Brimstone (1949)

"Undersea Kingdom" Joseph Kane's "Brimstone" is an above-average, but formulaic western with plenty of a knock down, drag out fistfights, shootouts, and intrigue. Rod Cameron is cast as an undercover marshal after a gang of thieves. The movie draws its title from the cunning patriarchal 'Pop' Courteen that Walter Brennan plays who presides over a family of ruthless, no-account outlaws who have a legitimate cattle spread. Just to give you an idea how villainous Brennan is, his two eldest sons are played by seasoned heavies like Jack Lambert and Jim Davis. Mind you, this is a plum role for Lambert because he survives about three-fourths of the film before he bites the dust. After a number of unexplained robberies occur, Johnny Tremain shows up and Sheriff Henry McIntyre (Forrest Tucker) deputizes him despite his instincts that Tremaine may be the outlaw roaming the territory. The town elders have their eye on McIntyre because he cannot seem to round up the bandit and threaten to depose him if he doesn't solve the crimes and apprehend the criminals before Marshal Walter Greenslide (Jack Holt of "The Littlest Rebel") arrives. When the marshal shows up, he is promptly wounded during a stagecoach robbery in the middle of a stream by a hooded bandit. Fortunately, the lawman is merely winged and comes out of it wearing a sling. Meantime, Pop is up to no-good not only struggling to keep his sons in line, especially one (James Brown of "Red River") who wants to marry a settler, and stealing money holding up a bank."Brimstone" features an all-star cast. Cameron makes a stalwart hero, while Brennan steals the show as the treacherous father. Indeed, Brennan's performance here reminded me of his superb characterization as Ike Clanton in John Ford's classic oater "My Darling Clementine." One big twist occurs near the end that Kane and "Escape Me Never" scenarist Thames Williamson concoct and let simmer beneath the surface for the length of his vigorous western. Look for Will Wright as the fiery editor and publisher of a newspaper. Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams has a strong part as Sheriff McIntyre's deputy. My only complaint is some of the special effects, particularly the painted backdrops look might obvious. Prolific helmer Joseph Kane, who directed two John Wayne escapades entitled "Flame of the Barbary Coast" and "Dakota," keeps the action moving and never allows the pace to slacken in this nimble 90-minute frontier tale. This is one of those rare action-packed westerns where the hero doesn't have a love interest. Nevertheless, western fans will appreciate this rugged horse opera and the sturdy cast that highlights it.

Borrowing from his portrayal of Old Man Clanton in My Darling Clementine, Walter Brennan dominates this film as the mean and merciless head of an outlaw family. It seems that Brennan at one time was the local Ben Cartwright, but little by little the homesteaders and small ranches have nibbled him down to little by his standards. So he and his two outlaw sons Jim Davis and Jack Lambert have been plying the outlaw trade going after them with some cattle rustling and other forms of criminal enterprise.The general outlaw situation has a lot of people mighty of suspicious of sheriff Forrest Tucker and deputy Guinn Williams. Federal Marshal Jack Holt arrives on the scene, but he's wounded in a stagecoach holdup and not able to do too much.Into all this mix is a mysterious loner played by Rod Cameron who looks like he's trying to cut himself in on everybody's action, Brennan's and Tucker's. When you're not watching Brennan, Cameron's the one that should be paid attention.Brennan had a very bad time with John Ford when he made My Darling Clementine, but Ford got a great performance from him. I think Brennan channeled a lot of that into his role here of Brimstone Courteen.This is a great action western from Republic with quite a bit more plot to it than the usual Republic product for the Saturday afternoon kid market. And you'll not forget Walter Brennan in the title role.

This is a Republic Studios shot at an A picture. The problem is that it is still Republic, after all. The film is in color, but it's "Trucolor", which is a two color process that makes the great outdoors look very odd. (The movie was clearly shot in the winter -- which makes the fact that the process really does not show green less of a liability. The blue shows up as a very cold blue) And when it is time for a big sweeping scene that's beyond this film's budget, the movie suddenly changes to black and white for a minute.But the reason for watching is seeing Walter Brennan in full-bore villain mode. And he plays the character as that mean old evil reprobate we all know in our lives, and he is scary good at it. The character resembles his villain in "My Darling Clementine", but he has more film time to be just plain awful, and he makes the most of it. It is bravura acting, but it is not the least hammy or corny. The man won his Academy Awards for a reason.Plot? Stranger with unclear motives takes on a corrupt town. No surprises on how this develops, though one thinks the Walter Brennan character in real life would have made prompt mincemeat of the stalwart hero, and purchased himself a few more local politicians.

This is one of the B Western films that has everything, great stars, great plot, surprises, good guys, bad guys, etc.Brennen does an excellent job as Brimstone, a grizley old man that is bad to the bone and expects his moron sons to be just as bad. The exception being James Brown.Rod Cameron plays a great part but in my opinion, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams steals the show."Gracious, I always talk Spanish when I'm eatin', makes the food taste better"Watch it, tape it and watch it again. You'll always find some hidden part or line that'll connect for you.