An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Case Silverthorne (Jim Davis) is a recently retired gambler. He's on his way to a ranch that he now owns. However, his ride there is interrupted when he comes upon an injured Marshall and a dead man hanging near him. It seems some gang hung the guy and the Marshall was injured trying to stop them. In a coincidence you'd only find in a film, the dead man is the guy who sold the ranch to Silverthorne! Now, the Marshall and Silverthorne are going to investigate the murder.Soon after Silverthorne arrives in town, the dead man's grown children learn that their trusted ranch hands are cattle rustlers. The rustlers don't care that they were discovered and say that their dead father was behind all this! Whether or not this is true, the brother and sister aren't sure--but they are afraid to tell others because it might just be true. What's to become of this? Well, it's complicated as the son, Judd, turns out to be a hot-headed idiot! And, what about the murder of their father? See the film if you'd like to know.This is a relatively low budget film--with fair acting, fair writing and a fair plot. None of it is bad and none is particularly good either. The perfect time-passer.

Director Edward L. Cahn's black & white oater "The Gambler Wore A Gun" is basically a lackluster remake of director Ray Nazarro's superior Technicolor sagebrusher "The Lone Gun." These two horse operas were adapted from L.L. Foreman's novel. If you've seen one, you will instantly recognize their similarities. Veteran western actor Jim Davis, who eventually found fame as the patriarch on the hit television prime-time soaper "Dallas," plays a tinhorn cardsharp who wants to cash in his chips and settle down. This solemn, unpretentious western differs somewhat from the original because the gambler rather than a gunslinger is the hero. Clean-cut, square-jawed George Montgomery played the hero in "The Lone Gun." Dorothy Malone played opposite him as his leading lady. Merry Andrews took over the leading lady's role in the remake.When this United Artists release unfolds, the titular character watches from afar as four fast-riding owl hoots gallop past him. He descends to the trail below and rides up to a tree trimmed with a man strung up and dangling from a branch. Talk about a dramatic way to start a western! Anyway, Case Silverton (Jim Davis) dismounts from his palomino stallion with a silver-mounted, Mexican saddle, and checks a body strewn face down in the dirt. Case discovers a lawman's badge not far from the body. Unlike the hanged man, the lawman is still breathing. Dex Harwood (Mark Allen) manages to recover after Cass has boiled a pot of coffee over a campfire. Harwood is the town marshal of Marlpine where our hero has decided to settle down. Case tells Del he has spent four years riding riverboats to afford to buy a place of his own. Case has paid $32-hundred as a down payment on the property. As it turns out, Case has bought the house from Will Donovan, but he has never laid eyes on Donovan. Harwood informs Case that the hanged man was none other than Will Donovan. Harwood is a little incredulous about this turn of events. Del knew that Will had built the house for his two children. When they reach town, Doc Devlin (Addison Richards 0f "Nick Carter, Master Detective"), who also serves as the local records keeper, tells Case that he has seen no such deed. Devlin mentions that another man, Kelly Barnum (Charles Cane), has plunked down $32-hundred to buy a local saloon. Dex finds this story suspicious because Kelly has never had more than $35 at any time in his life. At this point, Sharon and Jud Donovan arrive in town to identify their father's body. Dex agrees to keep Case's story about his purchase of Will Donovan's Diamond D Ranch a secret.Case proves he can defend himself when two men try to steal his saddle. Case wounds one of his assailants during a scuffle on Main Street. Dex comes to his rescue but warns him not to cheat other poker players. Case and Barnum reach an agreement. For ten percent of the take, Barnum allows Case to run his poker game without any interference on his part. Meantime, the three Larkin brothers appear to be in cahoots with Barnum. Barnum acquires information about livestock for them to rustle. When the Larkins ride out to rustle some livestock, they tell Jud that they have some important business to attend to elsewhere. Jud reminds them they are ranch hands on his late father's payroll. They hint to Jud that they aren't typical ranch hands. "Well, you might call us stray collectors," Tray Larkin explains. Jud suddenly understands they are rustlers. He threatens to tell the marshal about their lucrative sideline. When orders them off the ranch, the Larkins advise Jud that his sister and he will be the only ones to leave the Diamond D. Tray elaborates that Jud's father Will sanctioned their nefarious activities because he was financially strapped. Jud realizes to his horror that they have been using as box canyon in Lost Meadow to corral their illegal livestock. Tray reveals that he gave Will $3-thousand to allow them to operate. Furthermore, Tray and his brothers deny that they had anything to do with Will's death. Eventually, young Jud approaches Doc Devlin for a loan of $3-thousand, but all Doc can shell out is $300. Not long afterward, Case learns Barnum and the villainous Larkin brothers had been blackmailing Will Donovan to use his ranch as a place to conceal stolen animals. Barnum decides to frame Case for killing Jud. Barnum snatches Case's derringer and shoots Jud from behind a curtain, and tosses the two-shot weapon onto the table. Now, Barnum knows that Case sent the money that the Larkins and he stole from Will. Barnum tries desperately to incite the crowd in the saloon to lynch Case. Case grabs another man's gun when nobody is paying attention and scrambles out of the saloon. During the final ten minutes, we learn that Barnum and the Larkins murdered Will Donovan because they knew about Will's mail order sale of the ranch to Silverthorne. Sharon, Case, and the Marshal track down the Larkins and shoot it out with them. At fade out, Case and Sharon are hugging and kissing on the front porch of Donovan's ranch."The Gambler Wore A Gun" has no shortage of plot, but it lacks the charisma of the original. Jim Davis takes over the Frank Faylan role with style and aplomb, but Mark Allan makes little impression as the lawman. Indeed, the rest of the cast blends in with the background. The sudden romance at fade out between Case and Sharon seems improbable considering their difference in age. Floyd Crosby's black & white cinematography is exceptional as is Kenneth G. Crane's sharp editing.

In the year after Jim Davis made Noose for a Gunman for director Edward L. Cahn, he would also make this one for the same man. Once again, his character's name is Case, this time a gambler named Case Silverthorne who discovers a hanged man and a left-for-dead marshal named Dex Harwood (Mark Allen) who he saves. It seems that Case is claiming a deed for a ranch sold to him by a Will Donovan-the same man found on the hanging noose. Only no one knows about that deed certainly not Will's adult children, Jud and Sharon (Don Dorrell and Merry Anders). I'll stop there and just say this was another very good western Davis made as the lead who brought all his experience of previously playing both good and bad guys in support to the fore for his tough-but-honest portrayal here. Oh, and like the previous one, there's also a leading lady-in this case Ms. Anders-who helps in the climatic shooting that provides a great surprise considering women were rarely involved on such scenes in these old-fashioned oaters. So on that note, I recommend The Gambler Wore a Gun. P.S. I noticed that one of the characters was mentioning a ranch at a town called Southfork (or maybe it was Suffork, who knows considering some of the accents). How ironic since Davis would eventually portray Jock Ewing on the original "Dallas" which partly took place at the Southfork ranch!