The central theme here is the idea that the town fathers of Cottonwood Springs want to find a way to get rid of their Marshal Frank Patch (Richard Widmark), because he evolved into a lawless gunman who killed opponents for no good reason. However I don't think the picture did a very good job of building that premise. The Marshal had a single gunfight at the beginning of the picture, taking out a drunken Luke Mills (Jimmy Lydon) who died some time later. In all other respects, Patch did not come on like a hot head or a bully, and when you get right down to it, he seemed to be a fairly reasonable lawman. At no time did he approach the savagery say, of a character like Gene Hackman's Little Bill Daggett, Marshal of Big Whiskey in 1992's "Unforgiven". So the basic plot of the story didn't work for me.
Perhaps then, more could have been made of the psychological angle when it was mentioned that Patch knew too many of the town's dark secrets, like who slept around with who, and what shady business dealings they might have been involved with. This idea wasn't taken very far either, leaving another plot line simply dangling.
Probably the best that can be said about Patch and the picture in general, is that he wasn't going to run just because he wasn't wanted. So you had some Will Kane ("High Noon") in his character, and like Kane, he married his sweetheart before the final showdown. Though the cowardly murder of Patch that followed was inevitable given the premise, it was just that, a murder, and not a successful resolution for the town of Cottonwood Springs, which would have to live with that stain after the final credits rolled.
1969 seemed to be a seminal year for TV and movie portrayals of interracial romance. TV's first black woman/white man kiss occurred, ready for this?, between Captain Kirk and Lieutanant Uhura on an episode of Star Trek called 'Plato's Stepchildren'. That same year, things got a little bolder when ex-football player Jim Brown heated up the screen with Raquel Welch in the Western "100 Rifles". That may explain the only reason for Lena Horne to appear in this one, as her role was entirely secondary otherwise. In fact, the picture missed another opportunity by never referencing her race, when that could have added another dimension to the town father's disregard for their peace officer.
Perhaps then, more could have been made of the psychological angle when it was mentioned that Patch knew too many of the town's dark secrets, like who slept around with who, and what shady business dealings they might have been involved with. This idea wasn't taken very far either, leaving another plot line simply dangling.
Probably the best that can be said about Patch and the picture in general, is that he wasn't going to run just because he wasn't wanted. So you had some Will Kane ("High Noon") in his character, and like Kane, he married his sweetheart before the final showdown. Though the cowardly murder of Patch that followed was inevitable given the premise, it was just that, a murder, and not a successful resolution for the town of Cottonwood Springs, which would have to live with that stain after the final credits rolled.
1969 seemed to be a seminal year for TV and movie portrayals of interracial romance. TV's first black woman/white man kiss occurred, ready for this?, between Captain Kirk and Lieutanant Uhura on an episode of Star Trek called 'Plato's Stepchildren'. That same year, things got a little bolder when ex-football player Jim Brown heated up the screen with Raquel Welch in the Western "100 Rifles". That may explain the only reason for Lena Horne to appear in this one, as her role was entirely secondary otherwise. In fact, the picture missed another opportunity by never referencing her race, when that could have added another dimension to the town father's disregard for their peace officer.