Cripple Creek ** (1952, George Montgomery, Karin Booth, Jerome Courtland, William Bishop, Richard Egan) – Classic Movie Review 13,073

‘THE WEST’S CROSSROADS OF VIOLENCE AND FURY!’ Columbia Pictures’ 1952 colour Western film Cripple Creek stars popular low-budget action star George Montgomery.

‘THE WEST’S CROSSROADS OF VIOLENCE AND FURY!’

Director Ray Nazarro’s 1952 Edward Small Productions colour Western film Cripple Creek for Columbia Pictures stars popular low-budget action star George Montgomery, along with Karin Booth, Jerome Courtland, William Bishop, and Richard Egan.

George Montgomery, Jerome Courtland and Richard Egan star as US Government agents who pretend to be outlaws and infiltrate a mob planning a gold haul. Bret (Montgomery) and Larry (Courtland) arrive in Cripple Creek posing as Texas gunfighters, while Strap (Egan) plays informant.

So what else is new? Well, this bit is unusual and ingenious: the gang is stealing high-grade gold ore, smelting it and plating it to look like lead to smuggle it out of the country.

Cripple Creek is just the kind of routine, cliché-packed B-Western that TV killed off in the late 50s with Maverick, Cheyenne, Wagon Train and so on. In this year, Columbia alone made 15 of them. At 78 minutes this is the longest of the lot, usually running around the 60-minute mark. With this one there is the bonus of Technicolor, there is a decent cast, and prolific Western expert Nazarro directs at a swift speed.

George Montgomery (born George Montgomery Letz; August 27, 1916 – December 12, 2000).

The cast are George Montgomery as Bret Ivers, Jerome Courtland as Larry Galland, Richard Egan as Strap Galland alias Gillis, Karin Booth as Julie Hanson, William Bishop as Silver Kirby, Don Porter as Denver Jones, John Dehner as Emil Cabeau, Roy Roberts as Marshal John Tetheroe, George Cleveland as ‘Hardrock’ Hanson, Byron Foulger, Robert Bice, and Cliff Clark.

Cripple Creek is directed by Ray Nazarro, runs 78 minutes, is made by Edward Small Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Richard Schayer, is shot in Technicolor by William V Skall, is produced by Edward Small, and is scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff.

Filming started 27 February 1951 and it was released on July 1, 1952.

It is shot at the Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles. In the film, a wanted poster for Bret Ivers (Montgomery) jokily reads: ‘Bret Ivers AKA Bret Iverson.’

George Montgomery (born George Montgomery Letz; August 27, 1916 – December 12, 2000).

For a decade from 1948, George Montgomery became a popular low-budget action star. Montgomery starred as the title role in Davy Crockett, Indian Scout in 1950 for Edward Small Productions and returned to Small Productions for Indian Uprising (1951), Cripple Creek (1952), Gun Belt (1953), and The Lone Gun (1954).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,073

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