Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

 

 (themoviedb.org)

BUCKSKIN-1968-Marshall Chaddock (Barry Sullivan) tries to bring law to the town of Glory Hole and help the homesteaders there while raising his American Indian son. 

Land grabbing Marlow (Wendell Corey; same year as ASTRO-ZOMBIES) wants Chaddock and the homesteaders he ran out dead. He gets help from the crooked ex-sheriff (Lon Chaney). A scarred gunslinger (John Russell from TV's “Lawman”) is looking to kill Chaddock too but later changes his mind and joins up with Chaddock as does tough guy Travis (Leo Gordon) and the town doc (Barton MacLane). Chaddock seems to want to do a lot for the homesteaders, but they don't want to help. Even a couple (Bill Williams & Barbara Hale; married in real life) whose son is killed by Marlow's gang. A former schoolteacher (Joan Caulfield) now working in Marlow's saloon tries to reform. George Chandler, Richard Arlen, Aki Aleong and Emile Meyer have supporting roles. 

Interesting finale that could have been better. It was directed by Michael D. Moore who did much more work as an assistant director. Russell and Chaney were also in FIREBALL JUNGLE the same year. 

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Bushwhacked!

  (imdb)

THE BUSHWHACKERS-1951-After the Civil War ends Jefferson Waring (John Ireland) vows never to raise a gun against another man again. He heads west. Things aren't much better. He witnesses some homesteaders killed and their house burned down. Later he meets Peter Sharpe (Frank Marlowe), a newspaper publisher who let's him stay at his home but Sharpe's daughter (Dorothy Malone) has him arrested. The useless Marshall (Wayne Morris) and his dimwitted deputy (Norman Leavitt) lock him up. Sharpe clears him and gives him a job but Waring wants to leave town. He winds up in a fist fight with hired gun Tobin (Lawrence Tierney) and his thugs (one is Jack Elam). 

After he leaves, Waring runs afoul of arthritic wheelchair bound Artemis Taylor (Lon Chaney) and bitchy daughter Nora (Myrna Dell). They know the railroad is planning to buy up the surrounding land for a new line and Taylor wants to drive out the homesteaders before they find out it's valuable. Sharpe saw some surveyors and knows about it so Taylor orders his flunky Ding (William Holmes) to kill the rebel. Nora orders Tobin (who works for Taylor) to kill Ding too. There's a big botch up and Waring is wounded but not killed. He finds shelter with the homesteaders and tells them about the railroad. Nora plans to lead a gang to drive the settlers out once and for all. Sharpe prints an editorial that lays out Taylor's plan for everyone to see and is killed. Later when Nora leads her thugs to destroy the homesteaders they are caught in an ambush. Nora and her dad both die. 

This was the directorial debut for actor/stuntman Rod Amateau who went on to direct many TV shows (Burns & Allen, My Mother,The Car). This last movie was THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS MOVIE in 1987. He co-wrote the screenplay with debuting writer Tom Gries who went on to write an early Bert I. Gordon movie KING DINOSAUR in 1955. 

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