Simply A Masterpiece

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's sort of an odd title for a Western, don't you think? Just "Gun Belt" - I get the idea but it sounds just a little off key. The picture's a little off key with it's characters too. The legendary lawman Wyatt Earp (James Millican) is a secondary character here, and other renowned names from the Tombstone Corral days are changed ever so slightly that just leave you scratching your head. Like Ike Clinton (William Bishop) for Ike Clanton, Jack Elam's Kolloway for Doc Holliday, and Matt Ringo (John Dehner) for Johnny Ringo. With a little research I might be able to come up with some more, but you get the idea.At the center of the story, hero Billy Ringo (George Montgomery) is framed for a bank robbery and the story involves a number of contortions with outlaws crossing and double crossing each other before Billy gets to clear his name. There's a third Ringo in the lineup as well, Billy's nephew Chip portrayed by a strangely unrecognizable Tab Hunter, even though he's not wearing a disguise or makeup to make him look any different. Maybe I just don't know Tab Hunter as well as I think I do, but I wouldn't have known who he was in this picture. At least the writers came up with that clever '3R' brand gimmick denoting 'Us Three Ringos'. That was creative.Oddly enough, I'm not finding some of these unknown older flicks on my usual standby Encore Westerns, but on cable station Antenna TV. Early Saturday and Sunday mornings around 5:00 AM is the place to be the last few weeks, so for now it looks like I'll keep tuning in. Last weekend it was the Durango Kid's turn in "Blazing Across the Pecos". No telling what might show up next week.

Well-drawn characters, a strong cast with familiar faces, some colorful dialogue, and plenty of action distinguish "Six-Gun Law" director Ray Nazarro's "Gun Belt" that stars a square-jawed George Montgomery, a handsome Tab Hunter, and a jaunty William Bishop. Of course, the Jack DeWitt & Richard Schayer screenplay, based on Arthur E. Orloff's story, rounds up all the usual clichés, but Nazarro's swiftly paced direction and a lean 77-minute running time compensate for the formulaic shenanigans. Western aficionados who prefer their horse operas seeded with exciting gunplay will enjoy this flavorful saga about reformed outlaws, treacherous villains, and a lively stagecoach hold-up involving a half-million bucks. The romance between Helen Westcott and leading man Montgomery doesn't interfere with melodramatic heroics Nazarro helmed over fifty cinematic sagebrushers as well as more than thirty western television episodes during his 35-year career in Hollywood.Billy Ringo (George Montgomery of "The Lone Gun") is struggling to go straight while he maintains a modest, little ranch by the seat of his pants. Billy is also endeavoring to serve as a responsible role model for his no-account brother's son, Chip Ringo (Tab Hunter of "Battle Cry"), who is both young and impressionable. Chip is surprised but pleased when his father, Matt Ringo (John Dehner of "The Left-Handed Gun"), shows up without prior notice at Billy's ranch. An amoral city-slicker, Douglas Frazer (Hugh Sanders of "Apache Rifles"), who runs a saloon, helped Matt break out of the Territorial Prison so he can stage a half-million dollar stagecoach robbery on the provision that Matt can persuade brother Billy to participate in the heist. Naturally, Billy prefers to follow the straight and narrow path that will culminate with his impending marriage with sweetheart Arlene Reach (Helen Westcott of "God's Little Acre"), but his conniving brother frames him for a bank robbery that puts him on the wrong side of the law."Gun Belt" is a rewarding little oater.

Former outlaw George Montgomery and his young nephew Tab Hunter are trying to make a go of ranching, but there are forces at work trying to bring Montgomery back into the outlaw trade. Like Don Corleone they keep dragging him back in. And they've even sweetened the pot somewhat by busting from prison his brother John Dehner to bring Montgomery in on a big Wells Fargo robbery planned by saloon owner Hugh Sanders.Now just why Montgomery was so badly needed in this caper we never really find out, but Sanders is a real piece of work, hiring two sets of outlaws to do the job hoping that the outlaws will kill each other off and him left with the loot.I have to say that I've rarely seen such double crossing among the cast in any film as I've seen in Gun Belt. With a little better writing this could have been a classic western. In fact with such worthies as Douglas Kennedy, William Bishop, and others in the cast who play some real nasty villains on the big screen, take your choice who will be king of the double crossers. In fact the only one Montgomery does trust is the girl he's planning to marry Helen Westcott. Even Hunter is a mixed up stupid kid who doesn't know who to trust. Gun Belt is a good western programmer with unrealized potential for greatness.

Those of us who love B westerns constantly come up with undiscovered gems from the 1950s. This isn't one of them. Gun Belt may be the least impressive of any Wyatt Earp western ever made, though in fact he's seen only in a supporting role, with a bit of historicity in that he's portrayed as deputy to his brother Virgil, which was actually the case. Nothing else about the film 'gets it right,' though - George Montgomery plays Billy (not John or Jim) Ringo, with Tab Hunter as his younger brother, "Kid Ringo." For reasons I can't imagine, they changed the name of Ike Clanton to Ike Clinton! If there's one interesting thing here, it's that some oft overlooked characters - Turkey Creek Jack Johnson,Curly Bill Brocious, and Texas Jack Vermillion - are on hand, the terrific TOMBSTONE the only other film to give them decent screen time. You may recognize the female lead, Helen Westcott, from the similarly titled Ringo movie GUNFIGHTER - though that was one of the greatest of all westerns. This one has corny dialogue, unbelievable plotting, and weak acting, particularly by Hunter, who couldn't deliver a line competently if the survival of the world depended on it. Even the vistas don't look so bright. Here's one that even die-hard western buffs can skip.