The Plunderers (1960)

Noir western on a fear atmosphere of shadow of ruthelessness against the weakest in name of foolish revenge those didn't has nothing with,psychological plot where shown where can take a group of young men strong together,but didn't nothing if was alone.....B wersten which was the last one of Chander in this genre,the young actor Ray Stricklyn as Jeb gang's leader was nominatet by Golden Globe awards as best supporting actor.....look at the old drunk man who came together the gang,a interesting character and how he had behavoir changes aftewards!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7

The Plunderers is directed by Joseph Pevney and written by Bob Barbash. It stars Jeff Chandler, John Saxon, Dolores Hart, Marsha Hunt and Jay C. Flippen. Music is by Leonard Rosenman and cinematography by Eugene Polito.Trail City, and 4 delinquent cowboys ride into town with attitude and carefree abandon. The Trail City residents - spineless, all except one man. One man who considers himself only half a man on account of his disability. That man is Civil War veteran Captain Sam...War didn't just destroy his arm.The few critical appraisals and reviews that exist for The Plunderers are keen to associate the picture with other notable pictures released previously, which in this instance is something of a curse when they happen to be well revered classics. Yet this is no knock off, it has its own identity. The four young delinquents here are not dashing dandy types, the makers make every effort to put their failings as human beings up at the front of the portrayals. These are young men, out of their depth, even spineless, but of course the town doesn't know this as they are too busy cowering in the shadows.The messages are obvious in the play, but Pevney doesn't use his sledgehammer to enforce those parts of the narrative. It's perhaps no surprise how things pan out with Chandler's embittered war veteran, as he wrestles with both his conscience and his disability, but Pevney has a good knack for slow burning the atmosphere to bring rewards for film's finale. Chandler, in his last Western, is suitably broody, Hunt and Hart are beauties to behold, while of the bad boys it's Saxon as a diabolical Mexican - with scary eyebrows - and the only one who is old enough to shave, who strikes the highest villain chords.Elsewhere there's a great musical score provided by double Academy Award Winner Rosenman, very much akin to something that the moody Twilight Zone episodes would use. It also at times has the feel of the score Alan Silvestri would rustle up for Predator some 27 years later. Polito's photography is crisp, where in conjunction with Pevney's camera angles and lighting techniques keeps the claustrophobia factor high in this one location setting.Crackerjack! A dandy of a black and white Oater waiting to be discovered by more Western fans. It's a keeper for sure. 8/10

"The Plunderers" is essentially Marlon Brando's "The Wild One' (1953) in a western setting. Four youths having been run out of Dodge City, happen upon a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere. They are led by Jeb Tyler (Ray Sticklyn) a young man with a chip on his shoulder. Riding with him are the hulking "Mule" Thompson (Roger Torrey), the Mexican Rondo (John Saxon) and Davy (Dee Pollock) the youngest of the gang.The gang sees an opportunity to take over the town when they are shown little resistance when they refuse to pay for their drinks from saloon owner Mike Barron (James Westerfield), for their new clothes from store owner Jess Walters (Vaughn Taylor) and for their hotel rooms from hotel owner Kate Miller (Marsha Hunt).Town sheriff McCauley (Jay C. Flippen) tries to reason with the gang but is unsuccessful. The town then turns to one-armed civil war hero Sam Christy (Jeff Chandler) for help. At first he refuses to get involved despite pleas from former girl friend Kate and the store keeper's daughter Ellie (Dolores Hart). Rondo has eyes for the young Ellie but her heart it seems belongs to Sam.Eventually, Sam agrees to help leading to a confrontation with the gang and.............The film has fine cast but curiously John Saxon, who is billed second over the title, has only a secondary role here. Jeff Chandler gives a fine performance as the one armed reluctant hero although Dolores Hart seems a little too young for the grey haired Chandler. Ray Stricklyn is a little James Deanish as the chief baddie. Veterans Jay C. Flippen and James Westerfield stand out among the supporting cast.I guess by now every one knows that Dolores Hart left the glamour of Hollywood and her fiancé to enter a convent where she remains to this day.Not to be confused with the 1948 film of the same name.

Juvenile delinquency was a very hot topic in the late fifties and early sixties. The new scourge of civilization, rock and roll, had transformed the younger generation into rebels who wanted to cast off the repressive rules by which they were expected to conduct themselves. The burgeoning post-war economy was removing the fear that had formed so much of the older generation's embracement of responsibility and the ever-quickening pace of materialistic progress was making any prospect of boredom anathema to the young.This certainly didn't go unnoticed by the establishment who were understandably alarmed by what appeared to be a rise in youthful disrespect and hedonism and the war of the generations was taken fairly seriously for a while. Hollywood quickly realized that this was a very sexy and saleable topic for entertaining the masses and began churning out dramas of rebellious youth by the boatload. By 1960 (the year this film was released) these rebellious youth movies were becoming pretty repetitive as far as contemporary settings went, so it was a darned good idea to take the issue and transfer it to a different time - the old west.It worked rather well, I think. Westerns tend to be fairly simple story lines for the most part anyway, so bringing an aspect of modern juvenile delinquency into the western was novel enough to spice up both tired genres a little. I watched it on the late show when I was on a baby-sitting gig and it made my night. Held my interest all the way and I enjoyed repeated viewings of it over the next couple of years.It's well acted by all. John Saxon has a great time playing the quietest but most dangerous gang member and Jeff Chandler gets to be a bad-tempered hero. As a small and relatively simple movie with a social message geared to the time of its release it's not really an 8 now, but I think it deserves a little better rating than it has here so I've given an extra point or two to help raise the average and I don't think that's the wrong thing to do at all. It's a decent piece of entertainment.