Yes, John Sturges directed this and "Bad Day at Black Rock" with similar plot points, but there's some "High Noon" here in this 1959 Western as well. Is it a rip-off of either? Absolutely not. It is in fact, one of my all-time favourite westerns.

Kirk Douglas (who made an excellent Doc Holliday in another of my favourite westerns, by Sturges no less, "Gunfight at the OK Corral" ) gives a powerful, towering performance as a marshal whose wife is raped and murdered. At the scene of the crime is a distinctive saddle. Douglas recognises it as belonging to his old buddy Anthony Quinn, a cattle baron in the title town. Douglas is pretty sure that Quinn himself is not the murderer, but the audience is aware very early on that his son, played by Earl Holliman, is the guilty man. Needless to say, things aren't going to end neatly or in a hurry as Douglas plans to take the guilty party with him on the 9 o'clock train with him.

Douglas does terrific work here. He may have been in his 50s, but he was still the manliest man this side of Burt Lancaster or Chuck Heston. Gone are his usual grinning charm and good-nature, giving way to a powerful performance as a vengeful and wounded man who wants justice to be done.

Anthony Quinn has always been underrated in my eyes. Yes, he played his Zorba schtick way too many times, but I found him to be one of the strengths of "Lawrence of Arabia" , he was good in another gritty western "Warlock" , and many other films (we'll forget about "Mobsters" and "Ghosts Can't Do It" ). Here he plays a quite reasonable man, a man who does not especially like his cowardly son, but feels the importance of family. He's stuck in an impossible situation, and at times, whilst Douglas is going about his "Death Wish"-like antics (an exaggeration), he almost comes off as the nicer of the two. But then you remember who and what he is defending.

The supporting cast may be missing a Dub Taylor, Jack Elam or Slim Pickens, but we've got some interesting faces here. Carolyn Jones, she of "House of Wax" and some kooky and ooky TV show you've probably never heard of, has never looked prettier. Her green eyes are simply gorgeous here, and though she does play an acquaintance of Quinn (she always seemed to play the Other Guy's Dame in westerns), it's nice to see that she's not playing a saloon girl for once. Brad Dexter, meanwhile is wasted as Quinn's burly, intimidating right-hand man, when he could've easily slipped into the Holliman role (a few years later, the role would've probably gone to Bruce Dern). You may remember Dexter as the foolish gold-seeker in (you guessed it) another of my favourite westerns "The Magnificent Seven" .

The cinematography is superlative. The rape and murder scene alone is brilliant, a stark and glum look that perfectly matches the tone of the film. In fact, even though in that scene a woman was being raped and murdered, all I could do was stare at the creepy-looking trees and excellent shot composition. I was transfixed by a spinning wheel on an overturned cart. And though colour has little place in such a dark and grim film, just look at the purple sofa in the hotel lobby. But even the interiors are dark, as Douglas is holed up in his hotel room.

Kudos to Sturges for not only showing that killing a man isn't fun (it's merely doing what needs to be done, arguably), but for compensating for his lack of action (the film bogs down a bit when Douglas gets holed up in the hotel) with one unforgettably nasty and powerful speech by Douglas describing the horrible end he is going to bring to Holliman. This is a western that like "Firecreek" and Douglas' "The Last Sunset", is ripe for re-discovery

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older