As this film opens it is quickly established that the town of Tombstone is a fairly lawless place; we see the sheriff gun down an old man who beat him at poker and he in turn is shot by the man's son who flees chased by a group of deputies. Wounded he gets back to his family mine. The deputies are unwilling to follow him in as his brothers are well armed and good shots. It turns out the mayor and those who run the town are keen to force the miners to abandon their claim through whatever means necessary. One means they seek to employ is hiring renowned gunman Harvard 'Shotgun' Kelly. On his way to Tombstone Kelly attempts to kill cowboy Tim Mallory but is killed himself; when Mallory arrives in Tombstone carrying Kelly's shotgun everybody assumes he is Kelly and he is hired to force the miners of their claim. Mallory just has to hope nobody learns that he isn't the real Kelly or he could be in danger.
The plot is fairly routine and no big names in the cast it is hardly surprising that this isn't a well known western; the actors are okay and there are no stand out performances amongst the good guys, George Macready does a better job as the corrupt mayor though. There is a good amount of action although I couldn't help feeling much of it could have been handled better; especially the jail break scene; the earlier stagecoach 'hold-up' was much better even if the back projection was fairly obvious. It will come as no surprise to regular western viewers to learn that this was filmed in California rather than Arizona; the scenery is so familiar from so many other westerns of the period. At only seventy minutes it isn't too long at least and passes the time well enough if you are a western fan; just don't expect anything special.
The plot is fairly routine and no big names in the cast it is hardly surprising that this isn't a well known western; the actors are okay and there are no stand out performances amongst the good guys, George Macready does a better job as the corrupt mayor though. There is a good amount of action although I couldn't help feeling much of it could have been handled better; especially the jail break scene; the earlier stagecoach 'hold-up' was much better even if the back projection was fairly obvious. It will come as no surprise to regular western viewers to learn that this was filmed in California rather than Arizona; the scenery is so familiar from so many other westerns of the period. At only seventy minutes it isn't too long at least and passes the time well enough if you are a western fan; just don't expect anything special.