Kentucky Rifle

1956 "His Wits, Weapons and Women, Turned Defeat Into Victory!"
4.2| 1h24m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 01 July 1956 Released
Producted By: Howco Productions Inc.
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A man escorts a wagon load of Kentucky rifles through Indian territory and must find a way to get through without losing the rifles to the Indians. Unfortunately the Indians know about it, and give the occupants an ultimatum: either the rifles or their lives.

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Howco Productions Inc.

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Reviews

GamerTab That was an excellent one.
Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
dighambara Filmed at Vasquez rocks and on a sound stage - obviously two different places as the by play shifts from scene to scene. Different scenes; wagon train, axle building, sound stage and location shots all have a different color quality, as if different brands of film were used at each location.The best actors are in the roles of sidekick, Preacher and wagon master, while the lead actor seems to be asleep and the Indians a far from fierce...TV shows of the time had better action and stage sets... Wagon Train, with Ward Bond had better sets, action and acting. Chill Wills and Henry Hull should have thrown the script back in writer's face...Strangely enough, some of the best scenes are the wood work and minor blacksmithing required to put the axle on the wagon.I suspect those scenes were borrowed from another movie, just as some of the wagon train scenes were borrowed.
classicsoncall Nor apparently, do rifles and Comanches, as the Indians are shown to be willing to fight and kill for them, or conversely, are willing to fight and kill once they have them. I couldn't help thinking while watching, as another viewer commented on this board, that here was a half century early preview of the politics of appeasement that the liberal Democrats are waging during the present day Iraqi War. Let's just give the enemy what they want and go on our way, because then they'll be satisfied and leave us alone.The story, one might surmise, stays in one place literally and figuratively for it's entire run. A broken down Conestoga wagon remains behind for a wheel to be fixed as negotiations get under way as to how to deal with the hostiles. It's unfortunate that the nominal leader of this piece, Jason Clay (Lance Fuller) was the one to waver in his determination to get the wagon through with one hundred Kentucky rifles intact. That resolve was maintained by sidekick Tobias (Chill Wills), shown to be correct when the Comanches force their own hand by shooting their bargaining chip Foster (Jess Barker). Interesting how one can see more clearly when when one's life is on the line.The sub plot of a romantic triangle among Clay, Foster and Amy Connors (Cathy Downs) wasn't particularly necessary for the story, and didn't wind up contributing to the finale. However it allowed for Chill Wills' character to fire off a couple references to how women and rifles don't mix, even if the connection was virtually negligible. It seems to me the run in with the Comanches would have occurred with or without women along for the ride.I don't think it's necessary to be as hard on the flick as other posters for this film have been, but it sure did take a long time to get from Point A to Point B as has been pointed out. Sterling Holloway gets minimal mileage out of his home made still bit, and Wills is mildly entertaining with 'Sweet Bessie From Pike'. It gets a little embarrassing though to see how much confidence he places in his own Kentucky Rifle, especially when he offers up a prayer to help him shoot straight.
gc123517 This awful movie was really painful to watch. A small group from a wagon train linger behind to repair a broken down wagon in hostile Indian territory. They spend most of their time arguing and filibustering and take forever and a day to repair the wagon and attempt to catch up with the wagon train - I felt like I was watching Gilligan's Island. Any excuse to stay behind and mingle with the Indians was used to prolong the situation, (*spoiler*) including a slender pregnant woman who wasn't due anytime soon going into labor 3 days later (*spoiler* - NOT!...if you couldn't see this lame plot device coming, you must be living in a cave). The agony of this movie was painfully protracted. Of course, they have 4 cases of 25 Kentucky Rifles each (100 rifles) that must get through...or must they? Hmmm, why don't we show these rifles to the Indians and see if they want them? For that matter, why don't we see if the Iranians would like a few nuclear weapons? Yes, there is a lot of moralizing here, and if you don't know by now that giving your best weapons to your worst enemies because you are afraid of them is not an intelligent thing to do, then this movie will hammer that obvious point home and do it with a psychopathic vengeance that is firmly rooted in the belief that every dead horse requires a really good beating! But, then again, with the size of the wagon train and the firm belief that these rifles are excellent protection against hostile Indians, it would have made much more sense to distribute 4 or 6 rifles to each wagon for protection than to leave these vitally necessary items behind packed in crates on a broken down wagon. It would serve these dolts right if their entire wagon train was slaughtered by Indians. But then we wouldn't have a movie, would we? That would have been a blessing.
Steve Haynie Kentucky Rifle is one of those movies that is immediately recognizable as having been made in the 1950's. The "western" accent used in the movies and television matches nothing I have ever heard anywhere else. The gritty version of the west was just starting to emerge at the time this movie came out, but it wasn't completely there yet. Not completely void of a story, Kentucky Rifle gives us a simple plot that literally and figuratively goes nowhere. A wagon with a broken axle is left behind a wagon train that must keep its schedule. The wagon contains crated Kentucky Rifles that are of financial interest and a matter of personal honor to Jason Clay (Lance Fuller). Comanche Indians also have an interest in obtaining the rifles. From the start of the movie until the end we only see the characters arguing and reasoning for and against trading the rifles to the Comanches for safe passage once the wagon is repaired. Thankfully the philosophical dialogue is kept brief, and the action is given more weight in this production. Both Jason Clay and Tobias Taylor (Chill Wills) encounter the Comanches and work to keep the group of travelers together and alive for most of the movie. The wagon stays put the entire time. The most important attribute of the story is the will and leadership of Clay and Tobias, and the decisions they are forced to make.Kentucky Rifle is not a total disaster, but it is hardly worth seeking. Enjoy it in a DVD collection like I did. I rated it with a generous 5, but I have a positive bias when it comes to westerns.