Producer: Grant Whytock. An Admiral Pictures production, released through Columbia. Copyright 1 May 1964 by Admiral Pictures. No New York showcasing. U.S. release: April 1964. U.K. release: 10 May 1964. Australian release: 10 April 1964. 7,918 feet. 88 minutes. Censored to 86 minutes in Australia.

SYNOPSIS: Clint Cooper, who left his home town after being forced into a duel in which the sons of a powerful rancher were killed, decides to return and claim his right to his father's ranch and to Helen Reed, his schoolteacher sweetheart. On the way he learns that a large gang plans to rob the town bank. When he arrives he finds that most of the townsmen have left on a cattle drive but he agrees to help Scotty the sheriff, an old friend of his, and a few elderly men remaining in the town, defend the town against the gang.

NOTES: This movie was filmed in Techniscope which was an anamorphic projection system developed by the Technicolor company. Scenes were photographed in CinemaScope proportions by using a wide-angle lens that threw two images instead of one on a single frame of standard 35mm film stock, thus saving companies half the cost of raw film. In processing, each wide-angle image was anamorphically squeezed on to a single frame. The prints look identical to CinemaScope prints and are projected in the same way. Despite the 50% reduction in camera frame area, the prints were claimed to be nonetheless sharp and well defined.

COMMENT: Villain Ted de Corsia is not nearly as appealing in the first half of this low-budget western, as he is in the second half where he shares a delightful scene in a saloon with heroine Merry Anders. Indeed most of the action in the film also takes place in the second half and while this is attractively photographed (the townsfolk against the yellow flames of the barricade),the people generally, with the exception of Audie Murphy, are not photographed half as well. Miss Anders, particularly, suffers from this unattractive lensing.

Musician Richard La Salle has obviously been listening to Jerome Moross' score for "The Big Country", but I liked it anyway!

The film does have one really unusual feature in that the script kills off the second lead before the big action finale. Frank Ferguson does not altogether make the happiest of substitutes.

Having read previous reviews, I nearly didn't bother to watch TQG, but was glad that I did. By the standards of the 1960s and Audie Murphy Westerns, it wasn't at all bad. Murphy wasn't the greatest actor (though he did well in The Red Badge of Courage and The Unforgiven),but many of his facial reactions in TQG were quite good.

Certainly Ted de Corsia over-acted, and the hotel seemed remarkably plush for such a small town. But I've seen far worse well-lit night scenes, and the townsfolk were elderly because all the young ranch-hands were away on trail. The old gang member seemed no older than grizzled old coots such as Gabby Hayes and Walter Brennan who featured in many Westerns.

Spoiler begins: Sheriff Grant's strategy was all wrong. He locks up the only other fighting man in town and lets go the two outlaws sent to reconnoitre the town. (Later, when they are captured, Dan Evans remarks that's two less; pity that they weren't arrested earlier.) And Grant was foolhardy to go out to parley with Spangler.

I did suspect that some of the revolvers might be seven- or eight-shot, but at least both sides went through the motions of reloading them.

This is the third time this story by Steve Fisher has been done. The first time was "Top Gun" starring Sterling Hayden done in 1955 in black and white, and then done again as "Noose for a Gunman" in 1960 starring Jim Davis, who later became Jock Ewing on "Dallas" (Ted DeCorsia even played the same role as in "The Quick Gun" with John Dehner taking the main villain role in "Top Gun"). All three are good if you like the old fashion type westerns, which I do. They were simple, your kids and grandkids could watch them, and they always had a good ending. Need more of them today. To me, Audie Murphy will always be a hero on the battlefield (The most decorated soldier in WWII including the medal of honor)and on the screen.