Copyright 1957 by Universal-International. New York opening at RKO neighborhood theaters as the lower half of a double bill with a second run of "Tammy and the Bachelor": 6 September 1957. U.S. release: 1 October 1957. U.K. release: 7 September 1958. Australian release: 5 July 1957 (sic). 80 minutes. Cut by Rank Film Distributors to 68 minutes in the U.K. for release on a double bills.
SYNOPSIS: A gang on the run after a successful bank robbery hole up for the night in Quantez, a mysteriously empty frontier town.
VIEWERS' GUIDE (all versions): Strictly adults.
COMMENT: CinemaScope seems an odd choice for a "B" western that, aside from its opening action and solid climax, is largely set indoors.
Mind you, it still offers well above average entertainment, though it says much for the general standard of acting that the best performance comes not from any of the big-name players, but from the little known (as far as most moviegoers were concerned) James Barton, who provides a wonderfully engaging interlude as a wandering minstrel.
On the other hand, Fred MacMurray's playing seems a bit too off the cuff to be wholly convincing. You would think that he had just that moment memorized his lines, but had not been given any opportunity to practice them and get the feel of them.
And, although no fault of her own, Dorothy Malone also betrays the obvious haste with which the movie was made, thanks to her glaringly obvious make-up.
Even the sound recording is unusually rough by Hollywood's usually meticulous standards.
OTHER VIEWS: This film sets out with half-hearted self-consciousness after a theme — that the man on the run is hunted down from within as much as by external forces; but it succeeds only in being an object lesson in ponderous time-wasting. — Monthly Film Bulletin (reviewing the 68-minute version).
SYNOPSIS: A gang on the run after a successful bank robbery hole up for the night in Quantez, a mysteriously empty frontier town.
VIEWERS' GUIDE (all versions): Strictly adults.
COMMENT: CinemaScope seems an odd choice for a "B" western that, aside from its opening action and solid climax, is largely set indoors.
Mind you, it still offers well above average entertainment, though it says much for the general standard of acting that the best performance comes not from any of the big-name players, but from the little known (as far as most moviegoers were concerned) James Barton, who provides a wonderfully engaging interlude as a wandering minstrel.
On the other hand, Fred MacMurray's playing seems a bit too off the cuff to be wholly convincing. You would think that he had just that moment memorized his lines, but had not been given any opportunity to practice them and get the feel of them.
And, although no fault of her own, Dorothy Malone also betrays the obvious haste with which the movie was made, thanks to her glaringly obvious make-up.
Even the sound recording is unusually rough by Hollywood's usually meticulous standards.
OTHER VIEWS: This film sets out with half-hearted self-consciousness after a theme — that the man on the run is hunted down from within as much as by external forces; but it succeeds only in being an object lesson in ponderous time-wasting. — Monthly Film Bulletin (reviewing the 68-minute version).