Quantez ** (1957, Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, James Barton) – Classic Movie Review 10,919

‘THEY RODE TO QUANTEZ TOWN… half-way to freedom but all the way to Hell!’

Universal International Pictures’ 1957 film Quantez is a stodgy but passable Western about criminals on the lam ducking into a Mexican border town for a rest and getting caught between rampaging Indians and the lawmen on their trail.

It finds Universal trying to combat the popular TV Westerns by offering the bonus of movie stars, colour and widescreen. But the big-screen Western was in decline, played out by just too many Westerns and too many good TV shows. Quantez is only a modest effort. Moments of brisk action and the excellent CinemaScope Eastmancolor photography by Carl E Guthrie brighten up the rather tepid, bog-standard tale.

Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Malone handle the acres of dialogue convincingly, but there is not nearly enough exciting action and director Harry Keller doesn’t get a move on.

Also in the cast are James Barton, Sydney Chaplin, John Gavin, John Larch and Michael Ansara.

Writers: R Wright Campbell (story and screenplay), and Ann Edwards (story).

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,919

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