FILM REVIEW OF ''BABY DRIVER" (2017)

The trailer that first advertised British writer & director Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” made it look like a Young Adult knock-off of French producer Luc Beeson’s “Transporter” franchise with rugged, austere Jason Statham.  Fortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth.  Indeed, the films both deal with elusive getaway car drivers. Despite their apparent resemblance, these movies share little in common except for their automotive audacity.  Comparatively, “Baby Driver” is nothing like Wright’s earlier comic trilogy “Shaun of the Dead” (2994), “Hot Fuzz” (2007), and “The World’s End” (2013).  Two of those movies dealt with supernatural creatures, while “Hot Fuzz” constituted a police parody.  Furthermore, “Baby Driver” is nothing like Wright’s other unconventional outing “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” (2010).  Indeed, Wright performs a 180 with “Baby Driver” (*** OUT OF ****), a straightforward, white-knuckled, R-rated, crime thriller about blood, death, and consequences.  Meantime, unlike the usual bombastic summer release, “Baby Driver” isn’t an outlandish escapade.  Instead, it is a superbly staged, adrenalin-laced actioneer which rarely pulls its punches.  The first three-fourths of this Atlanta-lensed saga is top-notch, while the final fourth marks time with the hero’s atonement for his crimes.  Another thing that differentiates “Baby Driver” from most summer movies is it is neither a blockbuster prequel nor a sequel.  Nobody gives a bad performance.  Indeed, Wright surrounds his handsome, earnest, young leading man, Ansel Elgort of “Divergent,” with a robust cast, featuring Jamie Fox, Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal, and Kevin Spacey.  Jamie Fox and Jon Hamm are unforgettable as a pair of unhinged hoodlums who abhor each other, while Kevin Spacey towers above both as the wily mastermind of all the film’s crimes.  Clearly, something about Edgar Wright’s tale of mayhem and murder appealed to these Hollywood veterans, and they indulge in being both evil and obnoxious.  Honorable mention goes to behind-the-scenes veteran stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott of “John Wick” fame as well as the hundred or more precision drivers, riggers, camera bike riders, and stunt doubles who helped him orchestrate several harrowing but realistic driving sequences that never turn into the bizarre tomfooleries of the “Transporter” movies.  Hey, I loved the “Transporter” movies, but “Baby Driver” strives to keep things realistic.

Baby (Ansel Elgort of “The Fault in Our Stars”) is a fearless, young hellion with a taste of tunes and reckless driving that converge once he takes the wheel of any vehicle.  He survived a traumatic childhood after his contentious mother and father slammed their car into the rear of a tractor-trailer and died.  Baby escaped grievous bodily harm.  Nevertheless, he carries a couple of token scars on above an eyebrow and across his cheek. Wright sketches in Baby’s background when he doesn’t replay the scene of the accident that killed his parents.  Meantime, he spent his teen years stealing cars and keeping the Atlanta Police in his rearview mirror.  At the same time, he became a wizard with recording music in any format and grooves to his iPod whenever he careens around town to drown out “the hum in his drum” caused by tinnitus.  Writer & director Edgar Wright provides us with a protagonist both sympathetic and charming.  Baby doesn’t brag, he just drives, and when he holds onto the wheel, he can go anywhere--if there is anywhere to go.  Literally, he can thread the eye of a needle in his stick-shift cars, and he can escape from predicaments that seem well-nigh impossible. 

Initially, we see Baby drive the getaway car after a bank robbery, and he leads the Atlanta Police on a spectacular chase.  Afterward, while the well-tailored criminal mastermind, Doc (Kevin Spacey of “The Usual Suspects”), is dividing up the loot, one of the robbers, Griff (Jon Bernthal of “The Accountant”), minimizes Baby’s role in the hold-up.  Griff warns Baby that one way or another Baby will wind up with blood on his hands.  We learn from Wright’s fast-paced, expository dialogue that Doc discovered Baby because he stole Doc’s Mercedes.  Since that incident, Doc has used Baby as his wheel-man.  Moreover, Doc keeps him on his payroll so the energetic rapscallion can pay off his debt to him.  Basically, “Baby Driver” boils down to a morality yarn about a young thief who doesn’t want to see anybody die during the commission of a crime.  Unlike the rest of the characters in “Baby Driver,” Baby is the only one with a shred of decency. 

The sobering but exasperating thing about Baby is that he doesn’t elude the long arm of the law every time and that makes him more believable and vulnerable.  Fortunately, few of Baby’s asphalt antics are so impractical that they could be considered preposterous.  After an exhilarating opening sequence where our hero delivers Doc’s accomplices without a scratch, Baby embarks on an odyssey that alters his life.  Primarily, Baby falls in love with a cute, young waitress at a 24-hour diner where he likes to drink java.  Debora (Lily James of “Cinderella”) walks into Baby’s life and she turns him every which way but loose.  Once he has repaid Doc for everything that he took from him when he stole his car, Baby plans to quit crime.  In fact, he is on the straight and narrow and delivering orders for Goodfellas Pizza when Doc crosses his path again and convinces him to come back and drive for him.

“Baby Driver” boasts some of the best, high-speed driving sequences since the crime thriller “Drive” (2011) with Ryan Gosling.  The thieves conspiring with Doc are a cynical, ruthless bunch who would prefer to exit in a blaze of gunfire than submit meekly to the rehabilitative options of the criminal justice system.  Wright ramps up all this anarchy with a dynamic but diverse variety of tunes that Baby listens to according to the occasion.  The hit songs in “Baby Driver” are reminiscent of those in the two “Guardians of the Galaxy” sci-fi space operas.  Consequently, Ansel Elgort should be on the road to superstardom, because nothing about “Baby Driver” is infantile.

FILM REVIEW ON ''VENGEANCE VALLEY'' (1951)

"Desperate Courage" director Richard Thorpe’s adult-themed western “Vengeance Valley” (*** out ****) concerns life on a cattle ranch and the conflict between two men.  This isn’t a trigger-happy gunslinger shoot’em up.  Virtually every character in this tautly-made 83-minute melodrama is involved in either the cattle business or clashes with the cowboys themselves. The characters in Irving Ravetch’s screenplay, based on Luke Short’s novel, emerge as either completely good or really evil. Meanwhile, Thorpe stages this steer opera against striking, snow-swept scenery, and Robert Walker’s villain is a truly treacherous dastard.  He is prepared to swindle his father out of money and land and kill the man who has shown him everything that he knows about ranching.  Furthermore, he has no qualms about having unshielded sex with single women.  In his first and only MGM production, Burt Lancaster delivers a strong performance as the stalwart hero.  "Vengeance Valley" was Lancaster's first time in the saddle, and he looks comfortable astride a horse. Tough-guy John Ireland is a gunman searching for trouble.  Interestingly, co-stars John Ireland and Joanne Dru were reunited on this trail herd western after starring in director Howard Hawks’ seminal cattle drive western. 

This 'Cain versus Abel' film unfolds with the following narration from the perspective of Hewie, one of the cowhands: “I got a story to tell - a yarn about cow country, cow punchers and men. I was workin' for the Strobie Ranch, a trade of worn leather and saddle blisters and brandin' irons. A trade with some song, some fun and some luck. It was as good a job as a man could ask for. Lonely sometimes and cold - so much distance you'd have thought you'd never get back - but for me, a young kid, it was a fine time. Memories are mostly good. You're up on top of the world where the air is clean and thin - the only sound is the wind in the pines. When Colorado ranch foreman Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster of “Brute Force”) and foster brother Lee Strobie (Robert Walker of “Strangers on a Train”) ride back into town from watching over Arch Strobie’s cattle in the winter, they run into the local doctor at the saloon.  The doctor tells them that an unmarried woman Lily Fasken (Sally Forrest of “Mystery Street”) has had a baby boy. Actually, Lee had an affair with Lily, a former restaurant waitress, but he wants nobody to know about it, particularly his new wife. Owen visits Lily's house on behalf of Lee and brings $500 as well as a bag of provisions.  Later, Lee tells his father he lost the money playing poker.  Not only does Owen find Lee's wife Jen (Joanne Dru of “Red River”) at Lily’s place but also Lily’s pugnacious rifle-toting brother Dick (Hugh O’Brien of “The Shootist”) who is itching to plug the gent who got Lily pregnant.  Dick wants to know the identity of the father, but Owen refers him to Lily.  Dick believes Owen is the dad, but Jen tells him to leave Own alone.   

Later, Dick confronts Owen at the saloon.  Sheriff Con Alvis (Jim Hayward of “Bitter Creek”) gets the drop on Dick.  Owen warns Dick, “You scared me twice tonight. Next time you point a gun at me, shoot it.”   Owen and Lee ride back to the Strobie ranch and confer with Lee’s invalid father, Arch (Ray Collins of “Citizen Kane”), who is elated to see the two men.  Lee leaves them alone to see his wife Jen.  After Lee’s departure, Owen threatens to leave and start out on his own. Arch persuades Owen to stay. During their conversation, we learn that Arch befriended Owen about 15 years ago. Arch has relied on Owen to train Lee to take over operation of the ranch.  Moreover, Arch has relied on Owen to help him.

About a week later, Sheriff Alvis watches as Dick’s brother Hub Fasken (John Ireland of “River River”) gets off the train at the depot.  Hub informs Alvis he has come to kill a man.  A widow woman, Mrs. Burke (Grayce Mills of “Harvey”), takes Lily in to work at her small ranch.  Hub checks in with his younger sister, but she tells him that she doesn't need him. "We're this kind of family," Hub reminds her. "We don't waste any love on each other. We've fought amongst ourselves.  We've even shot at each other.  We got one tie.  You're blood relations."  Not long afterward, Owen and Hewie (Carleton Carpenter of “Summer Stock”) show up at Mrs. Burke's place to round up her cattle for the big drive. Meantime, Dick and Hub get the drop on Hewie, and catch Owen when he leaves the house. Hub and Owen swap blows, but Mrs. Burke intervenes with her shotgun.  The next time Owen sees Dick and Hub, the two are sweating it out in the hoosegow.  Eventually, Jen discovers in a round-about way that Lee is the father of Lily’s baby boy.  This kind of infidelity had to be treated with caution in the 1950s because it was still consider unsavory subject matter by the Production Code Administration.  Indeed, the doctor in the saloon refused to deliver the baby because the father wasn’t present. When Lee confronts Jen about the affair, he finds her nursing a battered Owen who has just slugged it out with Hub. Like Owen, Jen is prepared to leave the Strobie ranch, but Owen dissuades her. 

Owen warns Lee about Dick and Hub. He suggests Lee vamoose with Jen, but Lee insists Owen simply wants the entire ranch for himself.  The bad blood between the two men only worsens.  Lee persuades his father he can handle the ranch and asks to be half-owner.  An overjoyed Arch agrees.  Nevertheless, he mentions that he plans to let Owen have the other half after his death. Hewie informs Owen and Lee that somebody has stolen some of their cattle and horses.  The trail leads them to Herb Backett's place.  Naturally, Backett (Ted de Corsia of “The Killing”) lies that he knows nothing about rustled cattle. Owen beats the truth out of him, during a brief but bloody fight.  Lee tries to smooth over the fracas with Backett.  He agrees to buy back the cattle. Secretly, Lee is concocting a plan to kill Owen and he uses Backett.  Once again Lee accuses Owen of cheating on him with Jen, but he recants those words before the big cattle drive.  Lee makes friends with Backett because he needs him to help him.  He wants Backett to provide Dick and Hub with the necessary authorization to join the big drive without Owen finding out anything. 

Later, Lee sells his father’s herd of 3000 head to a Texas cattleman, Dave Allard (Glen Strange of “House of Dracula”), and this move surprises Owen. As it turns out, Owen suspects that Lee is determined to cheat his father out of money.  After the two herds are merged, Hewie warns Owen that the Fashen brothers are among Lee's crew.  Lee changes his mind about the sale to Allard and requests that Owen accompany him so he can inform Allard that the deal is off.  What Lee plans to do is set up Owen so the Fashen can ambush Owen.  They bushwack Oren, but help arrives not long after the villains Owen pinned down with rifle fire. Hewie forms a posse after they hear rifle fire.  Owen suffer from a nick on the sleeve.  Hewie and the others thunder onto the scene and blast the two brothers. Owen pursues Lee on horseback. Lee’s horse caves in under him and he tumbles into the river.  Owen challenges Lee to draw.  Owen is faster and kills Lee. When he returns to the ranch, Owen explains to Arch what happened, but Arch already knew what Lee was worthless. When Arch wants to tell Jen, Owen intervenes and says he wants will break the news to Jen himself.

“Vengeance Valley” is a sturdy, atmospheric western with Lancaster as the hero and Walker as a slimy villain.

FILM REVIEW OF "FOUR FAST GUNS" (1960)

The title of “Four Fast Guns” (*** out of ****) refers to the hero’s expertise with a six-shooter as well as the three pistoleros hired to kill him. “Hell Bound” director William J. Hole Jr.’s western melodrama “Four Fast Guns” qualifies as a low-budget but above-average ‘town tamer’ sagebrusher with a good cast, compelling characters, and several surprises. This black and white, 72-minute oater reminded me of the Wayne Morris B-western “Two Guns and A Badge.” In “Two Guns and A Badge,” Morris is appointed as the deputy marshal of a lawless town. In reality, he isn’t the man that the townspeople were supposed to have as deputy marshal. Similarly, “Four Fast Guns” protagonist Tom Sabin (James Craig of “Drums in the Deep South”) has been run out of Kansas by the hired gunman, Haggerty, who was paid to clean up the territory. The obnoxious ‘town tamer’ encounters Sabin along the trail. Haggerty warns Sabin to steer clear of Purgatory where his next job is. Sabin ignores him so Haggerty goads Sabin into a gunfight. Indeed, Haggerty gets the first shot and wings Sabin’s right arm between the shoulder and the bicep and then demands that Sabin show him the palm of his hand. Presumably, Haggerty intends to put a bullet through Sabin’s hand and end his days as a gunfighter. Haggerty has his own gun drawn when Sabin surprises him and drops him with one shot.

Sabin rides into the town of Purgatory. Inscribed on an archway that welcomes visitors are the words: Purgatory: When you ride into Purgatory, “Say goodbye to God.” The citizens have never laid eyes on Haggerty. When Sabin shows up, they ask him if he is the ‘town tamer?’ Like the Wayne Morris hero in “Two Guns and a Badge,” Sabin tells them that the ‘town tamer’ Haggerty sent him to Purgatory all the way from Kansas. At first, Sabin isn’t altogether certain that he wants to maintain this masquerade. They citizens offer him $500 for the job. When somebody suggests that Sabin may be afraid, Sabin accepts the job. The townspeople want to see the owner of The Babylon Saloon, Hoag (Paul Richards of “The St. Valentine's Day Massacre”), run out of town since he controls all of the killing, rustling and gambling in the area. Sabin and the citizens strike a compromise. They will try him out and pay him after he cleans up Purgatory. When they want to know who to send the $500 to, Sabin gives them the Santa Fe address of the widow of Jay Cassavedas. Later, when Sabin prowls around the marshal’s office, he spots a wanted poster of himself on the wall. He is wanted for the killing of Jay Cassavedas.

Hoag indulges himself in a hobby of importing works of art as well as minions of evil. The first work of art is a small replica of Venus De Milo. Ironically, Hoag is an invalid confined to a wheelchair. He spends his time playing the piano in his bar. Later, Hoag’s pretty wife, Mary Hoag (Martha Vickers of “The Big Sleep”), explains that they were on the stagecoach for Wichita to get hitched when the vehicle wrecked and broke her husband’s back. Nevertheless, Hoag is a power neither to be taken lightly nor ignored. Hoag is as cold-blooded as they come, and he antes up a thousand dollars to see Sabin lying dead in the dust. Hoag sends one of his henchmen, Grady, over to kill the sheriff after their first meeting, but Sabin kills Grady. As each gunslinger botches the job, Hoag increases his offer, until the third gunslinger, Johnny Naco, arrives and takes the three grand to kill Sabin. Hoag never really ventures beyond the premises of the Babylon and he emphasizes his sophistication when he quotes a poem to Sabin when the 'town tamer' visits him in his office. Cleverly, the scenarists have Hoag quoting a passage from the Robert Herrick poem "To Virgins, to Make Much of Time": "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may/Old Time is still a-flying;/And this same flower that smiles today,/Tomorrow will be dying."

No sooner has Sabin arrived in Purgatory than Hoag dispatches a gunman to kill him. Sabin is in the marshal’s office when his would-be assassin enters and tries to kill him. Predictably, Sabin survives this fracas, but the twists are what distinguish this western. He has to contend with three gunslingers before he cleans up Purgatory and rides away to Tombstone. Along the way, Sabin makes a rather good friend of the alcoholic living in the abandoned marshal’s office, Dipper (Edgar Buchanan of “Texas”), who wears a small cup around his neck with which he uses to drink his whiskey. Despite his drinking, Dipper is a lot smarter than most people take him. Essentially, Dipper serves as the quasi-narrator of sort. Although he isn’t seen until later in the action, Dipper provides narration at the outset. “This man came along the trail one Sunday morning back in ’73 talking it slow and easy keeping his open and his gun hand ready. Came from nowhere I guess. Anyhow, he never said from where and we never asked. He was going to stop off in Purgatory, make his stand, like he lived alone. This is number one. He called himself Sabin.” The number one in the narration refers to the first of the “Four Fast Guns.”

Dipper becomes Sabin’s greatest ally. Not only does Dipper serve as the film’s narrator, but also he is chief source of comic relief. Hoag’s wife is another interesting character. She stands by her husband, but her sentiments toward Sabin change over time. Ultimately, she grows attached to Sabin, but she refuses to end her marriage to Hoag. The second time that Sabin visits the Babylon, Hoag tries to convince him to leave town. He shows him three letters that he intends to send to three gunslingers that he will pay to kill Sabin. Hoag suggests Sabin tear up the letters, but Sabin refuses to violate a federal law pertaining to the sanctity of the U.S. mail. Ironically, Sabin winds up mailing Hoag’s letters, letters to men who will come to kill him. The three gunslingers are worthy of note, particularly the Brett Halsey character.

The first of them is a Mexican named Quijano. Quijano (Richard Martin of “Bombardier”) catches his girlfriend in the bath tub and asks her to translate Hoag’s letter. Quijano rides to Purgatory. Along the way, he asks for directions and the settlers warn him to ride clear of Iron Town. Marshal Becker of Iron Town is pretty quick with a pistol. Quijano shoots the lawman on the trail, but he loses his lucky charm, a necklace with a cross. Later, Mary tries to bride Quijano out of killing Sabin, but he refuses her offer. He had been whipped into submission like a dog by a ‘town tamer’ and hates them. Quijano slaps leather with Sabin in the Babylon and Sabin blows a hole in the Mexican. After he drops Quijano, Sabin gets a lecture from Mary Hoag. “You’ll be destroyed by a man without a gun. A man you can’t shoot because he can’t stand up to you in the only kind of fight you understand—a gunfight.” Actually, “A Day of Fury” scenarist James Edmiston and “When the Clock Strikes” scribe Dallas Gaultois provide a lot of foreshadowing in Mary’s speech because “Four Fast Guns” concerns honor. Sabin’s sense of honor compelled him to take up the townspeople on their offer. Similarly, a sense of honor prevents him from simply shooting Hoag while the villain plays his piano.

The second of the three is the laconic Farmer Brown (Blu Wright of "Squad Car")and he has cultivated a reputation for being a fast draw and an accurate shot. He proves his accuracy when he blows a coin out of a stable boy's hand. The Farmer never carried a gun until he was shot in the face. Now, he totes one and he has the personality of an ogre. He tries to shoot Sabin from under table as they are playing poker. Sabin outsmarts him. He pulls out his revolver and cocks it as soon as he sits down so the weapon is on his thigh within easy reach. Since the outcome to this duel is such a foregone conclusion, director William J. Hole Jr., doesn’t even show us how it happened. This strategy occurred in an earlier scene when Grady the gunslinger entered the jail, while Hole keeps the viewer outside with the camera. The gunfire is audible and then the gunslinger stumbles outside and falls dead on the street.

The third of the three, Johnny Naco (Brett Halsey of "Roy Colt and Winchester Jack"), trails the Farmer into Purgatory. Johnny is dressed like a classic villain from Stetson to boots in black. He is a ladies man and has the utmost confidence in his ability to out draw everybody else. Mary tries to distract him initially from his showdown with Sabin in the saloon. Naco clears the bar and waits for Sabin to enter. The tension mounts as Sabin walks into the bar. The director shows close-up shots of their opposing faces. They appear to know each other. One of the major surprises in “Four Fast Guns” occurs at this point and everything afterward clashes with the typical ‘town tamer’ western. Finally, as the tension melts between them but nobody shucks iron. Sabin turns and walks out of the Babylon. This is the last thing that you expect out of this western with eighteen minutes left to go. The townspeople are surprised and the one who constantly derides Sabin makes a wisecrack, while Naco hands Hoag back his $3-thousand. "I'll kill the man, but it's going to be a little more difficult than I figured." When Hoag demands to know why Naco didn't draw on Sabin, Naco tells him that Sabin is his brother! Naco also informs Mary that Sabin and he are brothers. They relocate to the church that hasn't been used because Purgatory has no preacher. Earlier, a woman told the townspeople taking up a collection for the 'town tamer' that she thought they needed a minister instead of a gunslinger. In the church, Naco explains that Sabin and he had trouble with a man called Cassavedas. Naco shot Cassavedas, but Sabin took responsibility for what Naco had done.

“Ambush at Cimarron Pass” lenser John M. Nickolaus Jr.’s black & white, widescreen cinematography is an asset. Nickolaus shoots this low-budget western as if it were a big-budget opus. He set-ups his cameras in the best possible positions and his pictorial composition is virtually flawless. For example, the Farmer Brown scene in the Babylon opens with a medium long shot of the legs of the gamblers under the table. Using the frame of the chair that Sabin will occupy, Nickolaus shows us Farmer Brown's lap with his gun on his thigh. You can tell that the Production Code censors had mellowed by 1960 because we get a glimpse of a Mexican girl's buttock and Dipper goes to sleep with a picture of a scantily-clad woman on the wall. The Code may have objected to Dipper's picture on the basis that it implies that the old drunk will have a 'wet dream.' The performances are good. James Craig is appropriately tight-lipped and honor-bound. He doesn’t look very appealing without his usual mustache. Martha Vickers, who plays Hoag’s wife, is very good. She might have become a well-known actress if she had stuck to playing bad girl roles in the late 1940s. Good movies contain surprises which usually enliven the narrative. The surprise ending caps this corker. “Four Fast Guns” never wears out its welcome.

FILM REVIEW OF "LAW AND ORDER" (1953)

Future U.S. President Ronald Reagan plays a no-nonsense, tough-as-leather peace officer in former art director Nathan Juran's third film as a director, "Law and Order" (*** out of ****), based on "High Sierra" writer W.R. Burnett's novel "Saint Johnson." "Interlude" scribe Inez Cocke adapted Burnett's novel and John and Gwen Bagni along with D.D. Beauchamp fashioned the formula screenplay that espouses status quo 'law and order' values. In other words, "Law and Order" is a good Republican western. Comparisons between Reagan's protagonist, Frame Johnson, and the legendary Wyatt Earp are inevitable. Like Wyatt Earp, Frame Johnson has acquired a reputation as a fearless, invincible lawman. Just as inevitably, the time comes for the dedicated lawman to shed the badge and settle down. Foolishly, Frame struggles to do that very thing because he has grown tired of being a "hired killer" with a badge. Nevertheless, trouble always seems to reach out and ruin him. Dorothy Malone is cast as his pretty leading lady and she knows how to wear lipstick. Interestingly enough, she owns a saloon bar and deals cards. At one point, a prospective buyer observes that running a saloon is not job for a woman. Back in 1953 as well as the time period of this western, which is set in 1882, this opinion wouldn't seem out of place. Today, it brims with sexism. Nevertheless, the Malone character informs the buyer that her father left her the saloon. After all, she observes, she can neither teach nor sew, so what option was left to her?

Sharp-shooting Sheriff Frame Johnson (Ronald Reagan of "Desperate Journey") pursues the Durango Kid (Wally Cassell of "Salute to the Marines") on horseback across a broiling desert as this durable, 80-minute, full frame, Technicolor oater opens. Frame catches up with the Kid when the outlaw has his hands off his six-gun and wrapped around his canteen. Frame blasts the canteen out of Durango's hands and two struggle in a brief fistfight before Frame claps on the handicuffs. Back in Tombstone, Frame thwarts the locals from lynching Durango. Things look rather tough for Frame because his youngest brother, Jimmy Johnson (Russell Johnson of TV's "Gilligan's Island"), is among them. Frame wounds one man to discourage the lynch mob and orders Jimmy inside. Frame informs his other brother, Luther 'Lute' Johnson (Alex Nicol of "The Red Ball Express"), that they are leaving town. Afterward, he tells his girlfriend, Jeanie (Oscar winner Dorothy Malone of "Written on the Wind"), that he has turned in his marshal's badge and is heading for Cottonwood to settle on a ranch. She wants to join him, but Frame suggests that she stick around Tombstone until he has the ranch fixed up.

No sooner than Frame, Lute, Jimmy, and their undertaker pal, Denver Cahoon (Chubby Johnson of "Sam Whiskey") have arrived in Cottonwood than they encounter trouble in the person of town boss, Kurt Durling (Preston Foster of "Kansas City Confidential"), who remembers Frame with considerable animosity from Abilene. Frame shot Durling in the hand and the wound turned Durling's right hand into useless flesh. Durling and his clan were cattle rustlers. Since Abilene, Durling and his two sons, Frank (Dennis Weaver of TV's "Gunsmoke") and Bart (Don Gordon of "Bullitt"), have moved to Cottonwood where he runs the town with the help of a no-account sheriff, Fin Elder (Barry Kelly of "Buchanan Rides Alone"), and his word is law. Burt opposes Frame briefly at the saloon/hotel when he tries to kill Johnny Benton (Don Garner of "FBI Girl") and Frame prevents him. Later, Bart dies after Johnny kills him. Frame protects Johnny from Frank and his gun hands. Judge Williams represents the town fathers and he implores Frame to pin on the badge. Frame refuses to serve as their sheriff, and his opinion doesn't change when his brothers and he discover the hanged body of Johnny Benton on the trail. Although Frame doesn't accept the offer as sheriff, Lute steps forward to take on those duties.

The devious Durlings make sure that Lute is out on wild goose chases while they conduct business as usual. Meaning, the Durlings are rustling cattle in one spot while Lute investigates something else. Eventually, one of the town fathers, Dixon (Thomas Browne Henry of "Hoodlum Empire") observes, "While you're chasing rainbows, they're rustling cattle." Judge Williams (Richard Garrick of "Riding Shotgun") defends Lute. He points out that the Durlings try "to confuse you, run you ragged an send off in every direction." Lute seeks Frame's help, but Frame turns him down. Frame and Denver are trying to finish the repairs on the ranch before Jeanie shows up. One evening, Lute restrains a drunken cowboy, Jed (Jack Kelly of TV's "Maverick"), from blasting the lights out of a chandelier. Lute disarms Jed, but Frank prods him into a duel. Just as Lute lets Frank draw, Kurt knocks over a chair at his table. The falling chair distracts Lute and Frank nails him in the stomach. Lute doesn't die before Frame rides into town. "I'm sorry, Frame," Lute mutters before he dies, "I guess I just wasn't as good as you." Later, Jimmy gets plastered in the bar and sets out to kill Frank. Denver smashes a whiskey bottle over Jimmy's head and Frame locks him up to cool off.

Frame dictates the terms of his employment as sheriff. He demands that Judge Williams and the town fathers pass an ordinance making it illegal to tote firearms in the city limits. Predictably, Dixon is appalled at such a request. "No guns? We'll be the laughing stock of the west." Later, he says with resignation in his voice. "I just hope we haven't legalized murder." Word of Sheriff Johnson's death reaches Jeanie and she thinks that Frame has bitten the dust. A gambler in her saloon informs her that Lute took the bullet, but Frame has stepped into his boots. Jeanie sells the saloon and heads to Cottonwood to be with Frame. "You're big, ugly, and stupid," she describes Frame, "but I love you." Originally, Jeanie had sworn to not marry Frame because she feared that he would die in the line of duty. She has changed her mind, however, and now supports Frame completely. Matters grow complicated when Jimmy spots Frank's sister one day while he is riding fence. They fall in love and Frank warns him to stay away from his sister. Eventually, Frank catches Jimmy with Maria ( Ruth Hampton of "# Abbott and Costello Go to Mars") and they shoot it out. Kurt, Sheriff Elder and Jed witness the shooting and claim that Jimmy committed murder. Frame arrests Jimmy when he shows up at Frame's ranch and tells him about the gunfight. Frame locks Jimmy up, but Jed releases him after he clobbers Denver unconscious. Kurt Durling is hoping that Jimmy's jailbreak will compel Judge Williams to take Frame's badge.

The only weakness of "Law and Order" is the Preston Foster villain. Indeed, he is slimy and unsympathetic, but he never actually kills anybody in cold blood. He leaves the killings to his two lame-brained, hot-tempered brothers who he constantly berates for not using their heads. The knock-down, drag-out fistfight between the villain and the hero on the Cottonwood main street ranks as a pretty vigorous affair. At least twice the chief villain tries to kill Frame with a pitchfork and an axe. In both cases, the implements that Foster wields actually do stick into or chop the wood

FILM REVIEW OF ''PAYMENT IN BLOOD'' (ITALIAN-1967)

“Payment in Blood” qualifies as a violent, above-average Spaghetti western shoot’em up with a high body count. Like director Sergio Leone’s bigger budgeted “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” the lower budgeted “Payment in Blood” (**1/2 out of ****) concerns the quest for buried treasure. The outlaw villains embark on a search for a fabled fortune, approximately $200-thousand, stashed at an undisclosed location by Confederate General Beauregard. Of course, anybody who knows anything about Civil War history knows Beauregard had no such loot. Typically, most westerns that appropriate this plot attribute the lost Confederate gold to President Jefferson Davis. Ironically, during the opening credits sequence, which contains a montage of Civil War photographs, Beauregard’s portrait is conspicuous by its absence, while pictures of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant proliferate. The protagonist, Stuart (Edd Byrnes), has a grudge to settle with the head villain (Guy Madison) and his gang of bloodthirsty gunmen.

Primarily known overseas as “Seven Winchesters for a Massacre,” “Payment in Blood” was writer & director Enzo G. Castellari’s third western. Castellari’s first western as a director was "Few Dollars for Django" for which he received no credit, and “Any Gun Can Play” was his second oater, with a bigger, better cast. “Payment in Blood” isn’t as good as either “Any Gun Can Play” or a later Castellari Civil War western “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone” with Chuck Connors. Long-time screenwriting collaborator Tito Carpi of "Few Dollars for Django" and "Bullets and the Flesh" scribe Marino Girolami penned the formulaic plot with Castellari for “Payment in Blood.” The difference between “Payment in Blood” and “Any Gun Can Play” is the latter is more elaborate than the former. “Payment in Blood” amounts to a rather contrived western that uses the venerable plot about an individual who goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of homicidal criminals and thwart them. The dialogue is neither as amusing as “Any Gun Can Play,” but “Payment in Blood” boasts a surprise ending. Although it seems like scores of men wind up with bullet holes during the numerous shoot-outs, “Payment in Blood” lacks the titular element that became such a fixture in later westerns like “The Wild Bunch.”

The action takes place in Texas in 1867 after the conclusion of the American Civil War. A renegade Confederate officer, Colonel Thomas Blake (Guy Madison of “Drums in the Deep South”), refuses to give up the cause. During the opening moments of “Payment in Blood,” writer & director Enzo G. Castellari introduces us to not only the pugnacious Blake but also the hellspawn riding with him. Included in this notorious gang are Chamaco Gonzales (Ennio Girolami of "The Hellbenders"), knife-throwing Rios (Aysanoa Runachagua of “El Cisco”), Fred Calhoun (Federico Boido of "Planet of the Vampires"), bullwhip wielding Zeb Russel , and Mesa Alvarez (Attilio Severini of “Massacre at Grand Canyon”) who likes to kill with his spurs. Blake and his marauders carry out indiscriminate raids. They steal horses, loot homes; kill men, women and children without a qualm. Nameless supporting players standing around wanted posters of Blake’s men impart most of this information when they aren’t complaining about Blake’s depredations. The reward on Blake’s head has risen to $5-thousand. Chamaco rides into a town one day and eavesdrops on a conversation between a crippled, former Confederate soldier and a cowboy. “What can you expect from a rotten war like ours? Brother against brother. When you teach a man it’s right to kill, how can you unteach him?” The other man observes about Blake’s killers: “They have learned to like being heroes. They’ve learned to like killing.” Chamaco confronts the crippled Southerner, Jeremy, because the latter had ridden with General Beauregard and may know the location of the lost treasure. Before he can learn anything from Jeremy, Chamaco has to kill him. A military tribunal sentences Chamaco to die in front of an army firing squad. Stuart surprises the military and rescues Chamaco just as the soldiers are about to execute him. You see, Stuart is driving a covered wagon past the firing squad when he delivers his ultimatum to the army. He shoots the tip off the officer’s sword and several Winchester rifles spring out from the wagon, suggesting that several riflemen are aiming those repeaters. As it turns out, nobody has their shoulders against these long guns, and Stuart has packed a crate of dynamite in the wagon bed so when one of the soldiers opens fire on the vehicle, the wagon vanishes in an explosion.

Chamaco takes Stuart to Blake’s camp after they sneak across the Rio Grande. The place is like a natural fortress and Blake has a Gatling gun covering the entrance. Chamaco and Stuart pass inspection by the various sentries. It seems that Stuart rode with Beauregard, too, and served as one of the general’s chiefs of staff. The scenes where Stuart meets each of Blake’s gang and matches them at their own expertise are entertaining. The filming and editing of Zeb snatching the revolver out of Stuart’s holster with a bullwhip is exciting. Interesting, Mesa doesn’t perform one of his trademark flips using his spurs as deadly weapons. Each of Blake’s men has something distinctive about them from their look, heritage, and choice of weapon. After he arrives in Blake’s camp, Stuart refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the loot to the cunning colonel. Instead, Blake and his men leave the sanctuary of Mexico, cross the Rio Grande again, but with inevitable bloodshed, and ride into Texas. Along the way, they run into their first surprise and her name is Manuela (Luisa Baratto of “"Bloody Pit of Horror"). She keeps them pinned down with gunfire in one scene before they get the better of her. Feisty women are not a convention of the Spaghetti western. Before Blake’s men do anything else, they orchestrate the massacre of all the men in Durango. Castellari does a good job of staging this massive gundown. What makes the gunfight memorable is that one of Blake's men bites the dust. Eventually, Stuart does reveal the location, but only after Blake has turned his men loose on him and beaten Stuart to the point of unconsciousness. Stuart mutters the words ‘White Eagle’ and they set fire to the room and leave Stuart to burn alive. Blake’s men find a strong box buried in an Indian cemetery. Blake’s men are poised to take the loot when their commander kills Zeb for insubordination. When they finally open the strong box, Blake and his men are disgusted to learn that the $200-thousand was in worthless Confederate bank notes. Meantime, the survivors of the Durango come after Blake for killing their husbands.

Edd Byrnes appears out of place with his clean-shaven features among a cast who sport some form of facial hair. The off-beat casting of heroic Guy Madison as the murderous, tight-lipped villain isn’t as delectable as Henry Fonda’s dastardly turn in “Once Upon a Time in the West,” but it represents a considerable change of pace for Madison. The first time that we see Madison as Colonel Blake, Blake rides out of a cloud of gunfire in a town that his men and he are shooting up. Blake’s favorite words are “kill them.” As savage as this western strives to be with its high body count, there are moments such as when Blake’s men tickle their prisoner’s feet with a feather that really stand out in this above-average oater. "Few Dollars for Django" lenser Aldo Pinelli creates several interesting shots of riders-on-the-skyline with his widescreen, color cinematography. Composer Francesco De Masi provides a charismatic orchestral score that perks up this western. Once you’ve heard De Masi’s flavorful score, you won’t forget it.

You need to get the Wild East DVD copy of this movie, because all other copies are going to be defective.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE BOOK OF ELI'' (2010)

Denzel Washington appears to be poaching on Will Smith territory in this post-apocalyptic yawner about a peripatetic loner hoofing his way westward through a vast wasteland on a special mission. This is the kind of high-octane, futuristic thriller that Will Smith makes. Indeed, we haven’t seen Denzel as trigger-happy as this since “Training Day.” Sure, Denzel is the hero, but he also kills with extreme prejudice. “Menace II Society” co-directors Albert & Allen Hughes make their monosyllabic hero humble enough to elicit our sympathy but skilled enough in close-quarters combat, like Steven Seagal caught between a rock and a hard place, to vanquish the villains without flinching. The problem with “The Book of Eli” (** our of ****)is it takes itself far too seriously so it is no fun. Humor is strictly peripheral. The Brothers Hughes and freshman scenarist Gary Whitta have not made a post-apocalyptic thriller in the tradition of the “Mad Max” movies. Mind you, “Eli” and “Max” were similar in that each occurred in arid terrain and both heroes survived outside of society. The villain that Denzel squares off against simply lacks audacity. Instead, the filmmakers appear to be channeling Randolph Scott and the westerns that he starred in for director Budd Boetticher in the 1950s. Usually, these oaters found Scott taking time off from the trail to tangle with his adversaries. As for our hero, Denzel tangles with the boys, but he wants nothing to do with girls. He struggles to mind his own business. Good post-apocalyptic thrillers are typically outlandish, over-the-top actioneers. The violence is brief and bloody, but Denzel doesn’t dispatch his opponents with a clever line. Despite its R rating, “The Book of Eli” eschews both nudity and sexuality.

The world lies in ruins after a nuclear war has devastated the planet. Two kinds of people exist in the aftermath: those who can read and those who cannot read. Eli--as we learn when we see his name tag in his bag--seems virtually indestructible. Hideously evil bad guys surround him, but he puts them down with the Seagal-like efficiency. He doesn't spare the knife nor spoil his vicious adversaries. Basically, Eli prefers to mind his own business, leave others alone, and keep himself
supplied with water. When scavengers and murderers try to interfere with him, he slices them to ribbons with a large machete and/or drops them with an automatic pistol or a pump-action shotgun. He is really good in a crisis until he meets the treacherous likes of Carnegie (Gary Oldman of "True Romance") who is desperately searching for the Bible. He wants the book for the power that comes with it that he plans to exploit for his own selfish gain. He has been sending amoral ruffians
out to scour the earth for a Bible. Ironically, the very book--the Bible--that Eli has been led to preserve for posterity was burned. He tells us in one scene that many people blamed the Bible for the destruction of society. Nothing remains of a once affluent society that had too much for its own good and obliterated it because it could not come to terms with religion. The survivors of the war destroyed all Bibles because they felt that religion triggered the catastrophe. When Carnegie discovers Eli has the Bible, he resolves to take it away from him. Earlier, Carnegie watched Eli defend himself in a bar against a number of thugs. Carnegie invites Eli to join him, but our hero tells him that he has other plans. Carnegie has a blind woman, Claudia (Jennifer Beals of "Devil in a Blue Dress"), and her daughter, Solara
(Mila Kunis of "Max Payne"), works for Carnegie. Carnegie tries to use Solara to entice Eli to stick around. Eli wants nothing to do with Solara. He escapes from Carnegie and his henchmen after a bullet-riddled street shoot-out. Predictably, Carnegie rounds up his hooligans and they pursue Solara and our hero.

Unfortunately, despite seasoned performances, "The Book of Eli" wears out its welcome long before its 118-minutes elapses. Although its action scenes are riveting, this lackluster saga seems long, drawn-out, and broods more often than bristles with excitement. The Hughes Brothers and Whitta never dwell on humor. What little humor there is remains ephemeral. For example, Eli washes himself with moisture packets from KFC. The irony is unmistakable here as the Colonel represents a racist era and Eli is an African-American using the KFC packets to keep clean. They play everything straight down the line, but they also pull a couple of things that remain unconvincing. Denzel lets the gray show in his hair and he does not make any moves on the comely Kunis. Denzel delivers a solemn, low-key performance as the
protagonist, and he acquits himself splendidly in the action scenes. Sadly, Gary Oldman is saddled with one of his least villainous roles. Jennifer Beals doesn't have enough screen time to make an impression. Meanwhile, the Hughes Brothers come up short here with this dreary,threadbare road trip about a Christian drifter, but neither they nor their hero proselytize to anybody. "Forrest Gump" cinematographer Don Burgess provides "The Book of Eli" with a desolate burned-out look with his subdued lensing that emphasizes the sheer nothingness that engulfs everybody. The ending bundles up three surprises. Two defy credibility while the third is tragic. After all is said and done, "The Book of Eli" is dreary melodrama.

FILM REVIEW OF ''ACE HIGH'' (ITALIAN-1968)

"Ace High" (***1/2 out of ****) qualifies as one of the better hybrid action/comedy spaghetti westerns that followed in the wake of Sergio Leone's trend-setting bounty hunter movie "Fistful of Dollars." Variously titled overseas as either "Revenge In El Paso" or "Four Gunmen of Ave Maria," this handsomely-produced, elaborately-staged, sun-drenched, shoot'em up shares something in common with the Lee Van Cleef oater "Death Rides A Horse" (1968) in that our lice-ridden hero (EIi Wallach of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") got double-crossed by his outlaw buddies and left behind for the law to capture while they made good their escape. A two-bit bandit of Greek heritage, Cacopoulos winds up serving fifteen years in prison. Once he gets out of prison, he is framed by crooked banker Harold ("Trinity" alumnus Steffen Zacharias in a dramatic role) for a murder that he didn't commit, and then sentenced to be strung up by the neck. Although this Giuseppe Colizzi written & directed effort contains about as many twists and turns as a diamond-back rattlesnake, the scripting is often haphazard but nevertheless entertaining. Our heroes participate briefly in the Mexican revolution, a favorite theme of late 1960s and early 1970s spaghetti westerns, which hikes the body count substantially. Italian western buffs who aren't familiar with this well choreographed dustraiser need to saddle up and watch the bare bones Paramount DVD with enhanced widescreen to see what other less well-known helmers were doing with the genre while Leone rode herd over sagebrushers.

For the record, blue-eyed Terence Hill plays Cat Stevens (like the folk singer but no relation to him) and Bud Spencer co-stars as Hutch, his beefy, barrel-chested sidekick who shuns a Stetson. They are an arresting pair to watch in their sweaty, greasy, western outfits, on horseback in the blinding sun prancing around mainly on the plains of Almeria, Andalucia, Spain, where veteran cinematographer Marcello ("Assignment Outer Space" & "The Stranger Returns") Masciocchi lensed this sprawling western in widescreen splendor. A clue to its filming location is the lopsided anvil-shaped mountain in the background that dominates the long scenes not only in "Ace High" but also "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" the way that the Paramount logo mountain stood out against the studio sets in the old "Bonanza" TV series. Another dead giveaway that this is a foreign western is the perfectly synchronized but too cool dubbing of Hill and Spencer. Their perfectly modulated dialogue foreshadows the dubbing on anime adventures of the 1990s. Some of the dialogue sounds like it was translated into the English by foreigners, because nobody would talk that way, but that's what makes Italian movies of any genre so much fun.

Actually, "Ace High" is the second entry in the only cinematic trilogy that Hill and Spencer starred in. Remember, they only did two "Trinity" movies together. "Ace High" picks up where Colizzi's "God Forgives, But I Don't" wrapped up with the explosive death of bandit Bill San Antonio (American expatriate Frank Wolff of "A Stranger In Town"). Our heroes trundle into town with a wagon load of gold, $300-thousand, and try to collect the bounty on Bill, though all they have of him is his boots and hat. When they cannot convince the law as to the authenticity of their claim, they traipse over to Harold's Bank and blackmail him into giving them an undisclosed fortune that Hutch at least plans to retire on and run a small ranch. Seems that the late Bill San Antonio and Harold were in co-hoots in stealing from the bank. Spaghetti westerns always had more plot than they needed. One of the neat touches that occur through "Ace High" is little bits and pieces like the dusty boot prints that Cat and Hutch leave when they saunter across Harold's blood red carpet in this upstairs office. Meanwhile, Harold springs Cacopoulos and hopes that he will kill Cat and Hutch. Caco does steal their newly acquired fortune, but not before he deals with the slippery as a rattlesnake Harold, one of the three men who set him afoot after a bank robbery. Anyway, Cat and Hutch chase Caco across the parched southwest and run across a traveling circus sideshow Thomas (Brock Peters) who performs high-wire (in this case—rope) acts. Eventually, all team up to rob a casino—think a lean, mean, "Ocean's Eleven" with only one casino. The music is pure spaghetti.

"Ace High" is tops!