When you think this film was made in 1953, after "High Noon"(1952) and at the same year as "The Naked Spur" you might think the world was going though two different eras of evolution. Even though this film is in color, which was a characteristic of "A" westerns there are flaws in the script that make it laughable, like Randoph Scott showing his card to Philip Carey, followed by a complete reversal of roles. That scene was more appropriate for Gilbert and Sullivan. What is incredible is that Randy made his excellent western "Hangman's Knot" one year before and had so many great westerns ahead of him, specially with Boetticher. Robert Cabal as Joaquin Murietta is a caricature. Even the action scenes are second rate with people being killed with less fuss than you kill a mosquito. Poor direction and a poor script makes this one of Randy's worst films.

Oh dear! What a disappointment. I've been watching old Westerns on British TV for decades, and I wasn't aware of this one until its showing yesterday - most other Scott Westerns come around every few years or so and are usually worth watching again.The rich colour and outdoor sets were good, but that's all I can say about this film. I have to agree with most of the other negative comments already made. Several times I felt like turning it off, and finally I did, halfway through, something I hardly ever do.Scott seemed unusually oily in charming the girls, his two sidekicks were annoying and so was the Mexican bandit lad. And I've a feeling the army uniforms were 20 years or so too modern, not that this has bothered makers of many other Westerns.Perhaps it got better in the second half, but I couldn't be bothered to wait and see.TWENTY-TWO MONTHS LATER:Bit worrying. I sat down to watch this film and it took a while for me to realise I'd seen it, and less than two years ago. This time I did persevere and watched it all the way through, and still wasn't impressed. It's a bit like a stew into which everything has been thrown, with an unappetising result.I could forgive the stagecoach scene with so many key characters conveniently travelling together, but there were all sorts of curiosities: the attempt to hide the assassins' bodies in the opening scenes, was the charade really necessary of Scott being a disgraced officer, the reason for Hale's feat of strength (and how were Scott and co able to engineer it), the Mexican lad's sudden transformation into an admirer and associate of Scott and his ability to supply rifles in bulk (what did happen to him after he slipped away from the baddies?), the role reversals (already mentioned) of Scott and Carey, how did Scott get a nice new major's uniform, the way the two NCOs were tricked into what they thought was re-enlisting, the stubbled NCO posing as a woman and so on.

The explosion of TV channels must be eternally grateful to the Randolph Scott Western production line, because any any moment there must be one of what seems like a hundred Randolph Scott movies playing on at least one no-budget station."Man Behind The Gun" is a typical early 1950's period melodrama with pre-WWII production values that relies on a historically-topical murder mystery plot peppered with action scenes to disguise the script's complete absence of character development, and thus lack of suspense. In years to come the role of these films would be taken over by TV shows like 'Gunsmoke', 'Bonanza', etc - and these actually did the job better. Randolph Scott, looking particularly grizzled in this, is the good guy, struggling against the bad guys against whom he will eventually prevail. There's no more interest in what he goes through emotionally than in what his horse is feeling, unless you count wondering whether he'll sort out the initial misunderstanding with the female lead by the end. The music is a stronger indication of the emotional state of the 'characters' than the acting is. But it's fine if that floats your boat; and I wouldn't berate you for enjoying 'Diagnosis, Murder', either.Workmanlike, pedestrian, and ageing rapidly. 3 stars for being competently put together; 0 for artistic endeavour.

Randy is an army deserter (or is he?--not terribly original plot point but workable)involved with separatist gun runners out to control the water supply & thereby the whole of Southern California. The exact time frame is uncertain: after the Mexican War & before California became a state, General Zachary Taylor is mentioned (his picture hangs in Phil Carey's office) in the present tense but not his being president--so who knows & who cares. This isn't a history lesson; it's a Randolph Scott western where everybody carries a six-gun (even if at that time--most did not) and the Cavalry are wearing the completely wrong uniforms. Anyway, the first half sets up a decent premise and is pretty entertaining but once a certain cat is out of the bag so to speak it devolves into a very standard a rather dull outing for Randy. Patricia Wymore is very attractive & a decent actress. Phil Carey, Roy Roberts, Alan Hale, Jr., Douglas Fowley, Morris Ankrum and Anthony Caruso lend good support but the less said about Dick Wesson's more or less comedy relief role, the better. The script by John Twist has giant plot holes & is very clunky and Felix Feist's direction is alternately pedestrian and sloppy. Oh well, the Techincolor is quite nice. All I really ask from a Randy Scott western is to be entertained, this one only got me halfway there.