Quantez

I'm going to go against the positive few reviews so far posted here. I was very disappointed, and found it the poorest of "gang in a ghost town" Westerns that I've seen. Pity, because the cast was reasonably strong. About the only interesting thing in it was what I thought was John Larch's resemblance to Gary Cooper.

None of the characters is at all likable and most of the could be a stage play, with so much action confined to one room. These aren't necessarily bad things for a film, but all the talking and no action was tedious, as were the white characters turning on each other and the inevitable interaction between Chaney and each of the four gangsters.

I nearly turned off my recording of the film but struggled through to the ending, which was OK.

Even though this film had a great set of actors and character development that was quite interesting, the pace of this story was so slow that it took away from the entire project.

The movie begins as we see four bank robbers that was attempting to outrun a posse that was following them. Plus you throw-in a sexy looking female that was also along for the ride and you can see that this is a unique set of people. Anyway, they shake the cops and end up in an old abandon town. And now, nearly through the entire picture, the writer starts to show all the distinct personalities of each character. The only bad thing is that the introduction of the characters takes so long that viewers begin to lose interest in the movie.

The first forty minutes of the movie is uneventful. You have pleasant conversation, people watering the horses and some wandering where they should go to split-up the money. The only hint of trouble comes when one of the characters stumbles on a Indian war stick that might just lead to some excitement.

The last half of the movie was so much better. There were actually action on the screen to break the tedious dialog that viewers were suffering. And if viewers were still watching and not turned off by the dull first half, then you saw a story that was actually interesting.

John Larch, Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone and Michael Ansara all did an outstanding job with their character. The problem is that it took so long developing the characters that it was easy to get bored and turn to another form of entertainment. This was a hard watch but the ending made the long tiresome viewing a bit more enjoyable.

Quantez is directed by Harry Keller and written by R. Wright Campbell and Anne Edwards. It stars Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, James Barton, Sydney Chaplin, John Gavin and John Larch. A CinemaScope production in Eastman Color, with music scored by Herman Stein (supervision Joseph Gershenson) and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie.

A gang of robbers hole up for the night in the ghost town of Quantez. But what is the greater threat to their well being? The Indians out in the hills? Or each other?

Maybe you get to be a killer? But you will be sick to the stomach because of it.

A smartly written and acted psychological Western, Quantez deserves to be better known and appraised. This is all about characterisations and the hot bed situation they dwell within, the emphasis on dialogue and interactions as suspicion, passions, racism and treachery show their hands. Standard characters do apply, the girl with a past she's not proud of, the loose cannon, the greenhorn kid, the duplicitous one and the guy with a secret tucked away. There's even a late addition of a wandering minstrel (Barton), splendidly calling himself Puritan. These characters are well blended for narrative strength by Keller, the director keeping things on the slow burn, an impending sense of implosion permeating proceedings. Technical aspects are smart, the exterior filming, when the film comes out of the claustrophobic confines of the ghost town, is most pleasing, while the Eastman Color is gorgeous and never garish. Cast score well, notably a stubble and grungy MacMurray, a pretty and emotionally fragile Malone and Larch, who is unstable and enjoying his chance for villainy.

Except for a fist fight, an opening pursuit and the odd moment of macho posturing, the action is saved for the excellent last quarter, so first time viewers after a high energy Oater are advised that this is not the film for them. But for those who like some psychological discord in their Westerns, where plot dynamics are simmering until the denouement, then seek this out if you can. 8/10

A western that has way too much talk, but the talk does draw some deeply etched characters is Quantez. Had they pumped it up with a bit more action this could have been a classic. That is despite Fred MacMurray who really never felt right in westerns. He does all right by this one however.

The hot tempered John Larch leads a gang of outlaws fresh from a bank robbery takes his three men fleeing a posse. His henchmen are Fred MacMurray an experienced outlaw who doesn't talk much about himself, a young fast draw in John Gavin who is from the east and Sydney Chaplin a man raised among the Apaches in whose country they have to pass through. And he also brings his main squeeze Dorothy Malone for those cold desert nights.

The outlaws arrive in the freshly deserted town of Quantez, deserted because the Apaches under Michael Ansara have made it most uncomfortable to live. What to do, but take stock of the situation and formulate a plan to get across the desert.

So while they're stuck there, the true character of all comes forth. All of them are chafing under the leadership of Larch who once again is playing a rather arrogant, loudmouth individual who is a fast gun, but has little else to recommend them. And of course there's the presence of Malone who just by being there is giving them all an itch that Larch won't them scratch.

Only one other speaking part is in this film that of James Barton who plays a wandering painter and who has an extra horse they might need to make it across the desert. It would be smart if they all stuck together until the Indian crisis is passed or they're all dead, but Larch won't let that happen.

It's plain that MacMurray should be the gang leader, but he has reasons why he's not and for that you see Quantez for.

Quantez is a bit verbose, but the characters are interesting to say the least.

I have seen two of Harry Keller's films; this one and ' The Unguarded Moment ' where he superbly directed Esther Williams in a thriller without a swimming pool in sight. In ' Quantez ' he directs Dorothy Malone, and elicits from her an equally fine performance. He also gets performances to remember from Fred MacMurray, John Larch and from a young John Gavin, and the latter despite his working with Douglas Sirk never did better. So what of the plot, and giving as few spoilers as possible ? It reminded me of the group holed up in an hotel in ' Key Largo '. It is equally claustrophobic and yes, just as in ' Key Largo ' there is a lot of dialogue as well as brutal action. The way Dorothy Malone is made to sing and fails reminded me of Claire Trevor, and just as good, and instead of a hurricane to face in ' Key Largo ' it is Native Americans out to kill at dawn in ' Quantez '. Appropriately here it is a deserted town in the back of nowhere and ostensibly there is no place to run. John Larch gives a good and mean performance as a controlling thug of a cowboy that reminded me of Edward G. Robinson and just as nuanced. I have no idea if the script had a semi-remake of ' Key Largo ' in mind, but if they did not, then it is a minor miracle of coincidence. Other than a few scenes with rugged landscapes the film is set mainly in a deserted saloon and the tortured dialogue is savage and well worth hearing and when the brutality kicks in it kicks in even harder. A seemingly lost adult Western this should be better known as it beats many other Westerns which have been overrated. A uniformly good cast, and all of them give of their best. My only criticism is a few cardboard exterior scenes by night, and reluctantly I have reduced a 10 rating to 8. Not quite a masterpiece of its genre, but it almost is, and is way above the standard of other lesser, but more well known films.