cult film freak: LAWRENCE TIERNEY AND JOHN IRELAND IN 'THE BUSHWHACKERS'

Written by James M. Tate / 2/21/2024 / No comments / action , dorothy malone , fifties , john ireland , lawrence tierney , lon chaney jr. , myrna dell , wayne morris , western

LAWRENCE TIERNEY AND JOHN IRELAND IN 'THE BUSHWHACKERS'

2/21/2024 | No comment

Title: THE BUSHWHACKERS Year: 1951 Rating: ***

By the time Lawrence Tierney turned up in the b-western THE BUSHWHACKERS, his leading man status was practically finished.. but he's used importantly here, at least in the rudimentary stages: a hired thug actually appearing before crippled land baron Lon Chaney Jr and his lethal daughter who hired Tierney to kill random settlers...

Ironically, Chaney's correct about the squatters being more interested in big money than settling down... while Tierney continues bullying more underdogs, including passive leading man John Ireland, a Civil War veteran who, during a historic prelude, promised to never use a gun again...

Lon Chaney Jr and Myrna Dell in THE BUSHWHACKERS

The otherwise cliche story works, mainly because the venomous Dell's Noreh Taylor, ultimately held back by her commanding/demanding father... she would have fared much better as the sole heavy, perhaps with hired-gun Lawrence Tierney being smitten with his blonde boss or... some kind of subplot that'd keep him around longer...

Unfortunately, the third-billed DILLINGER icon is anticlimactically killed halfway through, cutting the overall threat in half while leaving sparse closure between Ireland and the only person worthy of a vengeful showdown (left with henchman's henchman Jack Elam)... but at least our stoic hero has an honest newspaperman's idealist daughter Dorothy Malone (who handles a gun well herself) to retire with: He just needed to work a lot harder to rest with those laurels.

Lawrence Tierney in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Dorothy Malone in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Jack Elam and Lawrence Tierney in THE BUSHWHACKERS

John Ireland in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Jack Elam and Lawrence Tierney in THE BUSHWHACKERS with John Ireland

Lawrence Tierney in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Lon Chaney Jr in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Lawrence Tierney in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Dorothy Malone in THE BUSHWHACKERS

John Ireland in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Wayne Morris in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Jack Elam in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Dorothy Malone in THE BUSHWHACKERS

Lawrence Tierney and John Ireland in THE BUSHWHACKERS

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Tags : action , dorothy malone , fifties , john ireland , lawrence tierney , lon chaney jr. , myrna dell , wayne morris , western

James M. Tate

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