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Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Like others, I was ready to bypass this small timer. Cigar chomping Director of cheap horror films, William Castle must have been in a lower gear when he worked on this, but it actually helped. After a standard opening with a train robbery and lots of horse riding (just to give the look of an action flick) this show actually settles into slightly above average story telling. While a tad silly along the way, it does manage to achieve a mild level of character development.Interesting was the melancholy piano playing by the lead character in the first bar he walks into --- after 15years in prison from the age of around 14 --- Makes you want to know a bit more about him. Underrated performer Macdonald Carey plays this role very convincingly and his horse riding skills are shown to good advantage. He gets good support from a well above average cast. Alexis Smith is certainly above par for this material, she looks beautiful and is convincing as the owner off the town's newspaper. Victor Jory was always reliable and the scene where he rides his superb white horse onto the front walkway of the newspaper office to rope-whip Carey is very well done. The film has several surprisingly brutal scenes considering its year and type - one of these involved a very young Russ Tamblyn (uncredited: playing the lead character as a boy) being beaten off camera by the local Marshal. Even TV man Hugh O'Brian impresses in his few scenes. Edgar Buchanan is, well... Edgar Buchanan. The on-location filming in the Carlsbad Caves New Mexico adds handsomely to the atmosphere. Elizabeth Wilson does well with her story despite some lapses in the screenplay. Universal International must have had their own Technicolor Lab, as they were very often willing to make small scale westerns in the glory of true I.B. Technicolor. The DVD transfer for this little film is very good indeed. Looks like U.I. must have had the wisdom to keep their original negatives.Between films about talking mules and an assortment of cowboys, Director of Photography Irving Glassberg did not get many chances to showcase his talents but does have a few specials to his name: "The Web" interesting Noir from'47 ~ "The Strange Door" '51 ~ "Tarnished Angels" '57 ~ "The Lawless Breed" '53 Expect little and it could entertain on a slow day.

I wasn't going to bother with this minor western but for the fact that it was being shown on a wet afternoon. In the event I'm glad that I did watch it as it was quite good. The caves provided a realistic and novel setting for many scenes, and the colour generally throughout the film was good. And when people got wounded they bled, unlike in many westerns of this period when a man is shot in the chest but continues to wear a spotless shirt! The spanking scene that has been mentioned in the trivia section was omitted from the version I saw, perhaps because what audiences in the 1950s thought was harmless fun has more in the way of sexual implications sixty years later.Macdonald Carey (a cut-price Gregory Peck, with a slight facial resemblance to the more famous star) was just about adequate, and Edgar Buchanan wasn't as gruff as usual.

Universal had the good sense to boost this otherwise routine oater with Technicolor filming at Carlsbad Caverns. This results in some impressively eerie shots unusual for a Western. The screenplay has some promising ideas, but these tend to get muddled amid an overly complex narrative. Pete (Carey) returns to town after serving a jail term for robbing Wells Fargo and hiding the loot in a cave. Now townspeople cater to him, including owner of newspaper (Smith) and local kingpin (Jory), even as Wells Fargo agent (Buchanan) trails him. So when will Pete go for the loot.It's hard to get at people's true motives because of the hidden gold. Then too where is Smith's missing husband—was he in on the robbery and now hovering out of sight. It seems no one can be trusted, including Buchanan. With better story development, a more interesting leading man, along with the spooky caverns, this could have been several cuts above the usual Western. I guess my biggest disappointment, however, is with the movie covering up the statuesque and shapely Alexis Smith in yards and yards of period clothing. Too bad since she was reputed to have the best legs in Hollywood. Hormones aside, those soaring rock columns and hanging stone icicles still remain the main reason to tune in.

Cave of Outlaws (1951) ** (out of 4) Technicolor Western set in 1880 finds a gang of outlaws robbing a train full of gold and hiding it in a cave. Before they can leave the cave all are killed with the exception of teenager Pete Carver. After fifteen years in prison, Pete (MacDonald Carey) is released and heads back to the territory where the cave is located only to learn that it's now a booming town due to copper being found in the mines. The good news is that the money was never discovered but now Pete must try and outsmart a few other bad guys who have their own plans for the money. It's amazing that someone like William Castle can remain so popular yet very few of his films are actually viewed by people. It seems most either never knew he had a career before his Horror pictures or perhaps they just don't care. As I slowly go through his Westerns it's clear that he was certainly a director-for-hire as his quick shooting and under budget reputation certainly got him hired to do this film. There's nothing overly horrible about this film but at the same time there's nothing good either. I think a lot of the problem is the screenplay, which gives us a fairly interesting idea but very little is ever done with it. Once Pete arrives back to town we get the typical bad guys following him and the typical women wanting him. There' some mild comic stuff dealing with every store owner giving him an unlimited line of credit because they think he knows where the money is but not enough is done with this. Castle handles the opening robbery pretty well but the rest of the film is rather lifeless. There's not too much energy in any of the scenes and the ending seems more fashioned for a comic book than an actual film. Carey isn't the most entertaining leading men and Alexis Smith doesn't get too much to do either. Edgar Buchanan, Hugh O'Brian and Hugh Sanders aren't too bad in their supporting roles but the screenplay does them no favors. There's some decent cinematography and fans of Universal's horror films will notice that a lot of the stock music is carried over here. If you close you eyes throughout the film you'll think you're watching ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN considering the scores. In the end, it's pretty hard to recommend this movie to anyone outside of someone like me who just wants to go through the director's entire career.