HotToastyRag If you decide to sit down and watch Waco, you'll probably think it belongs to the genre of western spoofs. I considered the possibility, but as the movie dragged on and didn't contain any actual jokes or banana peel pratfalls, I realized it was an actual western.Jane Russell is married to Wendell Corey, a preacher, but her ex-sweetie-pie Howard Keel has just gotten released from prison and is travelling to their town to take over as sheriff. The only trouble is, he doesn't know Jane's married, and Jane still has feelings for him. Plus, the town is desperately in need of proper law and order, and when Howard shows up and causes a stir, it turns into a shooting free-for-all. Yes, Waco is a ridiculously cheesy western, but it's the acting that really places it in terrible movie territory. Jane Russell was the main one who made me think the movie was a spoof, because almost all her lines were delivered like she thought the cameras were off and she wanted to make fun of the terrible lines she was given. Wendell Corey gives his best John Wayne impression, but it just doesn't work to see him as a preacher, since he's usually very unlikable bad guys. This movie just isn't worth watching, unless you're die-hard fans of the cast and insist on watching every movie your favorite actor or actress made.

35541m Waco is a typically terrible AC Lyles production full of ageing alcoholic actors struggling to read their lines, incompetent choreography where actors hold their hats as they fall over whilst the main plot (recycled the following year in Arizona Bushwackers) consists of a sheriff failing to arrest those who keep trying to kill him.The budget must have been especially low since this one features no outdoor location shots at all (those that exist are obvious bits of stock footage) but does include a pathetically unconvincing sagebrush backcloth which doubles as both a cemetery and a ranch corral.Laugh as director RG Springsteen repeats the same footage every time we see a raucous outside the saloon, John Agar tells Ben Cooper that his girlfriend will get over being raped "in a few days", Wendell Corey slurs his lines and is so visibly drunk that even Springsteen has to cut away before the man starts to topple over after being shot and a film whose morality is such that a man of God has to be killed for no good reason than that the hero wants to cop off with his wife without offending the Hays Code.This was De Forest Kelley's last film before being snapped up for Star Trek and immortality as Dr McCoy. Billed 12th, but with a much bigger part than several of those listed above him (Brian Donlevy gets third place for a five minute cameo), he's actually pretty good as the saloon 'bouncer' who keeps smirking behind Howard Keel's back. Kelley seemed to have done nothing but westerns in the 5-6 years before Star Trek and made a pretty good B western villain. In these movies he stood out possibly because he was one of the few actors sober on set and capable of doing more than read his cue cards !

bkoganbing A.C. Lyles turned out another good geezer western with Waco starring Howard Keel a recently released outlaw from prison who's been hired to clean up a really bad town run by saloon owner John Smith and his hired gun DeForest Kelley. Keel is kind of hoping to take things up where they left off with Jane Russell, but turns out she's gone and married preacher Wendell Corey. That sort of disillusions him as he wavers back and forth between doing the job he was hired or resuming his old outlaw ways.If it's action you want than Waco will not disappoint. Keel in the title role and we never do learn his real name because he probably was not born with that name, has a number of nasty fights and shootings. Besides Smith and Kelley, he's also got the Jenner family to contend with he killed one of them years ago. Willard Parker and Reg Parton are the remaining Jenner brothers and there's Anne Seymour, Ma Barker of the old west. In many ways, she's the one you'll remember from this film.Waco's also a pretty adult western with such themes as infidelity lightly touched upon and rape of Tracy Olsen an integral part of the story. The final shootout in the town involves just about every member of the cast.If you like western action you can't go wrong with Waco.

glump Waco is one of the all-time great westerns. Waco boasts an outstanding all-star cast, one of the finest ever assembled for a western film. (Look especially for fine performances from John Agar as Councilman George Gates, Wendell Corey as Preacher Stone and Anne Seymour as the irrepressible Ma Jenner!) John Smith and DeForest Kelley combine to form a convincing pair of villains!Keel treads a fine line as he portrays the psychologically complex Waco, a man torn between his violent past, his love for a woman, and his newfound faith in God. Jane Russell is as captivating as ever. Jeff Richards is great as Kallen.Don't forget to take note of the stirring "Ballad Of Waco" sung at the opening and during the close by Lorne Greene.Waco is truly a feast for the western fan. Veteran Director R.G. Springsteen can carve a notch on his six gun for this one! ("Chokin' on your own stench, huh?")