Arizona Bushwhackers (1968)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Lesley Selander

Writers:

Andrew Craddock (story)
Steve Fisher (writer)

Release Date:

March 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

A Johnny Reb dons a damn yankee uniform to pull the most daring plot of the war in The West

Plot:

During the Civil War, a Confederate spy takes a job as marshal of a small western town as a cover for his espionage activities...

Cast

Howard Keel	...	Lee Travis
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Jill Wyler
John Ireland	...	Dan Shelby
Marilyn Maxwell	...	Molly
Scott Brady	...	Tom Rile
Brian Donlevy	...	Mayor Joe Smith
Barton MacLane	...	Sheriff Lloyd Grover
James Craig	...	Ike Clanton
Roy Rogers Jr.	...	Roy
Regis Parton	...	Curly
Montie Montana	...	Stage driver
Eric Cody	...	Ed Jones (Bushwhacker)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Cagney	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

A.C. Lyles Productions

Quotes:

[Dan offers the Sheriff part of a bribe]
Dan Shelby: Mr. Grover, hadn't you better take some of this?
Sheriff Lloyd Grover: What for?
Dan Shelby: A man can't live without money.
Sheriff Lloyd Grover: I'll you something, son. When it's that kind of money, a man can't live with it.

Beg Your Pardon Johnny Reb

Arizona Bushwackers was the last of three B westerns that Howard Keel made during the Sixties. He also did Waco and Red Tomahawk. He also appeared in support of John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in the acclaimed War Wagon. This film ain't no war wagon.

It's not horribly bad film, Arizona Bushwackers, it's just a very tired one. A lot of hackneyed clichés jammed into the 90+ minutes of the running time. Howard Keel plays a former Confederate who earns a pardon from the Union Army and an out from a federal prison by agreeing to join the Union Army, but serve in the western frontier as opposed to the war in the east.

Keel even rates a special job as sheriff of a lawless Arizona town called Colton after mayor Brian Donlevy calls for help. Saloon owner Scott Brady and partner Marilyn Maxwell like the wide open town that Colton is and don't cotton to no law and order.

In fact Keel himself has never really forgotten his rebel roots and has been biding for time to pull something off.

All these plot strands get themselves resolved in one of the dumbest Indian attacks I've ever seen staged on film. The once popular players set themselves all around with various weaponry on either side of the main street and the Indians ride by and just keep getting picked off.

Others in Arizona Bushwackers include Barton MacLane, Yvonne DeCarlo, James Craig, and John Ireland. It's a regular convention of movie names who hit their peaks during the forties and fifties.

No matter how dumb the film, it's nice to see all these stars together in one film. And the opening narration is given by a bigger movie name than all of these who did the off camera speech as a favor to his friend, producer A.C. Lyles.

For nostalgia fans only.