After the Civil War, Confederate Jim Trask returns to his native Abilene to find his sweetheart engaged to his old friend Dave Mosely who's leading the cattlemen in a feud against the farmer... Read allAfter the Civil War, Confederate Jim Trask returns to his native Abilene to find his sweetheart engaged to his old friend Dave Mosely who's leading the cattlemen in a feud against the farmers.After the Civil War, Confederate Jim Trask returns to his native Abilene to find his sweetheart engaged to his old friend Dave Mosely who's leading the cattlemen in a feud against the farmers.
- Ross Bigelow
- (as Harry Harvey Sr.)
- Sprague
- (as Robert G. Anderson)
- Cattleman
- (uncredited)
- Wife
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- Rock Thrower
- (uncredited)
- Cattleman
- (uncredited)
- Roughneck
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2007 interview, director Charles F. Haas talked about helping Jock Mahoney, the star of this film, not be upstaged by a young David Janssen, whose gifts he recognized. "In a picture at Universal [this one], I had David Janssen. I had him with [Jock Mahoney], who . . . was basically a stuntman. Stunts were easy for him, but as an actor he lacked a certain energy. So I couldn't afford to have David Janssen as his assistant, but he was under contract at Universal, and I had to [use] him. So I had him leaning against a door in every scene. He never understood why. The reason was, if I hadn't had him leaning against a door in every scene that he was in, he would've outdone [Mahoney], who was the star."
- Quotes
Verne Ward: You know the trouble with this business is it makes a man old before his time. You know I never did hear of a sheriff living to be a ripe old age, did you?
Jim Trask: Sure. Ed Murdock. They didn't shoot him until he was 38.
Verne Ward: Probably lied about his age.
- ConnectionsRemade as Gunfight in Abilene (1967)
Jock Mahoney is said to be wooden, but I think he adapts well in the role of a war- weary veteran with a disability he needs to hide since it is central to his ability to fight and shoot. This is one of a few dynamics that are written into a script that nourishes the emotions and attention of the viewer, something often lacking in modern scripts., where the visual and the casual destroys the immersion. All that's really needed to carry the film is one hero, one tragic figure, one template bad guy (who still warns the tragic figure he's gonna lose, and the tragic figure doesn't take his heed), and a heroine. This keeps the film competently engaging.
The real meat of the script is given to Dave, played strongly and with complexity by Lyle Bettger, whose big eyes project emotion well. His part is really phenomenal in that he is a decent man who is a childhood friend of Mahoney's lead Jim Trask, and yet Trask undoes his entire life and accomplishments, and I ended up wanting him to triumph more than the lead character. It's one of the most tragic figures I've ever seen played in any Western. The trajectory of Dave's destruction occurs on multiple levels, partially through the usual underestimating of his foe, but also at his failure to step in and take down the hero, who has done a list of wrongs any man would kill for.
There's a boilerplate villain, played competently, but not phenomenally, and a heroine who is gorgeous and devoted, but their characters are pretty two dimensional. The strength of this film is really in the dynamic between a hero trying to find his way, and the epic tragic figure of his childhood friend. In fact, the tragedy is almost overwritten, to the point you almost lose support for the lead by the end.
This film has the feel of a peak Hollywood Western, not too clean but far before the revisionism of the 70s. It just has a real authenticity to it, with the dialog and the horse work and stunts, which include Jock Mahoney doing some serious diving into the dirt and hand to hand fighting. The actor was a real physical threat, and it shows.
All in all, a strong film, especially for its time and budget.
- photoe
- Mar 7, 2016
Details
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1