Powder River

Plot synopsis:
In 1875, ex-lawman Chino Bull puts away his guns and heads for the Powder River with old pal Johnny Slater to pan for gold. Ambushed by outlaws Loney Logan and Will Horn, he gets away safely thanks to Johnny and rides to town for supplies.
At a saloon run by beautiful Frenchie Dumont, he meets Loney's brother, Harvey, a card dealer. A drunken Sam Harris begins shooting up the place, killing the sheriff with a stray bullet. Chino knocks him cold. Frenchie's beau, gunslinger Mitch Hardin, intervenes, but after being stricken with a headache so painful it incapacitates him, Chino saves his life.
Chino rejects an offer to become the town's new sheriff, but back at the river finds Johnny dead and their gold stolen. In town, a stagecoach delivers the sophisticated Debbie Allen, who has come from Connecticut to find her former sweetheart, Mitch, who it turns out was once a doctor there. She realizes that Mitch is now involved with Frenchie and also that he is suffering from a brain tumor, causing the severe headaches. Debbie decides to go back East on the next stage.
Chino sets a trap. Accompanied by Mitch, who owes Chino for saving his life, and Debbie, leaving town, they let word leak of a $300,000 gold shipment being aboard. Loney's men come to rob it and are defeated, but Debbie is shot. In town, Mitch is the only one with the surgical skill to save Debbie's life, and he does so. But when all seems well, Chino discovers that it was Mitch who murdered Johnny and stole the gold. As they begin to shoot it out, Mitch collapses in agony and dies.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
A great oater.
Rory Calhoun was a staple hero in all kinds of films during the 50s.
His performances were always great, abetted by his handsome, rugged looks and the ease into which he fit into a number of hero roles.
In this one, a kind of standard western, he plays an ex-lawman who returns to the trade when his partner is killed.
During the time he cleans up the town, defeats bad guys played by veteran character actors Carl Betz and John Dehner, gets his semi-revenge, on the antihero, played by Cameron Mitchell, wows the French bombshell, Corinne Calvert and, of course, gets the girl.
It's great 50s entertainment with a total lack of CGI action, extensive blood and gore and good honest villains and good guys.
(*sigh) They just don't make movies like this any more.
Watch for it on the late show.
There's no DVD or video listed.
Calhoun was always worth the price of admission..
Meaty western tale.
I'm not really a fan of Rory Calhoun, but I enjoyed his character in this picture.
It tells a story with a bit more depth and a few surprises, while still providing action, romance and some terrific western scenery.
While Calhoun's character, Chino Bull, is still country-suave and in control, he doesn't convey the snide quality that was an undercurrent in his later television work.
The story line carries some standard western baggage, but at the same time it veers away with unexpected plot developments that were a bit more sophisticated than the type of that era, presaging the so-called "adult westerns" that became the standard in the 1950s and '60s.
The female characters, unfortunately, are given the usual supportive roles.
Still, it's an interesting story against some beautiful backgrounds..
a very good variation of "My Darling Clementine".
I saw this film when I was twelve, 1955, and remember not having liked it.
I saw it again recently and thought it was quite good.
I guess, when twelve I was too impressed with Mitch Hardin, the character played by Cameron Mitchell, who suffers from a brain tumor, and that got me kind of depressed.
But really, this western is basically another variation of "Frontier Marshall", "My Darling Clementine" etc.
Mitch Hardin has his roots in Doc Holliday, same way Frenchie Dumont (Corinne Calvet) can be compared to Chihuahua (Linda Darnell) and Pennie Edwards is another Clementine.
But there are a lot of interesting changes made to the basic story which provides this western with many action scenes, and a sort of unpredictability not present in the usual western.
There are some great moments like when the stagecoach is going adrift in the river, and when Calhoun grabs the gun of the bad guy.
Calhoun is excellent in his role, of course based on Wyatt Earp..
Yet another Wyatt Earp adaption.
If you're thinking that you might have seen Powder River before you would be right.
If you saw Frontier Marshal or My Darling Clementine and noted in Powder River's credits that it's derived from a book by Stuart Lake than you'll know the source.
Rory Calhoun plays a Wyatt Earp like marshal who has quit law enforcement for prospecting.
But when his partner Frank Ferguson is bushwhacked and robbed of the gold they've panned, Calhoun takes on the marshal's job.
He also makes the acquaintance of a pair of outlaw brothers Carl Betz and John Dehner.
And a terminally ill and alcoholic doctor Cameron Mitchell who is lightning fast with a six gun.There's also a bit of Destry Rides Again added to the mix with French speaking saloon owner Corinne Calvet.
The good girl from back east who wants to bring Mitchell home to save his life is former Roy Rogers leading lady Penny Edwards.The best part of Powder River is a nice action gunfight in a foiled stagecoach robbery with Calhoun and Mitchell joining forces.
The guys and the stagecoach are on a river ferry with the outlaws firing on them from shore and the ferry cut loose is heading for the rapids.
All nicely staged.
If you've seen My Darling Clementine or Frontier Marshal you know how this one comes out.
Calhoun made several good westerns in the Fifties and Sixties.
But it's Mitchell who has the best role, the Doc Holiday part is always the best one every time this story is retold..
Entertaining Duster with plenty of Gunplay.
POWDER RIVER – 1953A brisk 20 Century Fox B-western production that is better than one would expect.
Rory Calhoun plays the hero lead here while Carl Betz and John Dehner ably handle the villain parts.
Also in the mix are Cameron Mitchell, Penny Edwards and the rather stunning looking, Corinne Calvet.The story has Calhoun as an ex-lawman who has hung up the guns.
He is now doing some gold prospecting with Frank Ferguson.
The two are doing quite well and are building up a good sized stake of gold.
They need to be on guard since the woods are full of claim jumpers and the like.
Calhoun heads in to the nearby town of Powder River to cash in some gold and pick up supplies.
Powder River is more or less run by saloon keeper, Corinne Calvet.
Cahoun returns to his camp after the supply run into town.
He finds his partner, Ferguson, dead and their gold gone.
He returns to town to look for anyone with a bit too much gold dust.
No luck there, but he does break up a bunch of yahoos causing trouble.
Calhoun finds himself being offered the job of town Sheriff, which he accepts.
What better way to discover who killed his partner.Saloon and gambling house owner, Calvet takes a shine to Calhoun.
This, he is told might not be all that wise a move on his part.
It seems that Calvet has a beau already.
The man, Cameron Mitchell, is really handy with a gun and is known for violent mood swings.
These are caused by a tumor in his brain.
Mitchell is a former doctor from out east.
Mitchell had accidentally killed a man during surgery when he suffered one of his attacks.Now popping up is Penny Edwards.
Edwards is the former fiancé of Mitchell.
She wants Mitchell to come back east and get an operation.
This plan is put on hold, as Mitchell ends up helping Calhoun take on the villain types, Carl Betz and John Dehner.
There are several shootouts, a jailbreak and several more shootouts.Miss Edwards catches a bullet and Mitchell ends up having to do surgery to save her life.
After all this, we discover that it had been Mitchell who had shot Calhoun's partner, Ferguson.
Mitchell then drops dead from a brain aneurysm saving Calhoun from shooting him in revenge for Ferguson.
As silly as this might sound, it plays out rather well on screen.This rather lively duster is a step above what was normally delivered by veteran b-film helmsman, Louis King.
King dwelled for years on westerns with Buck Jones before moving up the ladder a bit with the odd Charlie Chan and Bulldog Drummond feature.
The writing of this film is quite good with Sam Hellman, Stuart Lake and Daniel Mainwaring.
Lake wrote the stories for several excellent westerns.
These include FRONTIER MARSHAL, WELLS FARGO, THE WESTERNER, MY DARLING CLEMINTINE and WINCHESTER 73.
Mainwaring, better known as Geoffrey Homes, wrote the story or screenplay for ROUGHSHOD, THE BIG STEAL, THE LAWLESS, THE LAST OUTPOST, ROADBLOCK, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK, THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS and the noir classic, OUT OF THE PAST.
Cinematographer Ernest Cronjager supplies some nice Technicolor work on this one..
Revenge Western with Earp/Holiday Overtones.
"Powder River" is a Technicolor revenge western reminiscent of the Wyatt Earp/ Doc Holiday relationship depicted in the earlier "My Darling Clementine" (1946).Rory Calhoun plays ex-marshal Chino Bull(ock) who has hung up his guns to prospect for gold with his partner Johnny Slater (Frank Ferguson).
Two saddle tramps Loney Hogan (Carl Betz) and his com padre (Bob Wilke) try to steal Chino and Johnny's horses but are driven off by Chino.
Later after returning from town, Chino finds Johnny murdered and their gold stolen.
Chino assumes that Hogan was to blame and takes on the town marshal's job in order to bring Logan to justice.In the local saloon Chino meets proprietor "Frenchie" Dumont (Corrine Calvet) and learns that she is "associated" with gunman Mitch Hardin (Cameron Mitchell).
Chino and Hardin strike up a friendship.
Debbie Allen (Penny Edwards) the girl Hardin left behind shows up to complicate matters.
We learn along the way that Hardin is a doctor who is suffering from a brain tumor and that he has a death wish.Chino entices Loney and Harvey Logan (John Dehner) to try to rob a gold shipment in order to force a showdown until..............Calhoun was always a pleasant enough hero whose career in westerns extended well into the 60s.
Calvet with her thick French accent makes a poor man's Marlene Deitrich.
Mitchell never quite made it to the A list but was a dependable second lead during this period.
Carl Betz is best remembered as the father in "The Donna Reed Show".
Penny Edwards appeared in a number of Roy Rogers oaters while Dale Evans was having a baby in 1950..
Very entertaining remake of "Frontier Marshal", in another location.
I don't believe this short western is officially regarded as a remake of the equally short 1939 "Frontier Marshal".
But, after checking my notes on F.M., I found it amazing how many details they have in common, so many that I clearly would label it as a remake.
Of course, there are plenty of differences, as well, one being that this was shot in color vs.
Another is that the supposed location for F.M. is Tombstone A.Z., vs.
Powder River, for the present film.
Well, it turns out there are two famous Powder Rivers in the NW quadrant of the US.
One is famous today as having the richest, cheapest, coal mines in the US, and is located in NE Wyoming and SE Montana.
The other is located in the Blue Mountains of NE Oregon, and is well known since the Civil War for it's placer gold.
In contrast, I'm not aware of any important gold deposits in the Wyoming Powder River area, although the Black Hills are not far to the east.
Thus, I would favor Oregon, although it's mentioned that the Homestead Mine is nearby.
Well, THE Homestead mine is located in the Black Hills.
Typical Hollywood confusion of that era!
At least parts of the action were filmed in Glacier National Park, in NW Montana.
Instead of Wyatt Earp and Doc Halliday of F.M., we have facsimiles in Chino Bull(Wyatt-like)and Mitch(Doc Holliday-like).
In this film, they have trouble deciding whether they want to be friends or enemies.
We see some of each throughout the film, like reluctant buddies.
Both films have the Doc-like character suffering from a chronic health problem: TB in F.M. and a brain tumor, causing periodic blackouts, in the present film.
In both films, the Doc-like character is scripted as a gunslinger/medical doctor combo, whereas the real Doc was a doctor of dentistry.
In both films, the Doc-like character uses his medical knowledge to save a life.Roy Calhoun plays Chino, while a flamboyant Cameron Mitchell plays Mitch.
An equally flamboyant Corinne Calvet plays Frenchie: the sometimes owner of one of the saloons.
Penny Edwards plays the prim blond "good" girl arriving from the East, come to take Mitch back East.
However, she appears to end up with Chino.
Gold is mostly what the fighting is all about: both Chino's stolen gleanings and a $300,000.gold shipment on the stage.
Chino's mining buddy, Johnny, is killed(by whom?) and the gold stolen while Chino is away.
This murder and robbery induced Chino to give up mining to become the new town marshal.One gripe I have is that the stage gold shipment segment is underplayed.
When the stage is on a flatboat ferry, crossing a river, the bad guys cut the towline attached to a horse that pulls the boat across.
They also shoot the horse driver.
The stage then is swept downstream toward a rapids.
Chino finds a spare rope and swims to shore attaching it to a flimsy-looking long dead small tree.
Even supposing it held the raft against the current, it's unclear how they got it to shore, unless they found the horse and attached the rope to it.
One horse hardly seemed enough.
Also, why did the bad guys decide to abandon their very lucrative quest when the rope was attached to that tree??I regard this film as even more interesting than "Frontier Marshal" In fact, it's one of my favorite westerns, despite its clear B status.
I won't give away the unusual climactic ending.Available at YouTube and an expensive DVD..
Entertaining Horse Opera with Calhoun as a Wyatt Earp Type.
Rory Calhoun plays a seasoned lawman fed up with gunplay in "Green Grass of Wyoming" director Louis King's "Powder River," a sturdy but derivative little horse opera loosely based on Wyatt Earp biographer Stuart N.
Lake's book.
Cameron Mitchell co-stars as a swift-shooting hellion who wears his gun slung low on his right knee in this Technicolor oater from Twentieth Century Fox. Basically, Calhoun is cast as Chino Bullock, a Wyatt Earp type, while Mitchell plays a variation on Doc Holliday named Mitch Hardin.
Instead of being ravaged by tuberculosis, Hardin suffers from a brain tumor.
He has left the East to roam the West.
Mitch has a suicidal streak running through his psyche as a result of his tragic affliction.
He romances the hell cat saloon owner Frenchie Dumont (Corinne Calvet of "Apache Uprising")who smokes cigarettes in public while Mitch's good girl from back East, Debbie Allen (Penny Edwards of "Pony Soldier"), struggles without success to convince him to return home with her.
The catch here is that Calhoun prefers to shun a six-gun while carrying out his duties as the marshal of Powder River.
Except for the marred ending, western fans won't be disappointed with this shoot'em up horse opera.
Six time Oscar winning lenser Edward Cronjager's full frame cinematography looks dazzling with vivid colors and scenic settings.
The cast is solid, and the production design is terrific.
There is a cool showdown between a hardcase who thrusts a six-shooter into Bullock's belly at one point in a saloon and is surprised to see the marshal clench the cylinder of his six-gun so that he cannot cock the gun.
Calhoun and Cameron make a charismatic pair, but their relationship is a combustible one.