The Gatling Gun (1971)

Powerful

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A Masterpiece!

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

As you may have guessed by what I wrote in the above summary line, "The Gatling Gun" is far from the classics the western film genre has managed to produce. True, the movie managed to round up an interesting cast, from John Carradine to Woody Strode. But despite the talent on display, the movie stubbornly gives the majority of them precious little to do, and an even smaller amount that is actually interesting or compelling. Stronger characters would have helped, but the movie would still have suffered from a slapdash feeling. As I said, this movie is pretty cheap, from the tacky costumes to filming every scene on drab locations. Director Robert Gordon also seems unable to inject any excitement; the sporadic action is pretty flat. The only things that may raise viewers from a slumber are one scene involving fire (you'll know it when you see it) and John Carradine's hilariously hammy performance, though Carradine exits the movie pretty early before he can tickle us some more.

The more desperate his fight on the desert's scorching lands , the more adored he was in her arms ¡ Tough men, during hard times, battle for the ultimate weapon , as Indians , cavalry and renegade troops fight over Gatlin gun . Doctor Gatling invented a war machine to beat all arrows, and guns . While pursuing a traitor Pvt Sneed (Robert Fuller , one of the members in ¨The return of Magnificent Seven¨) the Lt. Malcolm (Guy Stockwell , Dean Stockwell's brother and starring in ¨It's alive¨ and ¨Tobruk¨) helped by Runner the Scout (Woody Strode starring in Black Sergeant and other John Ford films , furthermore in various S.W as ¨Keoma¨) along with his patrol find some people , as Luke Boland (Phil Harris) and his family, including his son Jim (Patrick Wayne , John Wayne son) and his gorgeous daughter Martha Boland (Judy Jordan ), who are holed up in a house. The Bolands join up with Malcolm's team . Rifle-toting Malcolm eventually puts the bridle on tight and struggles to win his soldiers respect while warding off violent Indians who besiege the group . One of Luke's friends, Tin Pot (Pat Buttram ) fiddles with the machine gun and after that , he devises a replacement for the firing pin . Malcolm along with a group of soldiers have to defend themselves surrounded by Indians until arrival reinforcements while using the Gatling machine gun . The angry Apaches led by Two-knife (Carlos Rivas usual in Indian roles as Chingachgook in ¨Deerslayer¨) are out on a rampage of killing , seeking vengeance against the white intruders, and with the aim for eliminate them and take the Gatlin machine gun This is an average , conventional tale with action galore about a hard-bitten officer who goes to hell and back while assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians and later on regaining the respect of his soldiers . Guy Stockwell and a top-notch secondary-star-cast as Robert Fuller , Barbara Luna , Patrick Wayne and John Carradine ; all of them shine lightly in this oater about a surrounded garrison . Director takes a regularly penned screenplay creating a cavalry-Indians tale that results to be ordinary , exploring the anguish of soldiers and including jarring burst of violence on its final when happens a massacre . It's the habitual theme about an unit stranded by enemies and their grueling efforts to break the siege, issue imitated many other times . This standard Western contains some nice moments though partially unsatisfying and disappointing for the reason of the low-budget and situations with no sense . Lousy cinematography in Techniscope by Jacques Marquette , Roger Corman's usual , it's urgent a fine remastering because the film copy is washed-out . Functional and atmospheric musical score by Paul Sawtell. The motion picture is middling directed by Robert Gordon . He's an expert on Western as Television series : ¨Bonanza¨, ¨Maverick¨, ¨Law of the Plainsmen¨, ¨The Texan¨, ¨Zane Grey¨ as cinema : ¨The rawhide trail¨, ¨Thunder and the pines¨, ¨Black eagle¨ and of course ¨The Gatlin Gun¨ or ¨King Gun¨, his last picture . Rating : 4,5 . Mediocre and forgettable movie .

"The Gatling Gun" emerges as a pretentious, predictable, and pedestrian Cavalry versus the Apaches western about the eponymous weapon. Westerns about Gatling Guns had been made before this one. The most notable was the Gregory Peck cavalry movie "Only the Valiant" from 1951. "It Came from Beneath the Sea" director Robert Gordon and scenarists Mark Hanna of "Slaughter" and Joseph Van Winkle have penned a plodding adventure about a Cavalry patrol that retrieves a Gatling Gun which a misguided preacher had stolen to prevent wholesale violence between the Cavalry and the Apaches. Of course, one of these activists has ulterior motives that involve selling the weapon to a bloodthirsty Apache. Although this western was lensed in the early 1970s, the filmmakers portray the Indians as a sadistic bunch of savages. These redskins are neither downtrodden nor exploited by corrupt white officials on the reservation. Indeed, one white character does speak up in their defense, but "The Gatling Gun" amounts to a traditional John Ford western where every good Indian is a dead Indian. Mind you, nothing approaching subtlety ever hoists its sophisticated head in this 93-minute melodrama. Anything of thematic significance in the narrative is laid on as thick as a trowel by a loquacious lot of characters. The cast consists of several familiar names stuck in lackluster roles. Guy Stockwell is cast as a grim but insipid Cavalry commander. Most of the characters are stereotypes or just plain shallow. Patrick Wayne, Robert Fuller, and Barbara Luna are squandered in this military sagebrusher that takes place strictly in the desert. You never see a Cavalry stockade or an Indian reservation. Basically, "The Gatling Gun" concerns a number of whites banded together who wander through the wilderness while the Indians attack them intermittently. The only suspense that Gordon and his scribes develop is when will the Cavalry succeed in repairing the titular weapon so they can administer staggering blows to the opposition. Most of the time characters are working their jawbones rather than the levers on their repeating rifles. Anybody who remembers the CBS-TV sitcom "Green Acres" will chuckle at the only source of humor in this tedious oater: amiable Pat Buttram who cracks the closest thing that comes to jokes. Legendary horror actor John Carradine shows up momentarily during the early minutes before he takes an arrow in the chest. The most brutal depiction of death occurs when a cavalry trooper is strung up in a tree and the Apaches set him afire. It takes several moments for the enormity of the man's predicament to sink in before the officer puts him out of his misery.Once Lieutenant Wayne Malcolm (Guy Stockwell of "Tobruk") and his troops, including his black scout Runner (Woody Strode of "The Professionals"), recover the Gatling Gun, they learn that the firing pin is missing. They arrest Private Sneed (Robert Fuller of "Laramie") and keep him tied up by a wagon as they trundle the gun by wagon back to the fort. Malcolm has arrests Reverend Harper (John Carradine of "Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula") and his Apache stepdaughter Leona (Barbara Luna), too. Nevertheless, Leona and Sneed are allowed to move about without a guard with them. Meanwhile, the Native Americans led by Two Rivers (Carlos Rivas of "Topaz") keep tabs on the patrol. Of course, Two Rivers is not allowed to kill the horses which would effectively prevent our heroes from accomplishing their mission. Malcolm and his men encounter some civilians, Luke Boland (Phil Harris of "The Jungle Book") and his family, including his son Jim (Patrick Wayne of "The Alamo") and his rifle-toting daughter Martha Boland (Judy Jordan of "The Boatniks"), who are holed up in a house. The Bolands join up with Malcolm's patrol. One of Luke's friends, Tin Pot (Pat Buttram of "Green Acres")fiddles with the Gatling Gun and later devises a replacement for the firing pin. Just with Two Rivers thinks that he has Malcolm and his men cornered, he sends in his braves, only to watch as they are cut down by the Gatling Gun. Earlier, Sneed escaped but Two Rivers captured. Sneed told him that the gun didn't work, and Two Rivers sacrificed the lives of many warriors. When Two Rivers strikes for the last time, he watches in horror as the gun mows down his army and he surrenders."The Gatling Gun" is for die-hard western fans only. Most of the action is filmed in master shots, meaning that once a scene starts, there are few instances of closer shots. The script is so predictable that you can figure out who is going to die. The problem with "The Gatling Gun" is that the characters lack charisma because you never felt sympathetic toward their plight, even after they stumble onto Phil Harris and his family. The Timeless Media Group DVD whittles down cinematographer Jacques Marquette's widescreen compositions.

Low-budget, by-the-numbers western, routine in every department: writing, direction, acting, you name it. The plot is nothing special: a ragtag detachment of soldiers must protect a new Gatling gun from falling into the hands of rampaging Indians. A somewhat decent cast gives this picture a bit more than just a passing interest, but not much more. Phil Harris looks out of place, John Carradine was at a point in his career where he took just about anything and everything that was offered to him--which explains why he's in this--Guy Stockwell looks tired, and the only even remotely energetic performance is given by veteran western actor and John Ford favorite Woody Strode. Listlessly directed and sloppily written, this cheap-looking film has a burst of action near the end that breaks the monotony, but not enough to make it worth sitting through. Skip it.