"Powder River" is a Technicolor revenge western reminiscent of the Wyatt Earp/ Doc Holiday relationship depicted in the earlier "My Darling Clementine" (1946).Rory Calhoun plays ex-marshal Chino Bull(ock) who has hung up his guns to prospect for gold with his partner Johnny Slater (Frank Ferguson). Two saddle tramps Loney Hogan (Carl Betz) and his com padre (Bob Wilke) try to steal Chino and Johnny's horses but are driven off by Chino. Later after returning from town, Chino finds Johnny murdered and their gold stolen. Chino assumes that Hogan was to blame and takes on the town marshal's job in order to bring Logan to justice.In the local saloon Chino meets proprietor "Frenchie" Dumont (Corrine Calvet) and learns that she is "associated" with gunman Mitch Hardin (Cameron Mitchell). Chino and Hardin strike up a friendship. Debbie Allen (Penny Edwards) the girl Hardin left behind shows up to complicate matters. We learn along the way that Hardin is a doctor who is suffering from a brain tumor and that he has a death wish.Chino entices Loney and Harvey Logan (John Dehner) to try to rob a gold shipment in order to force a showdown until..............Calhoun was always a pleasant enough hero whose career in westerns extended well into the 60s. Calvet with her thick French accent makes a poor man's Marlene Deitrich. Mitchell never quite made it to the A list but was a dependable second lead during this period. Carl Betz is best remembered as the father in "The Donna Reed Show". Penny Edwards appeared in a number of Roy Rogers oaters while Dale Evans was having a baby in 1950.

POWDER RIVER – 1953A brisk 20 Century Fox B-western production that is better than one would expect. Rory Calhoun plays the hero lead here while Carl Betz and John Dehner ably handle the villain parts. Also in the mix are Cameron Mitchell, Penny Edwards and the rather stunning looking, Corinne Calvet.The story has Calhoun as an ex-lawman who has hung up the guns. He is now doing some gold prospecting with Frank Ferguson. The two are doing quite well and are building up a good sized stake of gold. They need to be on guard since the woods are full of claim jumpers and the like. Calhoun heads in to the nearby town of Powder River to cash in some gold and pick up supplies. Powder River is more or less run by saloon keeper, Corinne Calvet. Cahoun returns to his camp after the supply run into town. He finds his partner, Ferguson, dead and their gold gone. He returns to town to look for anyone with a bit too much gold dust. No luck there, but he does break up a bunch of yahoos causing trouble. Calhoun finds himself being offered the job of town Sheriff, which he accepts. What better way to discover who killed his partner.Saloon and gambling house owner, Calvet takes a shine to Calhoun. This, he is told might not be all that wise a move on his part. It seems that Calvet has a beau already. The man, Cameron Mitchell, is really handy with a gun and is known for violent mood swings. These are caused by a tumor in his brain. Mitchell is a former doctor from out east. Mitchell had accidentally killed a man during surgery when he suffered one of his attacks.Now popping up is Penny Edwards. Edwards is the former fiancé of Mitchell. She wants Mitchell to come back east and get an operation. This plan is put on hold, as Mitchell ends up helping Calhoun take on the villain types, Carl Betz and John Dehner. There are several shootouts, a jailbreak and several more shootouts.Miss Edwards catches a bullet and Mitchell ends up having to do surgery to save her life. After all this, we discover that it had been Mitchell who had shot Calhoun's partner, Ferguson. Mitchell then drops dead from a brain aneurysm saving Calhoun from shooting him in revenge for Ferguson. As silly as this might sound, it plays out rather well on screen.This rather lively duster is a step above what was normally delivered by veteran b-film helmsman, Louis King. King dwelled for years on westerns with Buck Jones before moving up the ladder a bit with the odd Charlie Chan and Bulldog Drummond feature. The writing of this film is quite good with Sam Hellman, Stuart Lake and Daniel Mainwaring. Lake wrote the stories for several excellent westerns. These include FRONTIER MARSHAL, WELLS FARGO, THE WESTERNER, MY DARLING CLEMINTINE and WINCHESTER 73. Mainwaring, better known as Geoffrey Homes, wrote the story or screenplay for ROUGHSHOD, THE BIG STEAL, THE LAWLESS, THE LAST OUTPOST, ROADBLOCK, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK, THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS and the noir classic, OUT OF THE PAST. Cinematographer Ernest Cronjager supplies some nice Technicolor work on this one.

I'm not really a fan of Rory Calhoun, but I enjoyed his character in this picture. It tells a story with a bit more depth and a few surprises, while still providing action, romance and some terrific western scenery. While Calhoun's character, Chino Bull, is still country-suave and in control, he doesn't convey the snide quality that was an undercurrent in his later television work. The story line carries some standard western baggage, but at the same time it veers away with unexpected plot developments that were a bit more sophisticated than the type of that era, presaging the so-called "adult westerns" that became the standard in the 1950s and '60s. The female characters, unfortunately, are given the usual supportive roles. Still, it's an interesting story against some beautiful backgrounds.

Rory Calhoun was a staple hero in all kinds of films during the 50s. His performances were always great, abetted by his handsome, rugged looks and the ease into which he fit into a number of hero roles. In this one, a kind of standard western, he plays an ex-lawman who returns to the trade when his partner is killed. During the time he cleans up the town, defeats bad guys played by veteran character actors Carl Betz and John Dehner, gets his semi-revenge, on the antihero, played by Cameron Mitchell, wows the French bombshell, Corinne Calvert and, of course, gets the girl. It's great 50s entertainment with a total lack of CGI action, extensive blood and gore and good honest villains and good guys. (*sigh) They just don't make movies like this any more. Watch for it on the late show. There's no DVD or video listed. Calhoun was always worth the price of admission.