Monogram pictures reacted to the rise of television with their 'Allied Artists' banner which made B+ films in colour with recognisable lead actors along with budget and production scales far beyond the new formats reach whilst remaining far more reasonable an undertaking than a "Major" studio's standard pic of the time.
'At Gunpoint' fits this description perfectly and is a fine example of the type.
There is far more on display than a TV show could muster but nothing like the expensive expanses of a Biggie film either.
Fred MacMurray and Walter Brennan give steady performances to take us all the way through the 80-ish minute runtime as good western elements are mashed together to make a character and dialogue based suspense western in the vein of 'The Ox-bow Incident' and, obviously, 'High Noon' set in a small town unused to big doings.
I found the middle act to be the strongest as inner and external struggles eat away at MacMurray's protagonist.
Sadly the rest of 'At Gunpoint' is less engaging mainly due to the undeveloped baddies appearing to behave like automata at the behest of the script and the townsfolk "neighbours" really over-egging the ostracism of our unsuspecting and unwanted hero.
A predictable finale almost threatens to be dramatic before resolving into a safe resolution.
There is solid direction with well photographed scenes in an outdated colour format and the production design doesn't let anyone down with sets, costumes, props and lighting.
I rate a 4.5/10 and recommend to any fans of Fred MacMurray and of the 50's Westerns style; also film fans interested in 'Allied Artists' and the last flickers of Poverty Row Hollywood before the TV age really killed it should try 'At Gunpoint': it hits the mark
'At Gunpoint' fits this description perfectly and is a fine example of the type.
There is far more on display than a TV show could muster but nothing like the expensive expanses of a Biggie film either.
Fred MacMurray and Walter Brennan give steady performances to take us all the way through the 80-ish minute runtime as good western elements are mashed together to make a character and dialogue based suspense western in the vein of 'The Ox-bow Incident' and, obviously, 'High Noon' set in a small town unused to big doings.
I found the middle act to be the strongest as inner and external struggles eat away at MacMurray's protagonist.
Sadly the rest of 'At Gunpoint' is less engaging mainly due to the undeveloped baddies appearing to behave like automata at the behest of the script and the townsfolk "neighbours" really over-egging the ostracism of our unsuspecting and unwanted hero.
A predictable finale almost threatens to be dramatic before resolving into a safe resolution.
There is solid direction with well photographed scenes in an outdated colour format and the production design doesn't let anyone down with sets, costumes, props and lighting.
I rate a 4.5/10 and recommend to any fans of Fred MacMurray and of the 50's Westerns style; also film fans interested in 'Allied Artists' and the last flickers of Poverty Row Hollywood before the TV age really killed it should try 'At Gunpoint': it hits the mark