Escape from Red Rock (1957)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Escape From Red Rock finds young Gary Murray having a lot of trouble in his town of Red Rock with his brother Rick Vallin riding with a gang of outlaws led by Brian Donlevy. He won't believe it but when Donlevy and gang come calling looking for a refuge with a badly wounded Vallin, Gary finds out the truth all right.They get him involved with their next heist which is in Red Rock with a promise of medical help for Vallin. Well Vallin dies, Myron Healey as one of the gang shoots a woman in the getaway and Murray's soon on the run with fiancé Eilene Janssen.In a plot gambit from a much better western Four Faces West the gang finds Murray and Janssen hold up in a cabin recently raided by Apaches with an infant girl left alive. After that tough outlaw Donlevy goes all sentimental.The inevitable results happen, but this was so much better done by Joel McCrea and Frances Dee in Four Faces West. That was also a B production but a lot of care was taken with that. This one was decent enough, but done on the cheap.

It s always interesting to discover an Edward Bernds film. This director was an eclectic one: thrillers - CALLING HOMICIDE - sci-fi - WORLD WITHOUT END, SPACE MASTER X7, RETURN OF THE FLY - and westerns, such as this one and a bunch of many others. And I won't talk about THREE ST0OGES and BOWERY KIDS features...This little flick is not very unusual, I admit. The topic is very predictable, but efficiently made. A young man is involved against his will with a gang of bank robbers and is then pursued by a posse and the outlaws themselves. And our lead has his girl with him, of course. Good guy vs bad ones. Nothing more. But, as I told before, you can easily watch it without boredom. And Brian Donley in the gang leader character is worthwhile for the whole picture.What else could we ask for? It's a B movie, after all.