"Man from God's Country" reteamed square-jawed George Montgomery with his "Last of the Badman" director Paul Landres. This sturdy western shoot'em up ranks as one of Montgomery's best, thanks in part to scenarist George Waggner's first class screenplay. Not only does Montgomery reteam with Landres, but also House Peters, Jr., of "Black Patch" is back. This time Peters plays our hero's old pal from the American Civil War. Everything that you want in a good western appears in this lean, mean dust-raiser. Clocking in at a trim 72 minutes, "Man from God's Country" doesn't stray. Frank Wilcox and James Griffith qualify as excellent adversaries. As the entrepreneurial dude who owns the saloon, Wilcox exudes egotism and charm to the max, while Griffith is equally as treacherous as Wilcox's bushwhacking henchman. Wilcox is cast as the owner of a freight business who doesn't want to see the railroad lay track through his stomping grounds until he has cleaned up. We'll probably never know if Spaghetti western director Sergio Corbucci ever saw "Man from God's County," but the pistol-packing finale anticipates "The Mercenary" with competitors who face off but gun down their adversaries. Meantime, the supporting cast is first class with Phil Terry as the sheriff who has more spine than most star-packers. Leading lady Randy Stuart made her last big-screen appearance here as a saloon girl before she took advantage of the television. She is the other lady with a slightly tarnished past who never gets a chance to put a lip lock on our hero, while Susan Cummings is the good girl who is romantically attached to Peters' gunhand. Although this is a low-budget Allied Artists oater, "Man from God's Country" boasts a solid, atmospheric budget. Veteran western producer Scott Dunlap doesn't short-change this sagebrusher that confines itself largely to town settings. The title seems a mite misleading. You don't see any preachers in "Man from God's Country" and our hero is a former sheriff who is a sure shot with a six-shooter. None of the scenes occur in a sanctuary and the Bible isn't quoted by anybody. Typically, gospel means a narrative about the life and death of Jesus. A couple of characters do change their over the duration of the story and our hero calls his advice to a youngster as preaching, but that is as close as it comes to religious. Altogether, "Man from God's Country" is a western worth watching.

Man From God's Country has George Montgomery fired recently as sheriff of one town going to visit a friend in another town, House Peters,Jr. who seems to be mysteriously under the thumb of Gregg Barton and his right hand man James Griffith who does the enforcement of Barton's will when needed. This is not a normal situation by any means and Peters' own son Kim Charney is troubled by it.Of course the bad guys are all taken care of as you would expect in a B western. I have to say though that the plot and motivations of the characters were pretty muddled. Except for saloon girl Randy Stuart. She's working a plan that will put her with a winner no matter who comes out on top.Montgomery never got the acclaim for his B westerns in the way Randolph Scott did. They vary in quality, some were good, over all Randolph Scott's were better. But this one from Allied Artists is near the bottom.

Man from God's Country is directed by Paul Landres and written by George Waggner. It stars George Montgomery, Randy Stuart, Gregg Barton, Kim Charney, Frank Wilcox, Susan Cummings, James Griffith and House Peters Junior. A CinemaScope/De Luxe production, with music by Marlin Skiles and cinematography by Harry Neumann.Dan Beattie (Montgomery) is a former Civil War soldier who is working as the sheriff of Yucca. After being acquitted of murdering a rabble rouser, he quits on principle and heads towards the town of Sundown where he hopes to hook up with his old war buddy Curt Warren (Peters Jr). Upon arrival, though, Dan finds a town run by a shifty business man Beau Santee (Wilcox) who mistakenly suspects Dan of being in league with the railroad company who want to run a line through the town. This opens up a can of worms and friendships and families become in danger of being ruined.Little known Oater from the end of the 50s, Man from God's Country is a standard B picture that never quite fulfils the promise of its themes. There's interesting threads within, though nothing that hasn't been dealt with better elsewhere in 50s Westerns. The railroad is the devil who patrols the edges of the frame, this causes no end of suspicion and treachery as "honest" Dan proves to be the catalyst for Sundown's secrets and lies to come tumbling out of the dust in a blaze of guns, fists and tears.It's handled efficiently by TV director Landres, with Waggner's screenplay mature and not without merit. Cast are mostly run of the mill, though Montgomery (looking and sounding like a poor man's Charlton Heston) proves more than capable at being the macho cornerstone of this particular production, where just like Heston he could throw a believable punch. Filmed out of Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California, there's some nice exteriors photographed by Neumann, costuming and colour are very pleasing and at 72 minutes in length the film never has time to labour.It's more about "potential" psychological characterisations than action, which is fine, all be it annoying since the characters just don't get fleshed out at all. What action there is is done in short sharp shock manner, and in truth the ending, which is never in doubt, is all too brief and not doing justice to the good versus bad thread that director and writer were striving hard to build upon. 6/10

In this standard late 50's color western from George Montgomery, a decent script is hampered by so-so casting and pacing . Montgomery is convincing in the lead hero role --- in a film that is ultimately routine.As movies moved into the late 50's and 1960's, audiences were demanding more adult themes and conflict. This film is an example of that trend. Strained friendship, betrayal, redemption and renewal are all on display in this film ...... but it's too much in too short a film.This is really a "C" western, and while it does entertain it is undemanding and barely memorable........