source: The Marauders

The Marauders

I normally don't review "no budget" Westerns. Caught this on Encore Westerns, though. You might want to watch this movie because Dan Duryea plays one of the most bizarre characters I've ever seen. Let me see if I've got this straight: he's a cattle ranch accountant who wears his dead brother's Confederate army uniform, who goes power mad, takes over the ranch and bullies the hired hands into risking their lives attacking what they think are superior numbers of dug in homesteaders. Oh yeah, he's dying of tuberculosis the whole time. This must have been some kind of joke when these actors showed up for this shoot and realized there was no script. They must have decided to just see how far over the top they could go with Duryea's character. Good for some laughs.

One of the more refreshingly different "B" westerns of the 50s. Instead of the usual set up: western town, hero with a past, dubious locals, saloon girl with the heart of gold, we get a bleak, low budget affair with a great over-the-top performance by Dan Duryea as a psychotic frontier bookkeeper. Yes, bookkeeper. But he becomes one of the more memorable villains of the genre. Keenan Wynn gives an equally bizarre but effective performance as Hook, you can take a guess why he's called that. Jeff Richards is a squatter defending his right to develop a piece of land. The cabin is set with its back to a mountain which makes for a claustrophobic setting that is used creatively. Creative is the key word as there are innovative action scenes throughout including Richards, a stranded mother and annoying child, building a medieval looking bomb tosser. This is a fun, fun movie and its unique story, colorful bad guys and noirish feel made it a must see for the western fan.