The more I think about this story the less sense it seems to make. I'm speaking particularly of Lyle Bettger's character, the black-hearted mayor of Stone Junction, Jesse Yates. Where did all the hatred come from? He had the never seen Indian Ed Little Bear killed because his daughter Marie (Tracy Olsen) was interested in him romantically. But Yates had been married to an Indian squaw himself, so where's the rationale? If one was offered I missed it and I'm not going back to figure it out. But if Yates had all that power to sway the citizens of his town to get rid of Joe Conners (Tom Drake) as a fall guy, he could just as easily have convinced them to approve of a marriage between his daughter and the Indian. But then I guess, we wouldn't have had this story.Unlike some of the other reviewers here, I'm not familiar with producer A.C. Lyles, but having read some of the comments my main question about the picture seems to have been answered. That being, why are the principals so old looking? I'm a long time Lon Chaney fan but gosh, he looked about ready to fall over any minute. As gunslinger and sheriff Johnny Reno, Dana Andrews was pushing nearly sixty himself, and even though Jane Russell was only in her mid-forties, she looked a bit worn and tired as well. Well now I know some of the history behind these films, making the picture slightly more palatable.I'll say one thing that was hilarious though. Remember when Reno took that stick of dynamite and threw it toward the town folk shooting at him? What would possess someone to run over and pick it up, but that's just what Jake Reed (Robert Lowery) did, and got blown sky high for his trouble. At least the dummy stand-in did, that was priceless.The other thing that caught my attention was the amount of money the town was willing to pay Johnny Reno to leave Conners behind and keep on riding - ten thousand dollars! It didn't look like there were enough folks in Stone Junction to come up with that kind of dough. But as I said earlier, not a lot here made sense, so that element just added to my puzzlement.

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!

How ironic if Tom Drake and his brother hadn't fired on U.S. Marshal Dana Andrews one of them wouldn't have wound up dead and we would have had no film called Johnny Reno.Dana Andrews plays the title role and he's drawn into a nasty local situation when that ambush happens. He brings Drake back to town to stand trial, but finds the town in a strange mood. They literally genuflect when their Mayor Lyle Bettger gives an order. Bettger really did not want to see Drake again.Drake's accused of killing the son of a nearby Kiowa chief. That in it self is strange, why is Bettger and the town all worried about the death of an Indian which Drake protests he never did? Turns out there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.A.C. Lyles once again provides work for several players of the forties and fifties who unless they were doing television found work increasingly hard to get. Jane Russell reprises one of her tough as nails, heart of gold women she took out a patent on. Lon Chaney, Jr. plays the part of an over the hill sheriff, very similar to what he did in High Noon. He does show why Gary Cooper did not want him backing him up in that.Lyle Bettger adds another to his collection of twisted psychos he did like no one else could in the fifties. Richard Arlen and John Agar have decent size roles in this as well.Not a great western, but thank you A.C. for bringing all of this cast together.

"Johnny Reno" is one of the thirteen low-budget westerns produced by A.C. Lyles in the sixties. It stars Dana Andrews, Jane Russell, Lon Chaney, Richard Arlen, Lyle Bettger and Tom Drake. The premise is a simple one. Sheriff Andrews is heading to a small town in order to see his one-time sweetheart (Russell). On the way, he is set upon by two brothers who think he is after them. Forced to shoot one, he captures the other (Drake) and brings him into town. His prisoner insists he is innocent of the crime the whole town wants him hanged for, and after hearing his story, will Andrews believe him? The film is an enjoyable time waster, mostly for the appearances of the veteran stars, but the story is also fairly suspenseful. Previously available only on a full screen videocassette, "Johnny Reno" has been released on DVD in a well-preserved widescreen edition. Hopefully, the rest in the series will follow.