Having read previous reviews, I nearly didn't bother to watch TQG, but was glad that I did. By the standards of the 1960s and Audie Murphy Westerns, it wasn't at all bad. Murphy wasn't the greatest actor (though he did well in The Red Badge of Courage and The Unforgiven), but many of his facial reactions in TQG were quite good.Certainly Ted de Corsia over-acted, and the hotel seemed remarkably plush for such a small town. But I've seen far worse well-lit night scenes, and the townsfolk were elderly because all the young ranch-hands were away on trail. The old gang member seemed no older than grizzled old coots such as Gabby Hayes and Walter Brennan who featured in many Westerns.Spoiler begins: Sheriff Grant's strategy was all wrong. He locks up the only other fighting man in town and lets go the two outlaws sent to reconnoitre the town. (Later, when they are captured, Dan Evans remarks that's two less; pity that they weren't arrested earlier.) And Grant was foolhardy to go out to parley with Spangler.I did suspect that some of the revolvers might be seven- or eight-shot, but at least both sides went through the motions of reloading them.

Dating from 1964, the latter Audie Murphy western is a routine B filler littered with continuity errors (most notably, the church building in which all the windows are dark from the outside but inside the lights are on full pelt), stunt doubles and poor tactics (when attacking the town the villains don't decide to use dynamite to destroy the barricade until about half of them have been killed in a pointless full-frontal attack). It does have a high body count and Ted De Corsia overacts enjoyably in a role he previously played only 4 years before in Noose for a Gunman. (this film is a remake of that from the same production company).With these 1960s colour B westerns it is noticeable how ridiculously clean everything is. One guesses the film was shot on standard TV sets during the season break.I was intrigued by the member of outlaw De Corsia's band who seemed to be at least 70 years old. This guy says nothing the whole time and must have been cast because he was a friend or relation of someone. His moment of fame comes when the outlaws lay siege to Murphy who is in a hotel. Throughout the sequence, this OAP stands next to De Corsia gurning, looking around for no obvious reason and pointing his gun at his boss.

I'd just finished watching this without paying much attention to the title and figured I'd have no trouble finding it on IMDb.com. What a mistake. Hollywood had been grinding out cheap Westerns forever but by this time, the mid 60s, the rivalry with television must have gotten frenzied. Few actors of consequence bothered any longer with these inexpensive effort. The 50s had produced some superb example of what were called "adult Westerns," meaning the target audience was older than ten, but by 1964 the genre was moribund. Nope. "The Quick Gun" did not stand out from the list of desperately blank titles.Murphy is returning to his home town of Shelby to warn the residents of an impending raid by the notorious Ted DeCorsia's gang. But they don't want him around. Before he left, he became a fast draw, always in trouble, and now no one trusts him. Not even his old friend who is now the sheriff and who has been a-courting that blond gal who always had a kinda crush on Murphy. The sheriff dies bravely, although die he must because he has to be gotten out of the way so that Murphy can wind up with that there blond gal with the 1964 brassiere. The plot isn't worth going into any farther.In some ways the most interesting feature of the movie is the musical score by Richard LaSalle. It's extraordinarily dull. Except for a few suspenseful periods when it lapses into a barely recognizable "Carlotta's Theme" by Bernard Hermann from "Vertigo." I don't have the musical vocabulary to describe it, but if you listen closely you'll see just what I mean.Murphy performs as Audie Murphy. He was always Audie Murphy, just as Ted DeCorsia was always Ted DeCorsia. In the course of his career, Murphy gave one triumphant performance -- in John Huston's "The Red Badge of Courage." He still was playing Audie Murphy but that was precisely what the template called for.

Audie Murphy is one of my favorite actors, in westerns he's real good. Clint Cooper returns to the town he was run out of, 2 years prior to the start of the movie, and he Audie, tells a flash back-like story. He returns because he wants to redeem himself, and in the beginning it's tense, but as per usual, the town begins to let Clint Cooper know, everything isn't as it seems. So, without giving the plot away and telling how well lit the scenes are, I will just end by saying if you like to root for the good guy turned bad guy, turned good guy, then you might like this film. One funny thing is seeing a rough tough rancher with a bright purple shirt on. Something tells me, that wouldn't have happened back in the day. The trouble starts when Tom Morris finds out that Clint Cooper is back in town! Tom want's revenge for Clint killing his two sons in a gun fight while Tom Morris and his sons were trying to steal Clint's families land. So the towns people hate Clint and want him gone! But the town doesn't have time to run him off this time. Spangler's on his way with his gang to rob the town and burn it to the ground if "I feel like it, nobody could stop us". Clint's been thinking about the cute little school marm he left behind, figures he can come home and pick up where he left off! But she's gonna marry Clint's old buddy the Town Sheriff. So watch and see how all this untangles! But be careful 'couse Clint's gun "got to fast"