I have been watching a bunch of Wyatt Earp films of late but thought I would try one with his good friend Bat, Bat Masterson. And what do you know, Wyatt and Doc Holiday are in it. I can't get away from those two. At 69 minutes it is clearly meant as a B film but one with quality production with deep hued colors and some rugged landscapes. It is directed by William Castle before he went off on his own to direct horrors with gimmicks. In fact, he was directing a bunch of Westerns at the time - all B films I think - Jesse James vs the Daltons, The Law vs Billy the Kid, The Gun That Won the West - as well as adventures - Charge of the Lancers, Slaves of Babylon, Serpent of the Nile. It might be interesting to track all his films down and watch them. Not me. But somebody.
It takes place when Bat, Bat Masterson was the law in Dodge City. He hears that Doc Holiday is in town and wherever Doc goes, death is soon to follow. Masterson is played by the always solid like a cement block George Montgomery and Doc by James Griffith. Doc is considered to be the fastest draw in the West but Masterson wants him out of town. They are about to prove who is the fastest when Wyatt (Bruce Cowling) shows up and stops the entertainment. He needs Masterson to stop an Indian War. A man who has negotiated a peace treaty is up on charges of murder with a stacked deck against him.
Masterson visits the Chief (yay - Jay Silverheels) and gets a warning; if the man hangs for a murder, it is war. It is up to him and Wyatt to prove the man's innocence and when his daughter (Nancy Gates) shows up it is an added incentive. I like the way Griffith plays Doc - snake eyes ready to kill but he wants to be sure that he gets to kill Masterson and no one else. A good O.K. Corral styled shoot-out at the end. And a mob calling for a lynching that can't wait 30-minutes for it and try to break into jail. Their form of social media back then. Let's lynch this guy. And the crowd joins in.
