dougdoepke A pacifist-minded ex-Confederate gets caught up in a land war as he seeks a new life in post- Civil War Missouri.Considering the bizarre cast, I guess I was hoping for too much. After all, the compelling Tierney, Elam, Chaney Jr. and Dell are all established movie toughies. Then there's the unpredictable Ireland and Morris, performers comfortable playing with a wobbly moral compass. And finally there's the luscious Malone playing the good citizen, though she could also wobble when necessary, e.g. Written On The Wind (1955). Trouble is Tierney's entirely wasted, disappearing early on. No scary stare or frozen face here. As a result, there's no logical showdown between him and Ireland, as dramatically promising as that would be. Also, Chaney only gets a few minutes of loopy screen time, while Morris seems unsure of what he's supposed to do as the Marshal. And the latter's really too bad since the Marshal's uncertainty could be the story's most interesting character. The narrative itself is fairly familiar—greedy plotters trying to drive settlers off their land so they can cash in on the railway coming through. Not exactly a ground-breaking premise. On the other hand, shifting alliances among the town folk add character interest, while a restrained Ireland carries the film even though in a clichéd role. Still, I like the fact that the settlers organize themselves without waiting for the hero to save the day. That's a good non- clichéd touch.All in all, I'm wondering how a budget indie like this was able to assemble such an exotic cast, and whether they had to haul legendary juicers like Tierney and Chaney out of the nearest Hollywood bar. Too bad the screenplay didn't make better use of these colorful characters. That would have made something truly memorable. Instead, we get an unexceptional if occasionally interesting western.

mark.waltz Handsome John Ireland comes out of the civil war with a chip on his shoulder and ends up out west where he finds it doesn't take him far in a corrupt town. Having vowed never to handle a gun ever again, he finds that only brings him more trouble, ending up in jail for shooting a member of a ruthless gang of thugs (lead by veteran tough guy Lawrence Tierney, working for the ruthless land owner Lon Chaney Jr. and his evil daughter, Myrna Dell) which controls everything that goes on in the town. Falling in love with newspaper woman Dorothy Malone, he finds out that the road to righteousness isn't always paved with peace and resistance. This B western has its share of action, but made on a nickel, it shows. Chaney seems to be channeling Walter Huston in "The Furies" in his all-white hair, but for once, he isn't chewing the scenery. This might have had more emotional impact regarding Ireland's character had it dramatized more as to why he decided to leave the South rather than simply rushing him out west after the end of the war, only vaguely commenting on his life there afterwards. It ain't bad, but there's hardly any thing memorable.

FightingWesterner Ex-Confederate John Ireland flees reconstruction and it's test of his vow of non-violence. Heading west, he winds up in a town under the thumb of powerful land baron Lon Chaney and his sadistic enforcer Lawrence Tierney, who are killing stealing land in anticipation of the railroad. Trying to leave, Ireland is only pulled in deeper.Another hard-boiled, low-budget 1950's western noir, The Bushwhackers is vivid and fairly violent entertainment that's definitely worth checking out. Like nearly all good westerns, it does a great job of manipulating the viewer, building up to the moment when all bets are off and the hero straps on his six-gun to take care of business.Here, Ireland and Tierney are fantastic. It's too bad that these two great actors were pretty much relegated to minor films (Tierney especially) due their alleged drunken exploits.The rest of the cast, Wayne Morris, Dorothy Malone (who's beautiful), and Jack Elam, are all great too.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Some films, like Citizen Kane, still look actual even though it was made in 1941. Others, like The Bushwhackers from 1952, seem older than those talkies of the early thirties. The reason? A very, very low budget and a director that really belonged to TV. The actors are excellent, and it is surprising to see them together in a western were obviously lowering the cost was so crucial. John Ireland is Jefferson Waring a man that after the civil war is over goes west because he does not want to use guns anymore. There he meets Dorothy Malone and her father, who print the newspaper and also Wayne Morris, the marshal. There is also a bad guy, Lon Chaney and his mean daughter Myrna Dell, not counting the notorious always mean Jack Elam. A very similar story made an excellent western some years later, "The Violent Men". I enjoyed "The Bushwhackers" because of the actors and also the amusing primitive, low quality type of film making, something rare in the westerns of the fifties.