WICHITA 1955
This Allied Artists film is a Cinemascope production shot in vibrant Technicolor. This western stars Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Edgar Buchanan, Carl Benton Reid, Mae Clarke, Robert Wilkie, Jack Elam, Wallace Ford, Peter Graves and Walter Sande. Joel McCrea plays Wyatt Earp here.
McCrea is travelling to Wichita Kansas to look into setting up a business. He has a small fortune saved up from his buffalo hunting days. He meets up with a group of cattlemen running a herd of beef to the rail-head at Wichita. The boss, Walter Sande, offers Earp some grub and a place to bed down that night.
Two of the cowhands, Lloyd Bridges and Rayford Barnes lift McCrea's cash during the night. This shall we say causes more than a little ill will. McCrea takes his cash back and thumps Bridges for his troubles. This of course sets up for some violence later on.
McCrea hits town and soon makes friends with local newsman, Wallace Ford, and his reporter, Bat Masterson, played by Keith Larson. McCrea impresses the local town big shots when he foils a robbery at the town bank. They offer him the job as Town Marshal. McCrea turns the offer down.
McCrea however takes up the badge after a small boy is shot by a bunch of drunken cowboys. He collars the cowpokes and fires the whole mess of them into jail. There is now a series of events that has McCrea at odds with the cowboys, some of the town elders and one of the saloon owners, Edgar Buchanan.
The biggest bone of contention is the new law of McCrea's of no guns to be carried in town. McCrea also finds time during all this to step out with pretty Vera Miles. Miles is the daughter of one of the town's leading citizens, Walter Coy. Coy is not happy about this and tries to stop Miles from seeing McCrea.
Saloon owner Buchanan hires a couple of out of town guns to eliminate McCrea. Too bad for Buchanan, that the two, Peter Graves and John Smith, are actually two more of the Earp brothers. McCrea gives Buchanan an hour to leave town.
Needless to say Buchanan does not take the ejection well. He returns that night with Jack Elam and Rayford Barnes. The attempted killing misses McCrea and gets Miss Miles mother, Mae Clarke, instead.
McCrea and his brothers are soon in hot pursuit. Elam and Barnes are quickly ran to ground and dispatched. Buchanan however escapes. He meets up with the cow-poke pals of Elam and Barnes. He soon has the group whipped up for a spot of revenge on McCrea and company. We all know how this is going to end.
This is a much better than expected western with fine work from the entire cast and crew. The film was helmed by Jacques Tourneur. Tourneur is most well known as the director of the noir classic, OUT OF THE PAST. The man worked in several genres and put out more than a few excellent films. These include, CAT PEOPLE, THE LEOPARD MAN, BERLIN EXPRESS, CANYON PASSAGE, STARS IN MY CROWN, NIGHT OF THE DEMON and NIGHTFALL.
The look of the film is top flight with Harold Lipstein handling the cinematography duties. His work include the westerns, WALK THE PROUD LAND, CHIEF CRAZY HORSE, DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER, NO NAME ON THE BULLET, AMBUSH , HELL IS FOR HEROES and NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Look close and you will see former early western star, Franklyn Farnum as well as McCrea's son, Jody, in small bits.
This Allied Artists film is a Cinemascope production shot in vibrant Technicolor. This western stars Joel McCrea, Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Edgar Buchanan, Carl Benton Reid, Mae Clarke, Robert Wilkie, Jack Elam, Wallace Ford, Peter Graves and Walter Sande. Joel McCrea plays Wyatt Earp here.
McCrea is travelling to Wichita Kansas to look into setting up a business. He has a small fortune saved up from his buffalo hunting days. He meets up with a group of cattlemen running a herd of beef to the rail-head at Wichita. The boss, Walter Sande, offers Earp some grub and a place to bed down that night.
Two of the cowhands, Lloyd Bridges and Rayford Barnes lift McCrea's cash during the night. This shall we say causes more than a little ill will. McCrea takes his cash back and thumps Bridges for his troubles. This of course sets up for some violence later on.
McCrea hits town and soon makes friends with local newsman, Wallace Ford, and his reporter, Bat Masterson, played by Keith Larson. McCrea impresses the local town big shots when he foils a robbery at the town bank. They offer him the job as Town Marshal. McCrea turns the offer down.
McCrea however takes up the badge after a small boy is shot by a bunch of drunken cowboys. He collars the cowpokes and fires the whole mess of them into jail. There is now a series of events that has McCrea at odds with the cowboys, some of the town elders and one of the saloon owners, Edgar Buchanan.
The biggest bone of contention is the new law of McCrea's of no guns to be carried in town. McCrea also finds time during all this to step out with pretty Vera Miles. Miles is the daughter of one of the town's leading citizens, Walter Coy. Coy is not happy about this and tries to stop Miles from seeing McCrea.
Saloon owner Buchanan hires a couple of out of town guns to eliminate McCrea. Too bad for Buchanan, that the two, Peter Graves and John Smith, are actually two more of the Earp brothers. McCrea gives Buchanan an hour to leave town.
Needless to say Buchanan does not take the ejection well. He returns that night with Jack Elam and Rayford Barnes. The attempted killing misses McCrea and gets Miss Miles mother, Mae Clarke, instead.
McCrea and his brothers are soon in hot pursuit. Elam and Barnes are quickly ran to ground and dispatched. Buchanan however escapes. He meets up with the cow-poke pals of Elam and Barnes. He soon has the group whipped up for a spot of revenge on McCrea and company. We all know how this is going to end.
This is a much better than expected western with fine work from the entire cast and crew. The film was helmed by Jacques Tourneur. Tourneur is most well known as the director of the noir classic, OUT OF THE PAST. The man worked in several genres and put out more than a few excellent films. These include, CAT PEOPLE, THE LEOPARD MAN, BERLIN EXPRESS, CANYON PASSAGE, STARS IN MY CROWN, NIGHT OF THE DEMON and NIGHTFALL.
The look of the film is top flight with Harold Lipstein handling the cinematography duties. His work include the westerns, WALK THE PROUD LAND, CHIEF CRAZY HORSE, DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER, NO NAME ON THE BULLET, AMBUSH , HELL IS FOR HEROES and NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Look close and you will see former early western star, Franklyn Farnum as well as McCrea's son, Jody, in small bits.