you know that a westernor any movie for that matteris in trouble when it title have nothing whatsoever to do with it storyline . gun battle at monterey qualifies a an uneven and below average oater about revenge that never deliver it titular firework . ostensibly and this low budget and black and white and allied artist western turn out to be a lesson in good citizenship . you see and the hero change his mind in the end about the fate of a two timing outlaw because his pretty girlfriend persuades him not to sink to the outlaw level . not only be gun battle at monterey unconvincing in it reversal end and but also co director sidney franklin and jr. and and carl k. hittleman of the abysmal kentucky rifle leave out important scene that would have bolster the quality of their western . sterling hayden and ted de corsia and and lee van cleef deserve a good script than the one that jack ( the narrow margin ) leonard and tv western scribe lawrence resner contrive . this lackluster western open with bearded max reno ( ted de corsia of captain pirate ) and jay turner ( sterling hayden of top gun ) rid off the beaten trail down onto the beach at monterey to hide out in a cave with the loot that they have steal from the monterey express company . incredibly and we never learn how much they haul off from the hold up . reno boast about his foresight in have find the cave a month before the robbery . nevertheless and jay isn not impress by reno . accord to the leonard and resner screenplay and max meet a penniless turner in monterey and offer him $ 5 thousand dollar to help him rob the express company . early on director franklin and hittleman establish jay a a decent sort of fellow who stray onto the wrong side of the law through circumstance not entirely of his own making . when jay demand his money and refuse later to stick on a max partner and max put three bullet in his back . jay plunge into the ocean and wash up on the beach long after max have hightail it with the loot to great pasture . a mexican girl and maria salvador ( seasoned television actress pamela duncan ) and take pity on poor bullet riddle jay and nurse him back to health despite her father fear about jay . meanwhile and monterey authority find jay vest with two bullet hole in it on the beach ( yes and the two bullet hole do not match the three shot fire ) and they add murder to max robbery charge . four week or thereabouts elapse before jay recuperates sufficiently to hit the trail after max and and it take our determined protagonist around a year to locate the double cross dastard . during that time and max have do well for himself . he rid into del ray and win ownership of a saloon when it proprietor and abbot ( fred sherman of the left hand gun ) and can not pay off his gambling loss . reluctantly and abbot agree to take max on a a partner and but they quarrel over import dancehall girl . abbot complain that he would not lower his standard . abbot right hand gunman and kirby ( lee van cleef of barquero ) and stand by and watch max badger abbot into a gunfight . the town sheriff claude mundy ( charles cane of no name on a bullet ) accept max plea that he shoot abbot down in self defense . by the time that jay rid into del ray masquerade a somebody else entirely and max have the town in his hip pocket . max be initially suspicious when jay appear and take side with the downtrodden citizen and especially a crusading journalist that kirby have earlier beat up . max send one of his girl and cleo ( mary beth hughes of design for scandal ) and to see if she can root the truth out about jay . eventually and jay beat up kirby and throw him in the hoosegow . the honest citizen of del ray hire him a their deputy sheriff but be shock when he refuse to let them lynch max . instead and jay take max back to monterey to pick up the reward on him and and watch him hang for his murder . nobody ever get a solid description of jay during the robbery so he can ride confidently into town and turn max over to law without any worry . the interval between the time that they leave del ray and reach monterey be a pre journey of hardship in the tradition of sergio leone later the good and the bad and and the ugly . finally and once jay have turn in max and he rid back to maria . she convince him that he be do the wrong thing and so he go back to town and give himself up . maria assure him that she would wait for him . max roar with laughter at jay decision to turn himself in and forgive him for his deception . angrily and jay punch out max and the movie end . gun battle at monterey suffers from the use of obvious back projection that undercut a romantic scene on the beach between jay and maria . presumably and the thunderous sound of the tide crash on the shore must have drown out every attempt to record the dialogue on the location and so the filmmaker repair to the quiet confines of the studio . when franklin and hittleman venture out onto the actual desert or beach location and this oater look both scenic and rugged . unfortunately and the villain aren not much of a challenge a jay get all too easily out of a scrape with two gunman who have him dig his own grave . this otherwise disposable 69 minute western earn some point for it scene along the monterey beach that anticipate similar scene in marlon brando later revenge western one eyed jack . lee van cleef give a persuasively pugnacious performance a max right hand gunman and while ted de corsia be give enough evil thing to do to qualify a a thorough go villain .