Money, Women and Guns (1958) User Reviews

The Most Famous Detective In The West!

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 21 February 2016]

Money, Women and Guns is directed by Richard H. Bartlett and written by Montgomery Pittman. It stars Jock Mahoney, Kim Hunter, Tim Hovey, Gene Evans, Tom Drake and Lon Chaney Jr. Music is by Joseph Gershenson and CinemaScope photography is by Philip Lathrop.

A strange bag of oats is this one. The makers have offered up CinemaScope and parked up at Lone Pine to film it. The colour lensing is beautiful, while the story has promise unbound, yet it still struggles to come out in credit.

Story sees an old prospector murdered at pic's start (we don't see who done the deed), so in comes detective Silver Ward Hogan (Mahoney). Hogan sets out to find the killer and also an heir to the dead man's fortune.

And thus we have a sort of Hercule Poirot in the Wild West. Which is fun, and the mystery element is engaging and constantly strong. Yet the Scope potential is barely utilised, action is in short supply, and the acting performances - whilst adequate - reek of easy paycheck time.

Not a waste of time by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure as hell is frustrating. 6/10

Stirring and attractive Western with a a standard story that engages the viewer until the last scene

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 16 April 2020]

Some thieves want to take the gold of a humble prospector, as they arrive in his mine and one of them takes his life . But before dying the prospector arranges to scrabble his will and to murder two of his assailants and while the third flees. Later on, a detective bounty hunter Silver Hogan : Jock Mahoney , is assigned the mission to track down the legitimate heirs and to solve who is the murderer who killed the old prospector. Along the way, the famous gunfighter Silver Hogan joins forces a young man : Tim Hovey and meets a beautiful widow :Kim Hunter and her child.

Decent Western with intriguing premise to discover a real heir as well as the nasty killer who robbed a loot of gold. It is a mystery, intriguing Western with whodunit touches. It contains enjoyable performances from a decent main and support cast. However, too much conversation and too little action , at times, although fights, crossfire and suspense are nice. And at the end the subsequent plot twist in which truth comes out, including the killer's true identity. This is a suspenseful and twisted Westen in which Jock Mahoney playing a two-fisted detective looking for a killer with unexpected consequences. Not very known actor Jock Mahoney was an acceptable player who had a passable cinematic career. When WWII broke out, he drafted as a Marine fighter pilot and instructor. In Hollywood he was a noted stunt man, doubling for John Wayne, Errol Flynn and Gregory Peck. Gene Autry signed him for the lead in his 78-episode The Range Rider TV. He tested to replace Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan but lost out to Lex Barker. In 1960 he played the heavy in Tarzan the Magnificent with Gordon Scott and his part there led producer Sy Weintraub to hire him as Scott's replacement. Finally, he played the title role in Tarzan goes to India and Tarzan's 3 challenges, doing his own stunts. Eventually, he went on working in spite of dysentery, dengue fever and pneumonia. However, by this time producer Sy Weintraub was looking a younger Tarzan and envisioning a future TV star he found Ron Ely, then by mutual agreement , the contract between Jock Mahoney and Weintraub was dissolved. Here Jock Mahoney is well accompanied by good secondaries such as : Kim Hunter, Gene Evans, Lon Chaney Jr, Tom Drake Jeffrey Stone, William Campbell, Judi Emerich, William Campbell, among others .

It packs a colorful and brilliant cinematography by notorious cameraman Philip H. Lathrop. As well as atmospheric musical score by Herman Stein and Irving Gertz, Universal's regular. This motion picture was professionally directed by Richard Barlett. He was a Western expertise as TV as Cinema. As he directed a lot of westerns, such as : Two-gun lady, The lonesome trail, The silver star, Joe Dakota aso starred by Jock Mahoney, the sam as this Money, Women and Guns. Rating 6/10. Decent, but not notable oater that will appeal to Western enthusiasts.

Jock Mahoney and Lon Chaney

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 25 February 2014]

1958's "Money, Women and Guns" was a somewhat modest color B-Western from Universal, where Jock Mahoney was coming off his one science fiction title, "The Land Unknown." Elderly prospector Ben Merriweather (Edwin Jerome) is bushwhacked by a trio of masked marauders, two of which are killed in a brief shootout. In his final moments, the dying man writes out his last will and testament, leaving his wealth to a half dozen beneficiaries, and it's up to Mahoney's frontier detective 'Silver' Ward Hogan to track each one down. One is played by William Campbell, an ex-con struggling to go straight alongside young wife Judi Meredith (both worked for Roger Corman in 1966, Campbell in "Track of the Vampire" and Meredith in "Planet of Blood"). The youngest is David Kingman (Tim Hovey), a little boy whose only contact with Merriweather was a conversation about Santa Claus; his widowed mother (Kim Hunter) takes a shine to the wandering loner that David worships. One self contained vignette teams James Gleason's Henry Devers with Lon Chaney's Art Birdwell; Devers was Merriweather's former prospecting partner, who sends his poker playing partner Birdwell into town to cash his $50,000 beneficiary check. Jeffrey Stone followed up with "The Thing That Couldn't Die," while Phillip Terry did "The Leech Woman" (Tom Drake worked with Chaney in 1956's "The Cyclops" and 1966's "House of the Black Death"). As for Chaney, this innocuous little Western marked his final credit for Universal, the studio that cast him adrift following 1945's "House of Dracula," calling him back on only four occasions, the first three being 1948's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," 1951's "Flame of Araby," and 1952's "The Black Castle" (he previously worked for director Richard H. Bartlett in 1955's "The Silver Star," for Lippert Pictures).

Better Than Average B-Oater

[LouAbbott · 7/10 · 19 May 2018]

A better than average western programmer with an excellent cast of character actor veterans, including Kim Hunter, Lon Chaney, William Campbell, James Gleason, Phillip Terry, and Don Megowan. Jock Mahoney gives a very natural performance as the lead character. The story and dialogue are also a step above for this type of film, as is the direction. If you think you have the plot figured out after the first 10 minutes of the film, well, keep watching. If you enjoy this type of B-movie western, with more brains than bullets, you'll have fun!

Movie Veterans Pick Up a Payday

[dougdoepke · 1 December 2010]

The title itself just about sums up Hollywood film production. Kidding aside, this Western's got a number of nice touches, and with a more involved director (Bartlett) and dynamic lead (Mahoney), could have gelled into a genuine sleeper.

It's got an unusual mystery premise for a Western— detective Hogan has to figure out which beneficiary killed the wealthy old miner— as well as a cast of former A-players— Chaney, Drake, Evans, Gleason, and Terry. But especially, there's Kim Hunter who only a few years earlier picked up a heavyweight Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

I suspect it's a better than the average B-production because of studio (Universal) backing. That backing leads to some scenic locations, fine color photography, and the supporting cast of familiar faces. Also, the unconventional script contains some nice ironies, along with a few surprises. In fact, calling this a pacifist Western may not be too much of a stretch.

Mahoney certainly looks the part of a Western hero, but unfortunately more or less walks through his part in a perfectly tailored outfit. Then too, director Bartlett does nothing to draw us further into the story-- as a result, we remain on the outside, looking in. Anyway, it remains a Western of fine visuals with an unusual storyline, despite the two central drawbacks.

"Sometimes men just aren't comfortable when they're comfortable".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 28 July 2016]

The first thing one has to do is overlook the title of this story - there was money involved of course, but just one woman of note, and guns didn't come into play all that much. It appears most of the other reviewers before me gave this picture short shrift, but with a deviation from the standard formula, I thought the story line provided some clever elements to Silver Ward Hogan's (Jock Mahoney) search for a dead prospector's beneficiaries and the man who murdered him.

As for that dead prospector, Ben Merriweather (Edwin Jerome), if you keep an eye on him as he scrawls out his dying note, there's no way his erratic, shaking hand could have produced anything legible. But it's that note that provides the premise of the story, as Merriweather's fortune of three hundred thousand dollars is to be split between five intended heirs and the man who locates them, as long as the killer is identified in the process.

Where the story gets interesting is how the identities of the named persons play out. One of them is just a young boy, another spent some jail time with the old codger earlier in their lives. The revelations are more than a surprise for detective Hogan, who turns up pieces of a puzzle that don't seem to fit until he identifies the last of his quarry. The Johnny Bee gimmick was a pretty good one in the final resolution, though I don't think I would have been quite so understanding as Hogan if Bee/Briggs took a couple of shots at me.

Through it all, Ward Hogan comes to terms with his wanderlust, finding romance with the mother (Kim Hunter) of young Davey Kingman. Set around Christmas time, the story allows for some mention of a benevolent Santa Claus looking out for Davey, who in the final analysis is rewarded for his wishful thinking - "You gotta wish special hard, but it works".

But you know what the topper was? What's Judas going to do with fifty thousand dollars?

A Tame Western

[sidhometeam · 6/10 · 16 February 2020]

This would have been a "prestige" western at the time, in color and Cinemascope, with recognizable stars. It keeps your interest despite the many broken promises. First of all, the Cinemascope lens was plopped down on soundstages, wasting the panorama. The title is misleading. "Money" figures in the plot, granted. But I counted only two "Women." Neither projected the woman in the lobby poster (a soiled dove stripped down to her skivvies), being, instead, hardy frontier stock. And "Guns" suggests action that never really materializes. Jock Mahoney was a legendary stuntman. He was pushing 40 by the time of this production, but still had a couple Tarzan roles in his future. You can see effortless grace in his movement, apparently weightless. Horseback, Mahoney appears to glide across the prairie hovering above his pounding steed. Mahoney's fight choreography was unsurpassed until the Hong Kong kung fu school a generation later. The script and direction simply declined to tap the resource. The fashion in westerns by the late '50s had shifted from action to the talk-burdened, angsty "psychological western." In the early '50s there was a glut of syndicated half-hour westerns to fill the maw of local programming until networks could supply their own content. These were unabashed orgies of fistfight, shoot-out and horseplay (I mean on horses), with surprising amounts of plot - and absolutely no suspense: the hero brought the bad guy to justice. Within their formula, these actioners were brilliant catalogs of stunt work. They far surpassed the action scenes in big budget big screen productions. (John Wayne, just for example, was a lousy stage fighter. He had this big roundhouse right that took forever to land. Hey, bad guy! Move out of the way! Duck and land a couple uppercuts before that punch completes its orbit!) Jock Mahoney as "The Range Rider" was hands-down the greatest of the syndicated cowboys. Simply mounting and dismounting were done with gymnastic flourish - even holstering his gun. No runaway stage went unboarded. No picket fence went unhurdled. No stick of furniture in a brawl went unsmashed. No monolithic boulder went unjumped up on or down from. These shows were the bridge between the astonishing physicality of the silent movie comedians and the flying fists of the chop-saki masters. By the late '50s, oaters dominated network primetime. They strove to stand out from each other by issuing odd weaponry, or creating weird hybrids: the urbane western, the spy western, the jazz western. (Nobody thought to bring back the singing cowboy.) "Money, Women and Guns" feels a lot like a pilot for a TV series. The story plays out episodically as our hero tracks down suspects in the murder of a rich old prospector. The suspects are also the beneficiaries of his will. We learn how the suspects were associated with the dead man. (Sort of a sagebrush "Citizen Kane".) Mahoney plays "Silver" Ward Hogan, a self-described "detective", not a bounty hunter or territorial marshal. Indeed, Hogan owes as much to Joe Friday as the Lone Ranger. The story is carried by the mystery. It also has some of the quality of "Law & Order" in that the first character suspected is never the murderer-unless, of course, the investigation circles back to him. I'm not saying it does or doesn't.

SLICK BUT STIFF...WIDE-SCREEN COLOR WESTERN...RATHER DULL & SHALLOW

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 4 August 2021]

Jock Mahoney and some Familiar Faces in Front of a Cinemascope, Color, Detective Western.

Mahoney's Fictional and "Famous" Wild-West Sleuth Plods Through a Literal Checklist of Suspects,

In a Convoluted, Confusing, and Dull Mystery Story.

The Movie Looks Good and is Competently Acted, but that's About It.

The Story Never Comes to Life and Contains Almost No Violence, Suspense, or Activity that Amounts to Much.

Disappointing Universal Studio Major Western that Lands with a Plop.

The Native-Americans are Generic.

Most Characters are Cardboard and the Whole Production Lacks Life in the Old West Attractions.

Typical Main-Stream Product from Hollywood.

Clueless to the Vibrations Permeating Pictures of the "New" Western Format that Sprinkled the Decade with Off-Beat, Engaging, Edgy Westerns.

This One is as Generic and Shallow as it Gets.

Note...Coming up with a title this misleading and cute was a sign that there was little confidence in the Movie on its own.

I'll Take Some Of Each, Thank You

[boblipton · 5/10 · 26 August 2021]

A prospector has been murdered. He has left a will splitting a quarter of a million dollars among five heirs. The problem is no one is sure who they are. Detective Jock Mahoney is assigned to track them down, and to figure out why the dead man chose them.

Maohoneyis rather stiff in his line readings, and his outfit looks odd, all velveteen and bright silver buttons for riding the range. Even so, it's an interesting Shaky A western from Universal, not only for the figuring out of the why of the mystery, but for some casting, including Kim Hunter, and James Gleason in his last screen role.

Hercule Poirot goes west .

[ulicknormanowen · 6/10 · 25 April 2022]

A whodunit masquerading as western : all the heirs of an old prospector become suspect after his murder ,as sleuth Mahoney investigates (with a rival, a bounty hunter ,who wants his share) ; an ominous name ,Judas , on the list ,whom nobody seems to know but that will be the culprit's downfall (a trick Agatha Christie would not disown ).....

The suspects are sometimes pure cliché : the King family ,with the widow, son and grandpa has been seen by the average western buff a hundred times or more : the part of the woman is unworthy of highly talented Kim Hunter , who shone in "the seventh victim" and mainly as Stella Kowalski née Du Bois in "a streetcar named desire ".

The Gunston couple is much more endearing played by William Campbell and Judith Meredith ,a sick woman who "would crawl to walk out on her husband if he did not stay on the straight and narrow "; the sheriff is hard on this ex-convict and does not seem to allow him a legitimate second chance .The attack of the mail van is all in all an act of love .

Unexpected culprit , as it is de rigueur in the whodunit ; entertaining.

Standard story with decent performances

[revdrcac · 5/10 · 18 May 2006]

Jock Mahoney, TV's Range Rider, stars in this routine B-western involving gold, pretty gals and greed. Mahoney, who had also doubled for Charles Starrett in the Durango Kid movies, strikes an imposing figure in this routine oater.

Kim Hunter and the always reliable Gene Evans turn in decent performances as Jocko tracks down the heirs to a fortune in gold. The budget as well as the writing are barely adequate, but the cast makes the best of a familiar plot. Look also for the great Lon Chaney, Jr. in another post-Wolfman supporting role.

Recommended for B-western fans only .....

A great stunt actor finally got his chance to show his stuff.

[milwhitt702 · 8/10 · 10 October 2010]

This was a fair western but Jock and Tim Hovey worked well together. He finally got his chance to show his stuff. Actually, my mom's favorite western was "Slim Carter" about a man changing his ways over a kid. Mr. Mahoney was in a lot of movies but for a long time you never saw his face, just his riding skill on a white horse. Eventually he was shown as a Texas Ranger chasing the Durango Kid over rooftops and finally jumping off a roof onto the white horse. Part of the time Jock was literally chasing himself. My favorite DK series was "Bandits of El Dorado". There were so many well known names..John Dehner,Fred Sears, Lewis, and of course...Clayton Moore, whose voice I recognized instantly as the future Lone Ranger. In the movie of this subject, Jock looked like a powerful man, large shoulders small waist, and could ride a horse like he was part of it. Thanks for letting me share.

Ok, B western drama

[zach-42961 · 6/10 · 9 October 2019]

The lead actor Jock Mahoney(not his real name) does a fairly descent job is this film. I saw quite a few of his films from the early sixties and he definitely fits the macho leading man persona. In real life, it turns out he was not such a great person. His second marriage to a Mrs Field, who happened to have a daughter named "Sally", which in her auto biography does not hold the "Jock" in high regards. Enough said on this topic, but for those who idolized Jock Mahoney should read what she says about the man.

Guns not blazing enough

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 23 June 2020]

While the western genre is not my personal favourite of all the different film genres, there has always been a high appreciation for it and like all genres there are a number of classic ones out there. Mystery is more up my street, am a big fan of that genre and have been for pretty much half my life thanks to primarily Agatha Christie. Was very intrigued as to how 'Money, Women and Guns' would balance these two together, as it is always interesting seeing a film that mix both.

'Money, Women and Guns' had potential, as the concept was interesting, but to me the execution didn't quite click which was unfortunate. It is watchable and in a way interesting, but 'Money, Women and Guns' doesn't ever rise above competent (in some areas it is not even that) and is more a one-time watch for curiosity's sake than repeat viewings-worthy. The Western and mystery mix doesn't quite gel and a lot more could have been done with both individually.

There are certainly things done well, anybody that has read any of my other reviews will gather that it takes a lot for me these days to call something irredeemable. 'Money, Women and Guns' is a beautifully photographed film with a good deal of eye catching colour and atmosphere. The setting is also handsomely designed, not sweeping but it didn't strike me as amateurishly done at all. The music rouses enough and doesn't jar at least.

A couple of performances are above average, dependable Gene Evans coming off best and Jock Mahoney just about brings the right amount of edge to the lead role. The conclusion is interesting and when the film finally generates some excitement.

However, 'Money, Women and Guns' has quite a number of flaws. It all feels on the competent but routine side. Being too heavy on the talk and too light on the action, and the problem is neither the talk or action are executed particularly well. The script doesn't always flow and could have done with a tightening up. What there is of the action fails to generate a lot of excitement or suspense.

Both the Western and mystery elements of the story are flawed. The mystery aspect comes off a little better, as it does intrigue and is not too obvious or complicated. More tension and surprises would have been more welcome, not much new here. The Western aspect is barely there other than the setting and the sporadic action. The direction is not particularly distinguished and most of the acting is nothing special. Actually found Kim Hunter especially quite bland and her character not particularly necessary, she and Mahoney don't have an awful lot of chemistry going on either.

Summing up, watchable but nothing to set guns blazing. 5/10

A Nothing Western

[januszlvii · 2/10 · 8 October 2019]

I love westerns ( except musicals), but Money, Women and Guns is one of the worst I ever saw. Why? It makes no sense. How? 1:There is no chemistry between Jock Mahoney and love interest Kim Hunter, yet spoilers ahead: They end up together. 2: Mahoney's character " Silver" Ward Hogan is supposed to be a cross between Wyatt Earp and a Sherlock Holmes type detective, yet he was wrong more then right. 3: Even when he caught the murderer, he said he was only an accessory and will testify for him in court. I am no attorney, but if someone is killed during a robbery, it makes you as guilty as the perpetrator. 4: One of the person's who received an inheritance of $50,000, was a boy who was given it because an old man thought he may become a criminal due to his bug eyes. An unrealistic plot device reason if I ever heard one. Simply not worth the time to watch.

f western drama

[stevanovicvladimir-95041 · 1/10 · 20 January 2022]

Too bad. A good lead actor, but a film without a story, any logic and meaningful action. It was like being directed by a jerk...................................................................................................................................................................................................

Jock Mahoney Shines

[wc1996-428-366101 · 10/10 · 20 March 2013]

This film is very unexpected. Almost from the beginning it just does not seem like a western and it really is not. It's a first rate drama that just happens to have a western setting. There's no gun shooting, no chases, no brawls - but there is serious dialogue that grips you immediately. The story is also very unusual, hardly the kind of matinée western Universal was famous for. But through all of it Jock Mahoney is absolutely luminous he is so handsome, dashing, and sexy. You just cannot take your eyes off him. Kim Hunter, the woman Jock falls for is a perfect foil for him. He is interested right away but the idea of settling down is more than he can take. What happens and how it happens is a delightful surprise.

Beautiful "real" Western with great characters

[drystyx · 9/10 · 31 October 2016]

This Western is a great example of what was good in old fifties Westerns, compared to the Hollywood tripe the control freaks shoved down our throats after about 1965.

It's a Western murder mystery complete with fantastic scenery. The only drawback is that the hero's outfit never gets dusty. But that's okay.

In the mid sixties, the control freaks wanted to "fix" what wasn't broke by trying to claim their realistic dust was enough for realism, but they gave the worst of both worlds by giving us the most idiotic one dimensional caricatures ever.

Here, we go through a more realistic series of characters. No "super demi god" Greek characters, though the hero has the demi god attributes. Still, he isn't traditional Greek hero. He doesn't butcher people for no motivation the way Odysseus and other Homeric legends did.

In effect, the hero here, while being much like a small portion of the better fifties heroes, was actually an "anti-hero", a truer "anti-hero" than we had ever gotten. The fifties gave us a small segment of this man who actually attempted to have some morality. Before and after the fifties, we got almost none of this. And to be honest, even in the fifties, this was not a majority of heroes, even in the Westerns. John Wayne, Audie Murphy, William Holden, even Joel and Randolph usually played "outlaws reforming" more than "guys seeking good from an early age".

Now, the story. An old miner is held up by three masked men. Two of them are homicidal gun crazy brothers, who issue his mortal wounds at the cost of his own life. The third is the first to be shot, but not seriously. He winds up being one of the five names the old man writes in his final will and testament. He makes this known in a final gasp to another old friend who hears the shots and comes by to find him.

"Quit it Judas" becomes a great switch ending line in this film that actually shows lots of character in its characters. Unlike the "control freak era" of Westerns, we get much more credible characters instead of the "bubble boy Beavis and Butthead" spaghetti nonsense of people acting like the smell of guts and corpses is good to drink coffee to.

Why does this matter? Because we get the impression there is more action than there really is. We are fascinated and drawn in by this collection of characters, and fooled into thinking there is more action, even though there is so little bloodshed, and even less cockeyed bravery in the face of guns.

While the control freaks of the late sixties onward would make idiotic Westerns where everyone killed everyone else (makes you wonder how the West could have a population over "1"), their "hate mongering" became tedious and boring compared to what we get in real Westerns like this.