Ah, The Bushwhackers, also known as The Rebel, a Western packed to the rafters with ever watchable actors, but unfurled like an amateur homage to Oaters a decade or so before.Co-written and directed by Rod Amateau, and starring John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Lawrence Tierney, Lon Chaney Junior, Myrna Dell, Wayne Morris and Jack Elam, film finds Ireland as Civil War veteran Jefferson Waring, who has vowed to never pick up a gun in anger again. However, upon wandering into the town of Independence, Missouri, he finds a town awash with sinister rumblings as Lon Chaney's Don Vito Corleone figure - backed by Dell's nefarious daughter - is plotting to own all the local land because the Railroad is coming and there's going to be a high premium placed on said land.Cue Waring being pulled from emotional pillar to emotional post, with Malone batting her eyelids amidst a strong portrayal of feisty sexuality, until he takes up the good fight for the greater good in readiness for the finale that holds no surprises. There's a mean spirited edge to the plot which keeps things interesting and spicy, and although they are under used, having Tierney and Elam as thugs for hire is always a good thing, but it's directed and edited in such a cack - handed way there's little to no flow to the picture. Making it practically impossible to invest in the characterisations.Unfortunately the DVD print provided by Elstree Hill is a disgrace, not even up to the standard of a VHS copy of a copy! A shame because through the gloom and scrambled fuzz of the transfer, you can see Joseph Biroc's noirish photography trying to break out. The actors make it worth a watch, in that Western fans can tick it off their lists, but nobody should be fooled into thinking there's an exciting picture here, or that it has observational intelligence about a scarred war veteran, because it has neither and Amateau's subsequent "non" career in film after this tells you all you need to know. 5/10

Where do I start? This low budget B film is really really mean! This was made in 1951 before the really dirty villain was around in low budget westerns I thought? Maybe this film helped set the trend, the times they were changing. So what do I mean by "dirty" +++Spoilers+++ How about in the first 5 minutes crazy eye Jack Elam torches a settlers house with two pre teen boys still in it? This right after he cracks their Mom's skull with a torch making them both orphans because they had just gunned down their Dad? Now thats dirty! Then you got psychotic Lon Chaney and his really crazy daughter Myrna Dell, you do NOT want to mess around with that family! They put new meaning to the phrase "we don't take kindly to strangers"! In comes poor ol John Ireland who has vowed to never use a gun at the end of the civil war and heads out west? He couldn't gone east I guess because he never got rid of his rebel trousers? And let me tell you the first half of this film is John Ireland getting beat up and shot and then thrown in irons for murder by Wayne Morris in all his Paths Of Glory corruption as the town marshal. Dorothy Malone is the hot good girl daughter of the newspaper editor who also packs a gun, I mean everybody is gun crazy (except John Ireland), and they have quick trigger fingers too! The film poster linked here (actually a DVD cover) is that of Myrna Dell who's the blond in this film and because she's a psycho and she has 20 gun men to back her up. The story may be very clichéd but the out right ruthlessness of the bad guys and utter corruption of the whole town for a 1951 film raise this film up several notches. I'm giving it a 7 out 10, it doesn't deserve higher because it's cheaply made but it's very entertaining. I had this film in a 50 movie pack set for "War" films from Millcreek that I got off of Amazon. The print is pretty bad I see that since it's a public domain film that it's available on archive, youtube and hulu now so try them out, the print is probably better. Don't be getting Bushwhacked now, you hear?!

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.

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'!