''Five Guns West'' is a 1955
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film set during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
directed by
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
. It was Corman's first film as director although he had already made two as producer. It was the second film released by the
American Releasing Company, which later became
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
.
[SIRK WILL DIRECT UNIVERSAL MOVIE: Lot Again Signs Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson to Co-Star in 'All That Heaven Allows' By THOMAS M. PRYOR Special to The New York Times.28 Oct 1954: 47.]
The film stars
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone (born Mary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress.
Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting role ...
,
John Lund and
Mike Connors
Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975, a role which earned ...
. The cast also includes
R. Wright Campbell, who wrote the screenplay. He is billed as "Bob Campbell" in the credits as an actor but as "R. Wright Campbell" as screenwriter.
Plot
Five men, due to be hanged, accept pardons on condition that they join the Confederate army due to the army being desperate for men during the last days of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Their given task is to go after a traitor and a shipment of stolen gold.
They end up arriving at a homestead inhabited by a woman, Shalee, and her alcoholic uncle. They capture her and her uncle and begin fighting over her, before one of the men, Govern Sturges, who is really an undercover Confederate Army Officer, intervenes on her behalf.
Cast
*
John Lund as Govern Sturges
*
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone (born Mary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress.
Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting role ...
as Shalee
*
Touch Connors as Hale Clinton
*
Bob Campbell as John Candy
*
Jonathan Haze
Jonathan Haze (born Jack Schachter; April 1, 1929) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in Roger Corman films, especially the 1960 black comedy cult classic, ''The Little Shop of Horrors'', in which he p ...
as Billy Candy
*
Paul Birch as J.C. Haggard
* James Stone as Uncle Mike
*
Jack Ingram
Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...
as Stephan Jethro
*
Larry Thor
Larry Thor (August 27, 1916 – March 15, 1976) was a radio newscaster and announcer, an actor in film and radio, and a university professor. He "was noted for his distinctive voice ... his rich resonant tones."
Early professional life
A native ...
as Confederate Captain
*
James B. Sikking
James Barrie Sikking (born March 5, 1934) is a former American actor, most known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s TV series ''Hill Street Blues''.
Early years
Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934 to Andy and Sue (né ...
as Union Sergeant (uncredited)
Production
Development
The film was the third movie produced by
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
but the first one he directed, and his first movie in color. The second film he produced, ''The Fast and the Furious'' and been bought for distribution by a newly formed company,
American Releasing Corporation
The American Releasing Corporation was an American film distribution company active during the silent era.Soister, Nicolella & Joyce p.380 The company was founded in 1920, but was primarily active from 1922 until 1923, producing or handling film ...
(ARC), headed by Sam Arkoff and James H. Nicholson. Corman had offers from other companies but said he chose ARC because the company were willing to forward him money in advance, which he could use to finance other films.
[Corman and Jerome 1990, p. 25.] In October 1954 ARC announced that they would make three more films with Corman's company, Palo Alto, over the next twelve months, starting with ''Five Guns West'' in November.
ARC later became the famous
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...
.
Corman had directed second unit on ''Fast and the Furious'' and decided to direct ''Five Guns West'' himself. This was announced in November 1954. Corman later said "the work by the directors on the two films I had produced was acceptable. But I thought, I can do better, more efficient work; I can make better films."
[Corman p 28] Arkoff said "He almost had to direct and produce to be able to get on the screen in a short period of time with the amount of money available. If he hadn’t been his own director, he couldn’t possibly have made them so fast. If he hadn’t been his own producer, he wouldn’t have known what he as the director wanted."
Female lead Dorothy Malone had been in ''Fast and the Furious''. This was her first film following the death of her younger brother. Malone had ''Battle Cry'' and ''Young at Heart'' awaiting release when she made the film. Corman said he paid her and John Lund "as much as I could afford". Touch Connors was cast shortly after Malone.
Corman said the story idea was his but the structure and script was the work of
R. Wright Campbell, an actor he had met through
Jonathan Haze
Jonathan Haze (born Jack Schachter; April 1, 1929) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in Roger Corman films, especially the 1960 black comedy cult classic, ''The Little Shop of Horrors'', in which he p ...
. Campbell was paid $200 to write the script - it was his first screenplay - and was cast in a key role.
[Mark McGee, ''Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures'', McFarland, 1996]
Prior to filming, Corman's directing experience was limited to doing second unit on ''Fast and the Furious'' and observing film sets on the lot at 20th Century Fox. In order to get some practice before starting ''Five Guns West'', he shot an 8-minute short film on 16 mm over one day with some actor friends. Corman says he never bothered having this film processed and edited. He later wrote in his memoirs "if a young man came to me today with similar credentials there's no way I'd hire him. I'd tell him to go out and get more training."
[Corman p 27]
Filming
Filming started 29 November 1954.
The film was shot over nine days at Iverson's ranch in the San Fernando Valley near Chatsworth, and Ingram’s Ranch, owned by cowboy actor Jack Ingram, who had built a Western town there.
Corman bought stock footage of Indians to use in the film. He says he prepared thoroughly for the shoot with the assistance of Floyd Crosby and art director Ben Hayne. Corman says Hayne was particularly helpful being a western buff and would assist Corman in doing sketches for each shot. The director says he was comfortable working with the camera but less so with actors.
Corman says it rained the first day. “This wasn’t possible," he recalls thinking. "My first day! I hadn’t even started and I was already behind schedule! I got so worked up and tense that I pulled off the road and threw up. Then I just leaned against my car in the rain and pulled myself together. I made it to Iverson’s and after about an hour’s wait the rain stopped.”
Corman said he was "very, very nervous" during the shoot. "I had been confident about my work as producer, but as soon as I made the transition to director, I became shaky. I was so nervous I couldn't eat lunch for the first five or six days. All I could do was shoot in the morning and stare at the script and study it to find out what I was going to do in the afternoon."
The film marked the first time Corman worked with cinematographer
Floyd Crosby
Floyd Delafield Crosby, A.S.C. (December 12, 1899 – September 30, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American cinematographer, descendant of the Van Rensselaer family, and father of musicians Ethan and David Crosby.
Early life
Crosby was b ...
, who would become one of the director's key collaborated. " “He needed a lot less coaching than a lot of other young directors," said Crosby. "He knew what he wanted, he worked fast, and it was fun. Suddenly we were a team.” Corman said Floyd "worked fast, which is important to me, and yet his stuff was always good. No matter how fast I moved, Floyd kept right up, and he could light a setup in 10–15 minutes flat, or even faster if need be, and we’d go. That’s unusual—lots of people are fast, but you don’t want to see the results. With Floyd, you didn’t have that problem. Plus, he knew how to set up these really complicated dolly shots quickly. He was the best, and working with him was always a pleasure, professionally and personally.”
Corman reportedly went over budget making the movie. Under the deal with ARC, Corman was responsible for all budget overages. In order to complete ''Five Guns West'' Corman obtained funds from the budget of one of his upcoming projects, a science fiction film then called ''The Unseen'' (which became ''
The Beast with a Million Eyes''). This meant that Corman would have to make the latter movie for less than $30,000.
However Corman said ''Five Guns West'' "was a breakthrough for me. With almost no training or preparation whatsoever, I was literally learning how to direct on the job. It took me four or five of these training pictures to learn what a film school student knows when he graduates."
Reception
Box Office
Before the film had even been released, ARC assigned Corman to another Western, ''Apache Woman''. According to Corman both films made a profit.
Corman said the fact the film was in color helped put it in the top half of double bills through most of the US, although in some major cities in was a second feature.
However the film struggled to recoup money because it often played on the bottom of double bills, which meant it received a flat fee instead of a percentage.
Alex Gordon
Alexander Jonathan Gordon (born February 10, 1984) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Prior to playing professio ...
confirmed that saying "it soon became obvious that single B-pictures like these first three
'Fast and Furious'', ''Five Guns West'', ''Apache Woman''would not work out for the new company— they played the bottom of twin- bill programming at $25 per booking. AIP would have to own both pictures to obtain percentage bookings." This would prompt AIP to revert to making movies as a package to release as a double bill.
In 1956 Jim Nicholson said ARC had to sell this film and ''Fast and the Furious'' to television because of "short finances" but that they would never do it again.
Critical
''Picture Show'' called it "ably acted and directed".
In later years, ''Sight and Sound'' said "The direction is a bit creaky, but R. Wright Campbell's screenplay and the well-played friction between the titular quintet (led by John Lund) easily sustain interest."
DVD Savant found "The movie is less interesting for its quality than its place in the development of independent production. "
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars, finding it similar to other westerns of the time. Variety found the movie acceptable for smaller venues, but found it to have too much talking and not enough action.
According to John Lund's obituary, in Lund's "later days as a hero of westerns he proved generally rather boring, quite possibly because he was rather bored by the likes of ''Five Guns West'' and ''
The Woman They Almost Lynched''."
Home media
The movie is available on line for free from several sites, including
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, and released on DVD in 2003
Proposed Follow Ups
In February 1955, Corman announced he would follow the movie with ''Fortress Beneath the Sea'', to be made off the coast at Baja; ''High Steel'', a steeplejack story; ''Cobra'', to be filmed in India; and an untitled film written by Campbell. Corman wanted Malone for ''Cobra''. None of these movies would be made.
In June 1955 Corman said he wanted to reunited Lund and Malone in ''Reception'', about a Confederate hero who brings a northern bride to his home in Georgia. That film was not made either.
However Campbell and Corman later made ''
The Secret Invasion
''The Secret Invasion'' is a 1964 American war film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva, Mia Massini and William Campbell. Appearing three years before ''The Dirty Dozen'' (196 ...
'' using the same basic idea.
[Obituary: Robert Campbell Vosburgh, Dick. The Independent 04 Oct 2000: 6.]
See also
*
List of American films of 1955
A list of American films released in 1955.
The United Artists film '' Marty'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 1955.
A–B
C–D
E–H
I–L
M–R
S–Z
See also
* 1955 in the United States
External links
1955 filmsat ...
References
External links
*
Five Guns Westat Letterbox DVD
Five Guns Westat BFI
Review of filmat Variety
{{Roger Corman
1955 films
1955 Western (genre) films
American Civil War films
American Western (genre) films
Films directed by Roger Corman
Films produced by Roger Corman
Films with screenplays by Robert Wright Campbell
1955 directorial debut films
Films shot in California
1950s English-language films
1950s American films