Wonderful character development!

A Major Disappointment

A Disappointing Continuation

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Distinguished by its overt, out in the open, relationships between Men and Women circa 1885 in the Old West. It is that Story flirtation that makes this one a bit different than most of the Westerns of the 1950's.Behind the Women taming the wild Men of the Old West is a gang of bank robbers led by Rory Calhoun with John McEntire, and Jay Silverheels. They encounter Walter Brennan and his coming of age Daughter in tow and from the very first scenes this one sets itself up as a steamy, sexy Western."Didn't anyone tell you not to scratch yourself in front of other people? Dad Brennan asks the curvaceous and cute "Lolly" (Colleen Miller) as she awakens.She is doused with water as Her blouse clings and the camera lingers from below on Her upper half. You'd better sew up that dress," He tells the oblivious Gal after a roll around with Calhoun. And there's more. She is Flirtatious with a Candy Cane and a Bottle of Sarsaparilla.She goes out in a nighttime rainstorm in Her bed clothes and meets soaking wet with Calhoun in the barn.There is dialog, once the gang gets to town about Men being hogtied by Women and Calhoun's ex-Lover is now His former Friend's Wife and She breaks up a fistfight by literally pulling a buggy whip on both of them. This kind of Adults at play stuff was not available on The Tube and by 1954 it was obvious Movies had to offer something a bit different to get Folks off the couch.The good Cast, color Photography, and the sexual stuff make this one stand out as an above average Entry in the crowded field of the Western Movies of that Decade.

The Four Guns To The Border that are in the title is an outlaw gang headed by Rory Calhoun with George Nader, Jay Silverheels, and John McIntire as members. They're returning to Calhoun's home town where he was run out of years ago by sheriff Charles Drake. Calhoun's ex-girl friend Nina Foch wound up marrying Drake.Calhoun's not going there for any revenge though giving Drake a beating does have its satisfactions. He's going to challenge Drake quite publicly and while he and Drake are fighting, the other three can rob an unguarded bank. It works, but then the outlaws meet up with old time outlaw Walter Brennan and his daughter Colleen Miller who are besieged by renegade Apaches.They met up with Brennan and Miller earlier. Of course the young ones Calhoun and Nader get their hormones in an uproar. But Brennan's not having any daughter of his taking up with no outlaw.Four Guns To The Border is a good no frills western with some of its plot taken from Three Godfathers. The outlaws prove to have more character than they realize. A good ensemble cast is gathered for this which as another viewer observed has no real good or bad guys. Or to put it another way the line of demarcation between the good and the bad isn't all that clear.As good a film as Four Guns To The Border is, it's kind of story was being found on the adult westerns popping up with increasing regularity shortly.

"Four Guns to the Border" is one of those entertaining little 80 minute westerns that Universal turned out in the the 50s. The leads in those films were largely interchangeable (i.e. Audie Murphy, Jeff Chandler, Rory Calhoun, Jock Mahoney etc.)Calhoun stars in this one as a largely unsympathetic character Cully, a bank robber, trying for that one big score. Riding with him are Bronco (George Nader), Dutch (John McIntyre) and Yaqui (Jay Silverheels). On the trail the boys meet former outlaw Simon Bhumer (Walter Brennan playing it straight this time) and his comely young daughter Lolly (Colleen Miller). In spite of Simon's warning, sparks begin to fly between Cully and Lolly.But first thing first. Cully it seems has a past with Sheriff Jim Flannery (Charles Drake) and his attractive wife Maggie (Nina Foch). He uses this past relationship to goad Flannery into a fight as a diversion to the bank hold-up. Then the gang flees into Apache territory where of course they meet up with the Bhumers and............."Four Guns to the Border" was directed by actor Richard Carlson who does a creditable job but allows Calhoun's character to find redemption in the usual contrived happy Hollywood ending though. Brennan is good as the protective father as is McIntyre who was a past master at stealing a scene. Nestor Paiva also has a nice bit as "Greasy".An entertaining little western.

This dull shoot-'em-up, a typical run-of-the-mill, cowboys 'n' Indians, robbers vs.posse oater, has one remarkably fascinating aspect: a bare-bones plot punctuated by surprisingly sexual imagery, much of which can be interpreted as homoerotic. Some scenes are steamingly obvious in their depiction of passion, and others are so gratuitously injected that they can only be seen as surreptitiously symbolic. (There's even a totally irrelevant pussycat with kittens). The creators must have had a bang-up good time foisting such a naughty piece on mid-fifties audiences, and modern viewers should have just as much fun ferreting out each and every nuance! Fans who favor peeking below the Production Code will have a ball!