mark.waltz This ranks as one of the best B westerns that I have ever seen, filled with a believable dramatic plot, complex characters, some frantic comedy and even a couple of songs. Rex Allen has arrived in Colorado from Texas to assure his light above the neck pal Slim Pickens gets his share of an estate he has been promised. The only issue are the other heirs, which includes easterner Mary Ellen Kay and the unscrupulous June Vincent, one of the few female western villains I've ever seen. Her motive concerns logging rights, allegedly involving a tree killing beetle.There's a terrific characterization by Louise Beavers, stealing every moment as Kay's companion. With a huge heart and feisty demeanor, she's more than willing to risk her life for Ms. Kay. When one of the villains confronts her over a letter she received and is holding for Allen, it takes a shocking turn, especially concerning their beloved terrier who in an early scene set Kay and Beaver's unmanned carriage running wild thanks to spooked horses. A feisty goat also goes for laughs, getting targets in the butts of both Pickens and Beavers. You won't soon forget the sight of Pickens in "Charley's Aunt" drag as the talking brooch he carries. Dark lady Vincent certainly is also fascinating, basically the Lady Macbeth of the old west, stopping at nothing to get control of the entire valley. When genre like this take on the dark themes that makes the legitimate theater so powerful, that automatically raises the bar for me.

MartinHafer B-westerns almost always have a baddie. It's usually some guy bent on taking over the county and he secretly controls a gang of thugs who are terrorizing the countryside. However, "Colorado Sundown" is quite different. While the plot has the usual attempt to practically steal everyone's land, it's by a trio of evil siblings--and the most evil and conniving is a woman! And, to make things even more different, the woman is even more brutal and vicious than usual! And, instead of a gang, they use trickery and murder to make their plans work and a gang is only recruited when their plan starts to unravel.When the movie begins, three different groups of people think they are inheriting a ranch. In reality, they ALL are inheriting a third. While this may not sound so bad, one group (the Hurleys) are vicious thieves and want it all--and they'll get it one way or another. Their plan is to convince everyone that the land is infested with a bark beetle--and then get all the property for a tiny fraction of what it's worth. Then, they'll do the same thing for all the surrounding land that supposedly is infested.As for Carrie Hurley (June Vincent), she is the boss in her family and specializes in poisonings. The first victim is a forestry official who KNOWS the land is beetle-free. The second is a fake forest ranger who Carrie brought in--and to make matters worse, it's her own younger brother!! In addition to these killings, one Hurley shoots an innocent maid (Louise Beavers) and even a tiny dog!! Could it get worse? Well, she even shoots poor Rex Allen and then claims she shot him AFTER Rex beat the 'ranger' to death--when she actually poisoned him! Can the good guys uncover the plot and dispatch the evil Hurleys? Because the villains are so bad, this is a dynamite B-western. It also helps that the plot is quite original in many ways and Louise Beavers was great as one of the spunkiest women of the old west I've ever seen. Surprisingly good.It is interesting that in this film Rex Allen plays a character named Rex Allen and Slim Pickens played a guy named Slim Pickens! This sort of thing was quite popular in Roy Rogers films, as Roy and Gabby were often referred to by their stage names. Odd. Also odd is that Pickens really was a cowboy and rodeo star--and so playing a cowboy is pretty natural.

Virgil M. Johnson One of director William Witney's later works, the film features much of the above average action scenes Witney is noted for. Rex Allen and Slim Pickens provide their usual journeymen performances. Stuntman/heavy Fred Graham is featured in this film - giving him probably more lines than in any other film he appeared in. Rear screen special effects are used throughout - and they reflect the low budget that was given to action, westerns during the early 50s. Additionally, the script is one of the weaker ones of the Rex Allen films. The story turns on the results of what would be a "very sophisticated medical autopsy" in this day and time "performed by a country doctor in his office" in a matter of hours.

rsoonsa The last and certainly one of the better singing cowboys, Rex Allen, stars here in this fast-moving Republic "B" western, accompanying his pal Slim Pickens, in their initial matchup, to be on hand at Slim's home in Colorado where he expects to benefit from the bequest of the estate of a deceased relative, Zeke Reynolds, consisting of substantial timber holdings. To Slim's surprise, there are other claimants who think they will be heirs to the estate: Jacqueline Reynolds (Mary Ellen Kay), a distant cousin, and a brother/sister duo, Dan and Carrie Hurley (Fred Graham/June Vincent), owners of the Hurley Lumber Mill, whose business practices include overharvesting of trees, bringing about flash flooding while destroying cattle grazing land in Pine Valley. The Hurleys are guilty of crimes more serious than unsavoury commercial methods, and Rex and his employees, including Slim and the vocalising "Republic Rhythm Riders", find themselves in a range war between timbermen and ranchers who are avidly seeking to catch the Hurleys in the midst of committing their misdeeds. Typical of Republic productions in this genre, COLORADO SUNDOWN provides a great deal of furious fight footage, a runaway stagecoach corralled by trick riding and several musical numbers which appear at incongruous moments, including the traditional folk song "Down by the Riverside" (during a flood!) with performances from Allen, Kay, Pickens and the "Rhythm Boys". Director William Witney downcranks his camera during fight scenes, as is his wont, for by marginally slowing filming speed, action appears to be extraordinarily violent, and with the physically capable Allen and veteran stunt coordinator Graham on hand, these passages leave an indelible impression during the course of this interesting low-budget work.