1951's "The Bushwhackers" is a very tight, tough hour-long Western, featuring a solid cast of capable veterans. The Civil War has just ended, and confederate soldier Jefferson Waring (John Ireland) believes he'll never again have to point a gun at another man. Unfortunately, he soon finds himself in a lawless Western town where the settlers are battling to defend their homes against evil, greedy homesteaders headed by Artemus Taylor (Lon Chaney), a crippled, wheelchair-bound madman whose bitterness is matched by his devoted daughter (Myrna Dell), who may be even more ruthless than he is. Among the many familiar faces, Wayne Morris easily stands out as a marshal clearly working out of Taylor's pocket, yet trying vainly to keep the peace, mainly through jailing the unarmed Waring. Third-billed Lawrence Tierney, never at home in Westerns like his younger brother Scott Brady, is totally wasted as a hired gun, dispatched midway through, while Jack Elam relishes his bad guy role, whether lasciviously eyeing the ladies or simply killing people. Despite playing the lead villain, Lon Chaney has very little screen time (only three scenes), but this elderly, arthritic character led to his being cast as Gary Cooper's elderly, arthritic Marshal in the subsequent "High Noon."