stevepb I'm amazed that it wasn't until the second page of these comments that someone pointed out that the title of this movie was just plain wrong. Did some studio people panic and think, "but what if nobody's ever heard of a Colt .44"? All the publicity posters, worldwide, showed Scott brandishing the much more familiar Colt .45 "Peacemaker". And none of this is mentioned in the "Goofs" for the movie, although it is pointed out that "Colt's first .45 caliber weapon was the Single-Action Army revolver, first made in 1871".Hilarious really.If you were a young boy in the 1950s, this one is for you. Lloyd Bridges, Zachary Scott and Ruth Roman all give lusty performances in traditional roles: The spineless, devious husband, the evil, sadistic outlaw and the ill-fated woman who tries desperately to stand by her man. Interesting to note that Ian McDonald plays a character named Miller in this movie, and was Frank Miller in High Noon. And on the the DVD I have it looks great, just as fresh and bright as it did 60 years ago. Just a few more reasons why I love this film.

jcohen1 Colt 45 is certainly a lite western for RS but nevertheless is worth a shot. What I found most interesting are how many familiar actors from later big movies make their lesser screen appearances here. Ruth Roman is the only female in the picture and has everybody's attention. She even manages to throw some dirt at and a knockout of RS. Probably the only time this has happened to Scott on screen. She is a few years ahead of Far Country with Jimmy Stewart. Walter Coy, Aaron Edwards in The Searchers, has an uncredited role here that you'd have to Search for. Lloyd Bridges predates his paranoid role in High Noon with a complete weasel of a character here. The catch of the day is Ian McDonald playing Miller here, a member of Zachary Scott's gang; later as Frank Miller in High Noon.As for the flick, Scott looks clean shaven even after forty days of soft time in jail. Brother Zachary looks like a very light weight Clark Gable. The sexual symbolism is a little too obvious here but for young kids it was all surely missed. Just relieved that RS is clearly interested in Roman with Ruth more than his colts. This is one western where the Indians (unnnamed tribe) are the good guys. It's not The Tall T or Commanche Station but if you are a fan of RS, and I certainly am, you can't miss with a Colt 45.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Edwin L. Marin directed in 1951 one unusual interesting western, "Raton Pass". "Colt 45" was released in 1950, same year "Winchester 73" came out and I suppose it wanted to benefit from the huge success of "Winchester". Colt 45 has some absurd moments like when Zachary Scott, the bad guy, escapes from jail at the beginning. No sheriff at his right mind would punch a prisoner when there are two 45s at the table behind them. Also at the end when Randolph Scott confronts Zachary, who makes a point of being unarmed, Randolph, in spite of being wounded gets rid of his guns and goes for a fistfight. There is a limit for being noble!!! I enjoyed this film with its primitive, simple story the same way I used to enjoy reading comic books. It does not make much sense, but it is fun. Ruth Roman is more beautiful than in any other film I have seen her, Lloyd Bridges is her "bad guy" husband. Zachary Scott overacts as the mean Jason Brett, but that adds to the fun of the film. The Native Americans are the good guys helping Randolph all along.

Brian Camp In the 1950s, Randolph Scott made a number of westerns at Warner Bros., ranging from the sublime (Andre De Toth's CARSON CITY) to the ridiculous (this one). COLT .45 (1950) has got a number of things wrong with it, including ludicrous plotting, but is at least fast-paced, well-cast and dotted with frequent bursts of violence and gunplay. The screenwriter seems to have bent over backwards to tie a standard lawman-vs.-stage robbers tale to the Colt .45 revolver which is apparently being introduced to the west at the time this film takes place. The plot has to do with an outlaw's theft of a pair of the title six-shooters and the robbery-and-killing spree that results. The owner of the guns, Steve Farrell (Randolph Scott), a salesman for the Colt company, takes off after the villain with a second pair of the six-guns. At various points during the action, Farrell is accused of complicity with Brett (Zachary Scott), the robber he's pursuing.Zachary Scott makes a suitably snarling, mustachioed villain in a performance seemingly fueled by ample infusions of "fire water" consumed between set-ups. Ruth Roman makes a spunky and attractive heroine as the wife of a miner (Lloyd Bridges) who's in cahoots with Zachary. Alan Hale (Sr.) plays a corrupt sheriff also working with Zachary.The most interesting thing about this western is the inclusion of a tribe of Indians who pop up at convenient moments to help hero Farrell. Given the pervasiveness of corrupt whites in Bonanza Creek, the backlot town where the film takes place, the Indians prove to be Farrell's only dependable allies. The chief is played by respected Indian actor Chief Thundercloud, who adds virtually the only note of historical authenticity to the entire film. At one point, one of the Indian women supplies heroine Roman with a very fashionable white buckskin jacket that she sports for the rest of the film.The film is set during the James K. Polk administration immediately after the Mexican War, placing the action sometime in the 1840s. Given that photography was a brand-new (and quite time-consuming) technology back then, it's anachronistically amusing to see posters featuring a black-and-white head shot of Randolph Scott distributed to peace officers in the film.Shot in color, COLT .45 is a relatively low-budget affair with shooting restricted to the Warner Bros. backlot and nearby studio ranches.