This is the perfect movie to watch if you don't like Frank Sinatra. I know, how many people don't like him, but I'm sure there's a few out there. My brother, for one. In Johnny Concho, Frankie plays the title character in his first western. He's catered to, allowed to buy and own things he doesn't pay for, and cheats at cards while everyone always looks the other way. Why? Because his brother is the feared gunfighter Red Concho, and everyone in town knows if they cross Johnny, Red will kill them. When Red is killed by a rival, suddenly Johnny is no longer feared, respected, or even tolerated. The entire town turns against him, including his girl, and when his brother's murderer challenges him to a duel, he can either face his death or run out of town. What will he do? I really like this movie, and the most interesting aspect is that besides the sets and costumes, it doesn't really feel like a western. It doesn't focus on horses, ranches, brothels, or cowboys. The power struggle and the dynamic of an entire town finally free to rear up against one man is very effectively captured by Don McGuire, in his directorial debut. Nelson Riddle's theme is compassionate and lonely, echoing how the audience feels about the story. Frank Sinatra gives a great against-type performance as a partial villain, struggling with the decision to be brave and die or be a coward and live. If you like internally driven westerns, or if you appreciate Frank Sinatra's acting career just as much or more than his singing career, rent Johnny Concho. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat!

In Technicolor and starring Bob Hope this story could have been hilarious if played for laughs; instead we get an extremely earnest black & white psychological western starring a 'serious' Frank Sinatra, with an appropriately moody score by Sinatra's regular arranger Nelson Riddle.Considering that he produced the film himself, Sinatra has strangely elected to play a complete louse in the title role. Johnny is with good reason hated by the entire town of Cripple Creek, with the inexplicable exception of Phyllis Kirk (added to the script presumably to make us give a damn whether he lived or died). Moral salvation comes in the form of William Conrad and Keenan Wynn; the former is the one gunfighter even meaner and deadlier than Sinatra's late brother Red Concho, the latter an absolute blast in a late-appearing cameo as a macho gun-toting preacher who pep talks Johnny into finally finding his mojo.As the film was building up to the usual town square shoot-out, I was thinking to myself that now would be a good moment for the assembled townfolk to shoot Conrad while his attention was on Sinatra, when - ah, but that would be telling...! Despite being such a dead shot and with so little concern for human life, with his first shot Conrad naturally only wounds Sinatra by shooting him in the shoulder; if it had been other member of the cast than the star he would have been instantly dispatched to Boot Hill for the rest of eternity.

I was lucky enough to get to see this film many years ago in England. I've seen hundreds of films since,but I've never forgotten this one.Although Sinatra was playing a not very endearing character,he was excellent in the role.A lot of people seem to think that he did'nt really come into his own until his role in "From Here To Eternity" but in my opinion he was magnificent in Concho.The other role that sticks in my mind is that of William Conrad.I'd never see or heard of him before this film. Conrad plays a terrific part in this film.I remember his deep and gravelly voice and he uses it beautifully to enhance the few words he speaks with a menace that sets the tone of his character.Also I remember the music, that both introduces Conrad and and seems to surround him whenever he appears.An excellent film and my only disappointment was that I never ever got the chance to see it again. It seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. I see in the titles that it says that the film is in black and white but when I saw it was indeed in full color, I remember Sinatra's blue shirt.

Mercifully, there's no video of this wannabe western that a stay-afloat vehicle for Big Frank at a time when his career was floundering. The story of a weasel who lives on the reputation of his big gun brother and who gets run out of town by bad guys only to return to rally his townfolks with a new found courage must have been written by a back-room writer. All in all, this show stinks. The story is basically boring, ill-conceived and so naive that it can offend your intelligence. I must depart complete from the other reviewer who found it "...underrated..." The critics slammed it at the time and deservedly so. You'll have to catch it on the last show, if you up late and having a bout of insomnia. But, if you can sit through it, you've more fortitude than most of my movie buff friends.