Eddie Dean was the oddest duck in the B western pond. He had a prominent nose and a very weak chin, making him resemble a younger version of his goofy sidekick, Roscoe Ates. His looks seemed more appropriate for a clown. This was unfortunate as he had much to offer. He was well built, convincing in the riding and fighting scenes, and a decent actor. And he had the biggest voice of any of the singing cowboys.
THE HAWK OF POWDER RIVER was made late in Dean's career and is a solid B western thanks to good songs, including the lively 'Punchinello' and the haunting 'Wild Country', plenty of well-staged action scenes, and a striking performance by pretty Jennifer Holt as the villain. There had been female villains in B westerns before, but those I have seen generally fall into the good-bad girl class, redeemed by a streak of decency or a budding love for the hero. The Hawk, though, as played by Holt, is bad to the bone, leading her henchmen on murderous raids, personally gunning down a crusading newspaperman, sneering indifferently at the news one of her gang blew away her gentle uncle, all the while coldly plotting the murder of her sweet cousin. The scenes in which she snarls her orders at her cowed henchmen are unique and a lot of fun.
Besides this unusual villain, there is also an unusual hero. Dean seems to owe as much to Mickey Spillane as to the traditional knight of the sagebrush. He slaps a confession, Mike Hammer style, out of one of the bad guys, shoots several of the bad guys in the back when he rides up behind them during the climatic gunfight, and tops it all by personally shooting the evil Hawk dead.
All in all, a real treat for B western fans.
THE HAWK OF POWDER RIVER was made late in Dean's career and is a solid B western thanks to good songs, including the lively 'Punchinello' and the haunting 'Wild Country', plenty of well-staged action scenes, and a striking performance by pretty Jennifer Holt as the villain. There had been female villains in B westerns before, but those I have seen generally fall into the good-bad girl class, redeemed by a streak of decency or a budding love for the hero. The Hawk, though, as played by Holt, is bad to the bone, leading her henchmen on murderous raids, personally gunning down a crusading newspaperman, sneering indifferently at the news one of her gang blew away her gentle uncle, all the while coldly plotting the murder of her sweet cousin. The scenes in which she snarls her orders at her cowed henchmen are unique and a lot of fun.
Besides this unusual villain, there is also an unusual hero. Dean seems to owe as much to Mickey Spillane as to the traditional knight of the sagebrush. He slaps a confession, Mike Hammer style, out of one of the bad guys, shoots several of the bad guys in the back when he rides up behind them during the climatic gunfight, and tops it all by personally shooting the evil Hawk dead.
All in all, a real treat for B western fans.