Red Sundown (1956)

Red Sundown is a 1950's Western directed by Jack Arnold, who grownup kids will know from some of his 1950's films: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), It Came from Outer Space (1953), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).I love the song at the end and start, "Red Sundown", it's one of those catchy Western title songs or ballads popular in 1950's Westerns, it also reminded me of the song in "5 Card Stud" (1968) sung by and staring Dean Martin.I liked the old color in this film. Rory Calhoun (who did all sorts of stuff including film noir and Westerns) is the main guy here, he's a bit weak as an actor, playing a gunfighter and the main protagonist. Some fight gets started in a bar over a table and then the guys hunt him and his friend. They find them at some shack, whereby his friend saves him by burying him in an absurd scene. The shack gets burnt but he survives. He goes to a small town, where he gets hired by the local sheriff as his deputy. The sheriff Jade Murphy is played by Dean Jagger who was a familiar face in 1950's films. The fight between squatters and some cattle baron ensues with the sheriff and his deputy trying to sort it all out. Throw in some young lady, who is the sheriff's daughter.I did notice Lee Van Cleef in a flashback, which was uncredited. Director Jack Arnold may have used stock footage of his many films. Also, look for a young, unrecognizable Grant Williams from the fun "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957).I think there's too much dialogue in this one, yet the film is a bit above average, just barely. That's because it has decent direction, good production values, and capable acting. It isn't great, but still something to watch for Western film lovers.

Rory Calhoun struggles to turn over a new leaf in Jack Arnold's sure-fire but formulaic western "Red Sundown," co-starring Martha Hyer, Robert Middleton, Dean Jagger, and Grant Williams. Hollywood westerns entered the post-war years and purveyed messages about the evils of gun-play, especially the influence of a six-gun over an individual's destiny. Earlier, the iconic Gregory Peck oater "The Gunfighter" (1951) depicted the disadvantages of toting a pistol. Similarly, "Red Sundown" deplores the way of the gun and lays it's ideology on with a trowel. For example, two hero-worshipping youngsters are obvious message bearers. Gunfighters are their role models. Our stalwart hero is a swift-shooting gunslinger himself who wants to hang up his hardware. For the record, Rory sports two six-guns; one worn on his right hip while another jockeys his left hip with the handle of the revolver facing forward. The casting in this horse opera is splendid, with Rory Calhoun living up to his usual standards. Grant Williams is particularly slimy as a paid pistolero with a leer. He has three effective scenes where he threatens a rancher and his wife, another where he turns tail and flees in the face of the protagonist's shotgun, and a scene in the hero's room. Hyer is cold, cruel ice; she doesn't believe that Ale Longmire has ridden a different trail. This is one of those lean, mean, low-budget westerns that Universal Pictures turned out like hot cakes during the 1950s. Arnold helms the action with an accomplished assurance. He never lets a scene wear out its welcome, and the production values look sturdy. The fistfight between Calhoun and Middleton is a brief but brutal knockdown drag-out affair. Middleton makes a thorough-going villain. Of course, Leo V. Gordon is the ultimate ruffian. Later, Williams starred in Arnold's iconic "The Incredible Shrinking Man."

After hooking up with old time gunfighter James Millican, younger gunfighter Rory Calhoun decides he'd better look for a different line of work himself. Especially after Millican dies holding off a pair of brothers out to get them. But it's not so easy when the only trade you know is a fast draw.And in Red Sundown that's just what old time sheriff Dean Jagger needs to stop a range war between the local Ponderosa owner Robert Middleton and a bunch of smaller ranchers and farmers. Land titles aren't clear and Middleton's grabbing all he can.Also keeping Calhoun in town is Jagger's daughter Martha Hyer, but there's a complication there with the presence of Middleton's mistress Lita Baron who has a history with Calhoun. Her function in the film and her relationship with Middleton make Red Sundown quite the adult western for its time.In only an 81 running minute time Red Sundown packs quite a bit in what is an above average B western. I do love the way that kid actors David Kasday and Scotty Morrow function as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on the comings and goings in the town and showing the voice of public opinion in prevailing mores. Grant Williams the future incredible shrinking man makes his screen debut here playing a vicious punk gunfighter that Calhoun has to deal with.Red Sundown is one of the best of Rory Calhoun's B westerns and definitely an above average film for the limited production values it got because of its low priority.

One of the greatest satisfactions in watching old westerns is when you find some forgotten film that turns out to be quite good like this one. Directed by the very competent Jack Arnold famous for his science fiction films , "Red Sundown" is the story of Alec Longmire (Rory Calhoun), a famous gunfighter, who wants to change. The reason is that he promised another gunfighter that he would not live by the gun. But then he goes to a town where there is a fight for land, and becomes friendly with the Sheriff (Dean Jagger) who asks him to be his deputy. The big boss Henshaw (Robert Middleton) who wants to stay with all the land, ends up contracting the fastest gun, Chet Swann (Grant Williams). Williams is excellent as the mean, always laughing, Swann. Longmire also falls in love with Caroline (Martha Hyer) the Sheriff's daughter. There are many shootouts, also a good fistfight and a showdown, and nice scenery in color.