Six-Gun Law: he Westerns of Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy, Joel McCrea and George Montgomery

I had to think twice about buying this, but after Book 2 I decided it was worth giving it a go. My reasons for hesitation were books already in my hot hands - "LAST OF THE COWBOY HEROES by Robert Nott, and THE FILMS OF AUDIE MURPHY by Boyd Magers, both of which give excellent bios and filmographies of McCrea.Scott and Murphy. From my personal POV I need not have worried. As in Book 2 Atkinson has done an excellent job. Well researched and written in a very easy to read style, he covers the 3 above, from his own viewpoint and whilst some of the facts obviously remain the same, his thoughts still make for good reading. My main interest, I have to admit was his interesting piece on George Montgomery. Good stuff. Again he lists all the westerns made by his stars, and gives a "Boot" rating for them. He also is not afraid to express his opinion on the films. Some he loves, others, not so much, but everything is written with a twinkle in his eye and an obvious love for his subject. As for Book 2 I would have loved an index, but you can't have everything. I repeat, even if you do have the books I mention, this should in no way stop you from buying Barry's 2 homilies to the western. (The price is good VFM)

A great book,very glad to have read something on George Montgomery….I think he's been a bit neglected. I'd like to see the author do a book on maybe the next tier of western actors e.g. Rory Calhoun,Rod Cameron,Jock Mahoney,Dale Robertson etc as the writer really knows his subject

This is an honest critique of the western films of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Audie Murphy and George Montgomery. None of these stars achieved the status of Wayne, Cooper and Douglas etc but nevertheless were important figures in the genre. Atkinson analyses each production with regard to script, direction, music score and acting plaudits. Atkinson has a real love of western movies going back to his schooldays and this is quite evident in his appraisal. Whilst accepting the limitations of the films it is obvious he holds these stars in high regard. Western buffs will appreciate this review of films and actors who probably deserve a higher acknowledgement of their contribution to the westrn genre , indeed some of the films should receive a "classic" rating.

Similar to the author of Robert Knott' s book"The Films of R Scott, J McCrea and A Murphy" with the addition of another great cowboy George Montgomery. Great read for a very well written work. Deserves five stars.

This book is far better than the author's ATOMIC AGE CINEMA, which totally lacked organization and coherence, but it's still pretty bad. This time, there is an organization, mainly chronological, as we follow in parallel the careers of four different cowboy film stars from their earliest days in film, until their final bows. But the book consists almost entirely of semiliterate plot summaries, all of which contain massive spoilers. It comes very close to being unreadable, even for hardcore fans of this film genre.