This is Audie Murphy's last universal western ( whether, as according to producer Gordon Kay, he would have made more for the studio till 1968 if he hadn't starred in westerns for other studios at the time is up in the air), and it's a fitting end, especially considering that the state of the western genre in 1966 was faraway from the traditional approach that Gunpoint takes. It has typical genre tropes like a train robbery, kidnapping, horse stampede, Apache attack and gunfights, and the story is very much straightforward.
Sheriff Chad Lucas is shot and left for dead by his treacherous Deputy while a gang of outlaws pull off a million dollar train robbery. But Lucas is not dead and he sets out to track down the robbers through hostile Apache territory - and with a deadly enemy in his own posse who is just waiting for the chance to strike again.
Personally, I don't understand the negative reviews of this Murphy oater, as it delivers as a traditional western, and has some exciting action scenes, good characterisation ( Denver Pyle, Warren Stevens and Audie himself). It's routine but still a good watch, a sad goodbye to how the genre was going and to Audie, who shows that 15 years of acting experience has paid off. He's really good as the cold, but determined sheriff. I like the song featured in here too - quite hummable.
Sheriff Chad Lucas is shot and left for dead by his treacherous Deputy while a gang of outlaws pull off a million dollar train robbery. But Lucas is not dead and he sets out to track down the robbers through hostile Apache territory - and with a deadly enemy in his own posse who is just waiting for the chance to strike again.
Personally, I don't understand the negative reviews of this Murphy oater, as it delivers as a traditional western, and has some exciting action scenes, good characterisation ( Denver Pyle, Warren Stevens and Audie himself). It's routine but still a good watch, a sad goodbye to how the genre was going and to Audie, who shows that 15 years of acting experience has paid off. He's really good as the cold, but determined sheriff. I like the song featured in here too - quite hummable.