B-westerns almost always have a baddie. It's usually some guy bent on taking over the county and he secretly controls a gang of thugs who are terrorizing the countryside. However, "Colorado Sundown" is quite different. While the plot has the usual attempt to practically steal everyone's land, it's by a trio of evil siblings--and the most evil and conniving is a woman! And, to make things even more different, the woman is even more brutal and vicious than usual! And, instead of a gang, they use trickery and murder to make their plans work and a gang is only recruited when their plan starts to unravel.
When the movie begins, three different groups of people think they are inheriting a ranch. In reality, they ALL are inheriting a third. While this may not sound so bad, one group (the Hurleys) are vicious thieves and want it all--and they'll get it one way or another. Their plan is to convince everyone that the land is infested with a bark beetle--and then get all the property for a tiny fraction of what it's worth. Then, they'll do the same thing for all the surrounding land that supposedly is infested.
As for Carrie Hurley (June Vincent), she is the boss in her family and specializes in poisonings. The first victim is a forestry official who KNOWS the land is beetle-free. The second is a fake forest ranger who Carrie brought in--and to make matters worse, it's her own younger brother!! In addition to these killings, one Hurley shoots an innocent maid (Louise Beavers) and even a tiny dog!! Could it get worse? Well, she even shoots poor Rex Allen and then claims she shot him AFTER Rex beat the 'ranger' to death--when she actually poisoned him! Can the good guys uncover the plot and dispatch the evil Hurleys? Because the villains are so bad, this is a dynamite B-western. It also helps that the plot is quite original in many ways and Louise Beavers was great as one of the spunkiest women of the old west I've ever seen. Surprisingly good.
It is interesting that in this film Rex Allen plays a character named Rex Allen and Slim Pickens played a guy named Slim Pickens! This sort of thing was quite popular in Roy Rogers films, as Roy and Gabby were often referred to by their stage names. Odd. Also odd is that Pickens really was a cowboy and rodeo star--and so playing a cowboy is pretty natural.
When the movie begins, three different groups of people think they are inheriting a ranch. In reality, they ALL are inheriting a third. While this may not sound so bad, one group (the Hurleys) are vicious thieves and want it all--and they'll get it one way or another. Their plan is to convince everyone that the land is infested with a bark beetle--and then get all the property for a tiny fraction of what it's worth. Then, they'll do the same thing for all the surrounding land that supposedly is infested.
As for Carrie Hurley (June Vincent), she is the boss in her family and specializes in poisonings. The first victim is a forestry official who KNOWS the land is beetle-free. The second is a fake forest ranger who Carrie brought in--and to make matters worse, it's her own younger brother!! In addition to these killings, one Hurley shoots an innocent maid (Louise Beavers) and even a tiny dog!! Could it get worse? Well, she even shoots poor Rex Allen and then claims she shot him AFTER Rex beat the 'ranger' to death--when she actually poisoned him! Can the good guys uncover the plot and dispatch the evil Hurleys? Because the villains are so bad, this is a dynamite B-western. It also helps that the plot is quite original in many ways and Louise Beavers was great as one of the spunkiest women of the old west I've ever seen. Surprisingly good.
It is interesting that in this film Rex Allen plays a character named Rex Allen and Slim Pickens played a guy named Slim Pickens! This sort of thing was quite popular in Roy Rogers films, as Roy and Gabby were often referred to by their stage names. Odd. Also odd is that Pickens really was a cowboy and rodeo star--and so playing a cowboy is pretty natural.