"Showdown in Abilene" director Charles F. Haas' tame western "Star in the Dust" qualifies as predictable in many respects. This law & order epic about a sheriff sworn to protect his murderous prisoner until he can hang a noose around his neck has its moments. Cowboy stalwart John Agar of "Fort Apache" stars as Sheriff Bill Jorden, the grim son of a sheriff determined to see justice carried out despite what his father who was sheriff before him might have done under similar circumstances. The desperado in his custody is Sam Hall (Richard Boone of "Have Gun, Will Travel"), and he has been sentenced to swing for killing three men. The town of Gunlock, where Jorden wears the badge, is divided between the opposing forces of ranchers and farmers. Roughly speaking, the Oscar Brodney screenplay, based on Lee Leighton's novel, draws on the historical demise of Tom Horn. You could say they borrowed the smuggled revolver from the Billy the Kid movies. Haas isn't adept at cultivating tension while we wait for the first causality. Happily, he has assembled a sturdy cast, peopled with famiiar faces. A young, rangy, pre-"Rawhide" Clint Eastwood has a walk on in one scene early, about seven minutes into the action, to chat briefly with our stalwart hero. Paul Fix is excellent as Jorden's deputy Mike MacNamara, and career character actor James Gleason is lively as the handy man who built the gallows. Later, Jorden deputizes him to act as another jailhouse guard. The mystery behind everything that our badge-totting protagonist wants to resolve is the identity of the man who hired Hall. Clearly, Haas took some cues from the Gary Cooper classic "High Noon." Unfortunately, Haas isn't as adept at rustling up the kind of suspense that Fred Zinnemann orchestrated in the far superior "High Noon." As the leading lady and Jordan's fiancée, Mamie Van Doren spices up the cast. Future "High Chaparral" patriarch Leif Erickson plays dastardly banker named George Ballard, who happens to be Mamie's big brother. He is the jasper who hired Sam Hall. Hall had kept two of Ballard's printed but unsigned instructions to him about how to arrange the bodies of the three men he kills. The scene-stealing stunt comes near the end when Ballard plunges from a high roof, caroms off another, and lands with a convincing thud in the street. This is probably the high point of the saddle sore saga.
"Star in the Dust" appears to have been lensed on the Universal Pictures' backlot. Production values are excellent, and the set design is solid, too. "Star in the Dust" is one of the few westerns where the marshal's office is located on the second floor of the courthouse. While the tension mounts to the time when Hall will be strung up, Jordan has a tread on the stairs loosened. This way the marshal and his deputies will hear if somebody tries to sneak up the stairs. Ironically, after he acquired a revolver and breaks out of jail, Sam Hall steps on the loose tread and alerts the handy man deputy who foils his escape attempt. One of the secondary villains is the town's school teacher, a pugnacious dude, who has a beat down, knock-out fist fight with our hero. Typically, the school teacher isn't a guy but a gal. Altogether, "Star in the Dust" manages to entertain.
"Star in the Dust" appears to have been lensed on the Universal Pictures' backlot. Production values are excellent, and the set design is solid, too. "Star in the Dust" is one of the few westerns where the marshal's office is located on the second floor of the courthouse. While the tension mounts to the time when Hall will be strung up, Jordan has a tread on the stairs loosened. This way the marshal and his deputies will hear if somebody tries to sneak up the stairs. Ironically, after he acquired a revolver and breaks out of jail, Sam Hall steps on the loose tread and alerts the handy man deputy who foils his escape attempt. One of the secondary villains is the town's school teacher, a pugnacious dude, who has a beat down, knock-out fist fight with our hero. Typically, the school teacher isn't a guy but a gal. Altogether, "Star in the Dust" manages to entertain.