one of my absolute favorites!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Copyright 1957 by Universal-International. New York opening at RKO neighborhood theaters as the lower half of a double bill with a second run of "Tammy and the Bachelor": 6 September 1957. U.S. release: 1 October 1957. U.K. release: 7 September 1958. Australian release: 5 July 1957 (sic). 80 minutes. Cut by Rank Film Distributors to 68 minutes in the U.K. for release on a double bills.SYNOPSIS: A gang on the run after a successful bank robbery hole up for the night in Quantez, a mysteriously empty frontier town.VIEWERS' GUIDE (all versions): Strictly adults.COMMENT: CinemaScope seems an odd choice for a "B" western that, aside from its opening action and solid climax, is largely set indoors. Mind you, it still offers well above average entertainment, though it says much for the general standard of acting that the best performance comes not from any of the big-name players, but from the little known (as far as most moviegoers were concerned) James Barton, who provides a wonderfully engaging interlude as a wandering minstrel. On the other hand, Fred MacMurray's playing seems a bit too off the cuff to be wholly convincing. You would think that he had just that moment memorized his lines, but had not been given any opportunity to practice them and get the feel of them. And, although no fault of her own, Dorothy Malone also betrays the obvious haste with which the movie was made, thanks to her glaringly obvious make-up.Even the sound recording is unusually rough by Hollywood's usually meticulous standards. OTHER VIEWS: This film sets out with half-hearted self-consciousness after a theme — that the man on the run is hunted down from within as much as by external forces; but it succeeds only in being an object lesson in ponderous time-wasting. — Monthly Film Bulletin (reviewing the 68-minute version).

A western that has way too much talk, but the talk does draw some deeply etched characters is Quantez. Had they pumped it up with a bit more action this could have been a classic. That is despite Fred MacMurray who really never felt right in westerns. He does all right by this one however.The hot tempered John Larch leads a gang of outlaws fresh from a bank robbery takes his three men fleeing a posse. His henchmen are Fred MacMurray an experienced outlaw who doesn't talk much about himself, a young fast draw in John Gavin who is from the east and Sydney Chaplin a man raised among the Apaches in whose country they have to pass through. And he also brings his main squeeze Dorothy Malone for those cold desert nights.The outlaws arrive in the freshly deserted town of Quantez, deserted because the Apaches under Michael Ansara have made it most uncomfortable to live. What to do, but take stock of the situation and formulate a plan to get across the desert. So while they're stuck there, the true character of all comes forth. All of them are chafing under the leadership of Larch who once again is playing a rather arrogant, loudmouth individual who is a fast gun, but has little else to recommend them. And of course there's the presence of Malone who just by being there is giving them all an itch that Larch won't them scratch. Only one other speaking part is in this film that of James Barton who plays a wandering painter and who has an extra horse they might need to make it across the desert. It would be smart if they all stuck together until the Indian crisis is passed or they're all dead, but Larch won't let that happen.It's plain that MacMurray should be the gang leader, but he has reasons why he's not and for that you see Quantez for.Quantez is a bit verbose, but the characters are interesting to say the least.

Quantez is directed by Harry Keller and written by R. Wright Campbell and Anne Edwards. It stars Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, James Barton, Sydney Chaplin, John Gavin and John Larch. A CinemaScope production in Eastman Color, with music scored by Herman Stein (supervision Joseph Gershenson) and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie.A gang of robbers hole up for the night in the ghost town of Quantez. But what is the greater threat to their well being? The Indians out in the hills? Or each other?Maybe you get to be a killer? But you will be sick to the stomach because of it.A smartly written and acted psychological Western, Quantez deserves to be better known and appraised. This is all about characterisations and the hot bed situation they dwell within, the emphasis on dialogue and interactions as suspicion, passions, racism and treachery show their hands. Standard characters do apply, the girl with a past she's not proud of, the loose cannon, the greenhorn kid, the duplicitous one and the guy with a secret tucked away. There's even a late addition of a wandering minstrel (Barton), splendidly calling himself Puritan. These characters are well blended for narrative strength by Keller, the director keeping things on the slow burn, an impending sense of implosion permeating proceedings. Technical aspects are smart, the exterior filming, when the film comes out of the claustrophobic confines of the ghost town, is most pleasing, while the Eastman Color is gorgeous and never garish. Cast score well, notably a stubble and grungy MacMurray, a pretty and emotionally fragile Malone and Larch, who is unstable and enjoying his chance for villainy.Except for a fist fight, an opening pursuit and the odd moment of macho posturing, the action is saved for the excellent last quarter, so first time viewers after a high energy Oater are advised that this is not the film for them. But for those who like some psychological discord in their Westerns, where plot dynamics are simmering until the denouement, then seek this out if you can. 8/10

Not many people heard about Quantez, but for those who enjoy westerns it is worth seeing. It is that type of westerns where all of the men seem bad, they just robbed a bank and one of them brought his girlfriend along(Dorothy Malone). She is by far the most interesting character, she flirts with the whole gang and has a very low self-esteem. Harry Keller, the director, knew his way with westerns He was the editor of one excellent film "The Showdown" and also directed several Audie Murphy and Allan Rocky Lane films. This film brings to mind "Yellow Sky" and "Ambush at Tomahawk Gap". Some of the men will turn up to be not so bad as they seem, like in those films mentioned. Sidney Chaplin is very good as Gato, half Indian, who is not trusted, because they don't know which side he is really on, as they are surrounded by Apaches. John Gavin, more famous for romantic parts, plays very well a tough guy.