail of revenge with his mining partner when the other man’s parents are brutally murdered — instigated by the outlaw he knows is his father. Confrontation is inevitable.
Several other deaths occur along the way, most with guns, some with knives, some at the hands of Indians. Jana Davi, whom I don’t remember ever seeing before, plays an Indian married to a white man, a sympathetic role, but as a Native American Indian, I don’t think so. (And it did surprise me a but when I discovered that Larry Storch was the man behind the serapes of the Mexican bandit, Amigo.)
Overall, though, no more than moderately interesting. The highlight for me was seeing at last (as far as I know) the man behind Russell Thorson’s voice. I’ve heard him many times on the radio, but while in 1958 he was quite a bit older than when he played the capable, easy-going Jack Packard on the old I Love a Mystery radio series, he still looked much as I’d pictured him.
[UPDATE] 01-14-14. From IMDb: “Maureen Hingert [aka Jana Davi] was born on 9th of January 1937 in Columbo, Ceylon, of Dutch ancestry, the daughter of Lionel Hingert and Lorna Mabel del Run.”
January 14th, 2014 at 3:23 pm
I remember this one, and you sum it up well. It’s certainly grim, and structured along the lines of many western novels using the revenge theme.
Stevens was an actor I always liked though really there are only a few really good movies in his career like his really good part in FATE IS THE HUNTER. But he was ambitious, talented, and willing to take risks, just not particularly lucky with them.
I’ve always wanted to see the pilot he did for a Michael Shayne series (before the Denning series). In the right hat and black and white he would look a lot like the Shayne icon used by Dell and MSMY, though looks or not Lloyd Nolan remains my Shayne.
January 14th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
I liked Mark Stevens in two of the better film noirs: DARK CORNER and STREET WITH NO NAME. Many of his other roles he seemed to play as someone very unhappy and depressed. At least that’s how I remember his career.
January 16th, 2014 at 8:42 am
As David points out, Mark Stevens was willing to take risks, and he turned out a couple of moderately interesting films, but that’s all they were: moderately interesting.
April 28th, 2021 at 9:29 pm
I don’t know where else to put this comment. But earlier this month I somehow realized that all the character surnames in ‘Gunsmoke’ (radio show) are Scottish. Either all, or almost all.
Writer John Meston must have been Scots, himself. It’s the only way I can account for it. Every gunslinger who visits Dodge is of Scottish heritage.
The only drawback I’ve ever observed in the radio show is …something that makes my teeth grind. The re-use of character names.
Meston loved the name ‘Peavey’ and used it over and over. A monicker for a good guy in one episode and a tag for an out-and-out bad guy in another episode.
It injects insanity into the show. How can Matt Dillon vilify a no-goodnik with this name in one episode, and not remember it is also the name of someone he likes from another episode?
Another one is ‘Lee Staph’. Meston must have hated someone with this name. But you can’t have two separate villains with the same name in two different shows. Meston does it.