Johnny Reno (1966)

How sad is this?

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

at the first scene, it already showed that this is a lousy film. one was shot dead but no blood shown at all, the other was shot in the arm, but only got some careless cosmetic red dye on the shirt, the blood stain looked so fake, just in a round shape that never enlarged, and the arm just stayed that way, no blood dripping down beneath the long sleeve, no nothing, and the guy was acting just like a normal person instead of a wounded one. then the Indian showed up, talked like white man with perfect English. then went to the town where the lousy dialog became even worse. this is one of the worst western films i've ever watched and just failed to finish it. what a pathetic western movie!

Paramount was the last major studio to jump into television production in the late 1960's. Studio founder Adolph Zukor was against TV from the start, treating it as the enemy, therefore they never made series for the networks like the other studios did. Sure, they would rent out space to shows like Bonanza, but they insisted on making only features, and had AC Lyles make a series of low-budget westerns with aging stars to fill out the second half of a double bill.Johnny Reno was the best of a bad lot, it's low budget origins more than obvious. Shot in Techniscope (cheaper than Panavision)and color, it has a surprisingly strong ending centered around racism and miscegenation.Others in the series like Town Tamer and Hostile Guns are downright unwatchable. Shortly after this, the studio changed ownership and installed Robert Evans as production chief and in a few short years Paramount TV was one of the top suppliers of network shows. No more movies like this one were made. Anyway, many years later Lyles redeemed himself in my eyes by being an executive consultant on the "Deadwood" series on HBO, one of the best western series ever made. Thanks, AC

Aside from a sappy intro and closing tune, this is a pretty good western, though the main theme is a bit familiar. After all, there must have been a thousand westerns that had a big, bad boss-man who basically ran a town and got his own way...only to meet up with honest man who could not be intimidated or bought. Fortunately, however, there were enough new elements to the familiar story to make it worth seeing.The film begins with Dana Andrews happening upon a couple men running from the law in a nearby town. They assume Andrews is after them and begin firing. Andrews kills one and captures the other. Oddly, they thought he was after him but he just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. So, he takes the lone survivor to a nearby town for trial, but it soon becomes apparent that the town has no interest in a trial--they will hang the guy! Well, Andrews isn't about to let that happen and he gets the VERY reluctant Sheriff (Lon Chaney, Jr.) to help. There's way too much unsaid that he needs to investigate, but no one in the town seems to be talking--they all just want a good hanging and it's the local rich boss that seems to be behind everything.Good acting and direction along with a few decent plot twists make this one worth your time. Not a great film but a very good one. And, like a typical A.C. Lyles production of the 1960s, it employs actors whose careers had seen better days--and makes good use of them.

Lyle Bettger is one of those stalwarts whose names probably mean nothing to most average filmgoers but who enjoy instant recognition on the screen… Bettger was far better knows as a blond, blue-eyed villain given to exuding pathological hated... His good looks worked for him in every determined effort, even as a menacing villain with a snickering charm...Dana Andrews plays Marshal Johnny Reno, who used to be one of the top gunfighters… He just arrived with a prisoner called Joe Conners (Tom Drake) considered by the citizens of Stone Junction as a little Indian-killer… Of course the Mayor of the town Jess Yates (Buttger) assures the marshal that Conners will be given a fair trial and asked him to get out of the town fast… In spite of hearing that the lynch mob will be out there and one way or another they'll get Conners, the tough marshal tells everybody that his prisoner is in his protective custody and anybody who wants to get to him is going to have to step over his dead body… That day, the way it happened—before the Connors mess—Reno was riding to see somebody he once knew, Nona Williams (Jane Russell). He knew the woman years before when he was the righteous lawman in the town where she lived… He has been wearing a badge ever since… Nona made a mistake and he couldn't forgive her… Lon Chaney Jr shows up as a sheriff who forgets that his job is law and order… Filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, "Johnny Reno" remains a tedious little Western worth a matinée