The Silent Gun

The opening of this made for TV movie of the week is very exciting with Lloyd Bridges taking on a gang of outlaws all by himself. At the time, the anti TV violence folks power was at it's peak. TV Detective shows could only fire their guns once during an episode and the only way to kill anyone was during a car chase ending in a car going off a cliff which Mannix seemed to do every 15 minutes. This was the reason the opening gunfight with the high body count was such a surprise during this time. As the synopsis states, Bridges almost killing a little girl leads to his carrying an empty gun for the rest of the movie. Tension is created by the veteran gunman running a bluff based on his deadly reputation to keep the badmen in line. John Beck was Bridges' side kick and was cool, but wasn't given much to do. The veteran cast made it interesting, but lack of action takes it's toll on the western fan craving excitement.