Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

discount1957 This is Selander's first film for Producer Lyles and his best Western for years. Like all of Lyles' Westerns, the main fault is the pedestrian screenplay which features Andrews as the hired killer seeking revenge for the death of his wife at the hands of Bettger and Cabot. He finds them ensconced as sheriff and saloon owner respectively, from which positions they're bleeding the town dry. Thus Andrews can liberate the town as well as secure his revenge in a corpse-strewn finale. Jaeckel has a marvellous part as Bettger's sadistic deputy.Phil Hardy

ma-cortes An average and low-budgeted motion picture by prolific Lesley Selander , filled with presences of old Western-movie . Kansas 1879 , the life of sheriff Tom Rosser (Dana Andrews) , takes a turn when a bullet meant for him , from the gun of an outlaw called Lee Ring (Lyle Bettger) , kill's Rosser's spouse, Carol (Coleen Gray) , instead. Ring, had been sent by nasty Riley Condor (Bruce Cabot) , to kill Marshal Rosser . Two years later , the latter goes to Montana , supposedly to look over lands to but his agenda is to murder Condor and his gunslinging henchmen ; he then will use the law to eliminate him . Once there , he has to straighten out a few bad guys (Richard Jaeckel , Phil Carey , DeForest Kelley) led by Bruce Cabot . Rosser gets involved in shootouts , gun-play and betrayal . There he uncovers a land-grabbing plot led by the pillar of the community and Saloon owner . As Rosser is in town and Condor realizes that his hoodlums are no match for him , and he sets in motion a scheme to finish his power .This ordinary and sometimes laughable western is plenty of thrills , go riding , shootouts and suspense as the dreaded final showdown approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone against impossible odds , as his fellow town people for help , nobody is willing to help him ; meanwhile he attempts to clear a dark issue . This routine Western has the customary story of a sheriff-for-hire who takes the law on his own hands and based on a story and screenplay by expert Frank Gruber. It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and passable plot . This short runtime tale is almost ordinary , a pacifier comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . Although made in low budget by the producer A.C. Lyles , it has its good moments here and there . Acceptable acting by Dana Andrews as a town-taming gunman-for-hire who takes a dangerous job . Notable for the presence of old Western-movie veteran such as Pat O'Brien ,Lon Chaney Jr. , Bruce Cabot , Lyle Bettger , Richard Arlen , Richard Jaeckel , Philip Carey , Sonny Tufts , Coleen Gray , DeForest Kelley ,Don 'Red' Barry , Barton MacLane , Bob Steele , and James Brown . Atmospheric and colorful cinematography in Technicolor , though is necessary a remastering.This horse opera was realized in low-budget by producer A.C. Lyles and distributed by Paramount Pictures . Lyles produced a lot of Western in short or average budget such as ¨Black spurs¨(1965) , ¨Apache uprising¨(1966); ¨Johnny Reno¨ , ¨Waco¨ , ¨Red Tomahawk ¨and ¨Hostile guns¨(67) , among others ; many of them directed by R.G. Springsteen or Lesley Selander and starred by old glories such as Dana Andrews , Rory Calhoun , George Montgomery and Howard Keel . This quickie was middlingly directed by Lesley Selander , a craftsman working from the 30s . Selander is generally considered to be the most prolific director of feature Westerns of all time, with at least 107 to his credit between 1935 and 1967 . He realized his first feature in 1936, a horse opera , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career . He began in this genre with series starred by Buck Jones and ¨Hopalong Cassidy¨ series starred by William Boyd such as ¨Silver on the sage¨ , ¨Three men from Texas¨ and ¨Wide open town¨. In Republic production he directed his better movies such as ¨Panhandle¨and ¨Stampede¨ starred by Rod Cameron and in RKO he directed Tim Holt in 20 films such as ¨Rio Grande patrol¨ and ¨Overland telegraph¨. He subsequently shot B-movies such as ¨Fort Vengeance¨, ¨Arrow in the desert¨, Shotgun¨, ¨Town tamer¨ and his last picture ¨Texas Kid¨. Although Selander couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He also filmed detective thrillers , action/adventure motion pictures and even a horror film or two . Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable and passable , though mediocre ; being of interest for star-watching only .

bsmith5552 "The Town Tamer" was another of those nostalgic westerns produced by A.C. Lyles featuring a cast of recognizable performers from the past. Modestly budgeted and filmed in color and wide screen they gave many of the performers their last hurrahs.This one was directed by veteran "B" western director Lesley Selander and is the story of a veteran town tamer marshal Tom Rosser (Dana Andrews) who is hired by the railroad boss James Fell (Barton MacLane) to clean up a town that soon will have the railroad coming in.The town is under the control of gambler Riley Condor (Bruce Cabot) with whom Rosser has an axe to grind. The town marshal (Lyle Bettger) also has a past he wishes to hide. Rosser meets Susan Tavenner (Terry Moore) on the stagecoach into town and takes a liking to her. Unfortunately, she is married to a tin horn gambler (Deforest Kelley) who is also a wife beater in the employ of Condor.The town mayor/livery stable owner Charlie Leach (Lon Chaney Jr.) and doctor (Richard Arlen) are trying to raise a vigilante group to take back their town. Condor on the other hand has Deputy Johnny Honsinger (Richard Jaekel)and gunfighter Atkins (Phil Carey) and several allies lined up against them. Rosser not now being a lawman, wants to kill Condor "in his own way".In addition to those mentioned above, several other veteran performers are in the cast. Pat O'Brien, in an all too brief appearance, plays a dishonest judge, Sonny Tufts and Bob Steele as Condor's vigilantes, Jeanne Cagney as café owner Mary Donley, Donald Barry and Robert Ivers as Texas cowboys and James Brown and Richard Webb as railway workers. Veteran stuntman Dale Van Sickel, who plays a bartender, can clearly be seen doubling for Dana Andrews in the fight scenes.There's plenty of action including fights, bushwhacking and gun play to satisfy the viewer. It's better than most of the similar films of the period due in large part to the veteran director and the large cast of seasoned veterans.

MartinHafer I live on the border of the two counties with among the oldest average age in America--seriously. Here in Florida, things are beautiful and you can see why folks retire here. However, because the people are so old, sometimes it gets a bit surreal. About a year ago, I saw a minor accident--and then watched two 80+ year old men get out of their cars and have a fistfight in the roadway...seriously. Part of it was sad and I felt a bit embarrassed. Part of it was incredibly funny--especially when I called the police to report the old crazy old guys duking it out in traffic! Well, to make a long story short, this all reminds me of "Town Tamer"--a film that is embarrassing, at times, for its geriatric cast and at other times, kind of funny. This film is made up of a bizarre assortment of older actors. Dana Andrews is in the lead. Now he was a fine and highly underrated actor--but NOT a western star and not a man to 'clean up the town' when he was clearly pushing 60 (and inexplicably say he's 40 in the film). As for the supporting cast, it consists of the likes of Lon Chaney Jr., Barton MacLane, Pat O'Brien, Richard Arlen and Sonny Tufts--all of which just seemed a bit too long in the tooth for this film. Sure, there are a few 'younger' folks like Richard Jaekel (39) and DeForrest Kelley (in his mid-40s), but they seem to be the exception in "Town Tamer". In some ways, it's like a western that's set in a retirement village! The film begins with Andrews a sheriff in some western town. Almost immediately, someone tries to plug him and kills Andrews' wife instead. A couple years pass. Andrews arrives in a nasty town--a town where the law seems to be amazingly cozy with the crooks. And you know, based on the film's title, that Andrews will eventually bring law and order to this crappy town. But in the meantime, you get to see him beat up folks, get beat up and mosey about the town. It's all very standard--the sort of quickie western film with a familiar plot that you wouldn't think twice about EXCEPT for the extreme age of the actors and the occasional silliness of the production. A few of the funny scenes are the scene where Terry Moore tries to pump Andrews for information (it's badly written and funny when Andrews tries to tip his hat but misses!) as well as the fight between Andrews and Kelley--where it is VERY obvious the guy Andrews is beating up is a stuntman (though I was surprised they DID let Andrews do the strenuous scene). Overall, it's not a terrible movie but it is a funny one.