Gunslinger (1956)

This is a somewhat unusual 50s Western in that it has women as both the main hero and villain (it’s not completely unique in this respect - the low budget nature of 50s B-movies did mean people were able to experiment in places). Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) becomes Marshall of a town when her husband (the previous Marshall) is shot, and has to face a ruthless saloon owner (Allison Hayes). The saloon owner invites noted gunman Cane Miro (John Ireland) to town and Cane is soon involved in a love triangle with both the Marshall and saloon owner.

Despite its somewhat origin premise I thought this was a pretty weak film. The basic problem is that the characters didn’t seem to have much independent motivation – their feelings within the love triangle seemed to sway purely to drive the slightly convoluted plot. Beyond this it was a fairly standard 50s B-Movie: obviously pretty cheaply but competently made and with limited locations. It’s not awful, but the story doesn’t really hold up to any kind of thought.