dougdoepke A pacifist-minded ex-Confederate gets caught up in a land war as he seeks a new life in post- Civil War Missouri.Considering the bizarre cast, I guess I was hoping for too much. After all, the compelling Tierney, Elam, Chaney Jr. and Dell are all established movie toughies. Then there's the unpredictable Ireland and Morris, performers comfortable playing with a wobbly moral compass. And finally there's the luscious Malone playing the good citizen, though she could also wobble when necessary, e.g. Written On The Wind (1955). Trouble is Tierney's entirely wasted, disappearing early on. No scary stare or frozen face here. As a result, there's no logical showdown between him and Ireland, as dramatically promising as that would be. Also, Chaney only gets a few minutes of loopy screen time, while Morris seems unsure of what he's supposed to do as the Marshal. And the latter's really too bad since the Marshal's uncertainty could be the story's most interesting character. The narrative itself is fairly familiar—greedy plotters trying to drive settlers off their land so they can cash in on the railway coming through. Not exactly a ground-breaking premise. On the other hand, shifting alliances among the town folk add character interest, while a restrained Ireland carries the film even though in a clichéd role. Still, I like the fact that the settlers organize themselves without waiting for the hero to save the day. That's a good non- clichéd touch.All in all, I'm wondering how a budget indie like this was able to assemble such an exotic cast, and whether they had to haul legendary juicers like Tierney and Chaney out of the nearest Hollywood bar. Too bad the screenplay didn't make better use of these colorful characters. That would have made something truly memorable. Instead, we get an unexceptional if occasionally interesting western.

MartinHafer Considering the film has two of my very favorite film noir heavies, John Ireland and Lawrence Tierney, I sure expected it would be better. I also expected it would not be a western, as both these actors were known for their contemporary performances--not westerns (especially Tierney).The film begins with the Civil War ending. Ireland is sick of the killing and vows never to harm anyone ever again. Frankly, this really telegraphed where the film would eventually go, as you KNEW that sooner or later he'd have to plug someone. And that someone or some people would be the gang run by a real nut-case, Lon Chaney, Jr.. The problem is that Chaney's performance is waaaay over the top--so much so that you terrible performance by Chaney can't help but laugh at him! Really. And there's also the insane lady who loves shooting people and acting, like Chaney, quite histrionic. They really help give the film a nice insane chic look! Overall, however, the film is a very ordinary western that wastes some good actors--mostly because they had no idea what to do in this sort of film. One of the only ones who did seem in his element was Jack Elam--king of menacing cowboys.

FightingWesterner Ex-Confederate John Ireland flees reconstruction and it's test of his vow of non-violence. Heading west, he winds up in a town under the thumb of powerful land baron Lon Chaney and his sadistic enforcer Lawrence Tierney, who are killing stealing land in anticipation of the railroad. Trying to leave, Ireland is only pulled in deeper.Another hard-boiled, low-budget 1950's western noir, The Bushwhackers is vivid and fairly violent entertainment that's definitely worth checking out. Like nearly all good westerns, it does a great job of manipulating the viewer, building up to the moment when all bets are off and the hero straps on his six-gun to take care of business.Here, Ireland and Tierney are fantastic. It's too bad that these two great actors were pretty much relegated to minor films (Tierney especially) due their alleged drunken exploits.The rest of the cast, Wayne Morris, Dorothy Malone (who's beautiful), and Jack Elam, are all great too.

classicsoncall I found it interesting that the film's original working title was "The Rebel", since some of the early footage was also used in the opening sequence of the 1959 Civil War TV series, "The Gray Ghost". I'm pretty sure I've also seen it recycled in other movies with a Civil War theme.John Ireland stars as tired ex-soldier Jefferson Waring from Virginia, heading West without a gun and a vow to never use one against men again. Of course that's just the set up for the eventual finale when he does just that to take the side of settlers against scheming landowners led by Artemus Taylor (Lon Chaney). Chaney's character is wheelchair bound throughout the story, but that doesn't prevent him from looking about as spooky as he did in any of his horror flicks.The most complex, actually frustrating character in the story for me was Marshal Harding (Wayne Morris). He's in the pocket of villain Sam Tobin (Lawrence Tierney), but is on the fence most of the time trying to keep a level playing field for Waring and his new friends. Curiously, he never uses his six gun, and actually seems to have an aversion to firing one; he isn't even part of the finale when the settlers stand up for their rights.Where the film gets really gritty has to do with the treatment of Taylor's daughter Nora, who's every bit as ornery as her father. Following the ambush on Taylor's hired gunmen, she attempts to make a getaway with money from the local bank, and shoots banker Stone (Charles Trowbridge) in the process. Now it's not unusual for a woman in a 'B' Western to get shot, even killed, but here, when Stone recovers, he shoots her IN THE BACK - Wow! That was something I never thought I'd see, in fact, never even thought about it, even though it happened all the time when men were involved.A couple of things to keep an eye out for - early in the story when Waring first meets Peter Sharpe (Frank Marlowe), they sit down, and Sharpe begins his conversation with "You know Randall...". Ireland's character looks at Sharpe as if to say, 'hey, that's not my name', but the scene continues. Later on, I got a kick out of the funeral service being held in the local saloon for a couple that was killed by Taylor's goons. Right there on top of the bar was a sign stating - 'Bar Closed During Services'!