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Purely Joyful Movie!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Alec Longmire (Rory Calhoun) is given a second chance to go straight when he escapes an ambush with the help of hardened gunfighter Bud Purvis (James Millican). After promising Purvis that he will hang up his guns, Longmire arrives in the town of Durango looking for ranch work but instead is offered the job of deputy for Sheriff Jade Murphy (Dean Jagger). Even though it's an honest job Longmire is reluctant to accept because of his promise to Purvis. With some encouragement from Murphy and his daughter (Martha Hyer) Longmire relents and pins on the badge but he quickly finds himself in the middle of a range war between land baron Rufus Henshaw (Robert Middleton) and a group of small ranchers who have staked claims on the land. This is another solid program western from the Universal International stable. No new ground is covered in this one but director Jack Arnold wisely doesn't try to re-invent the wheel, sticks with the tried and true and turns out an entertaining Oat Burner. Red Sundown is a straight up action Western with minimal romantic melodrama even though Calhoun's wife in real life (Lita Baron) shows up in a small part as a former old flame. Bad guys Grant Williams and Leo Gordon round out the cast.Filmed in Technicolor and based on the novel 'Back Trail', Red Sundown is a reasonably ambitious western that would have been better served by a more expansive production budget. There is a lot of story to try to pack in eighty one minutes considering the sub plots that were never able to be fully developed. Nevertheless Red Sundown still pretty good Western fare.

Grant Williams surprised me completely: He is simply magnificent as a Western bad guy. Even beyond his skill as a Western performer is his skill as a performer. In the one close-up scene with star Rory Calhoun, he steals it totally -- and Calhoun gives one of his own best performances.Dean Jagger is the consummate professional, and proves that as a sheriff. Maybe he's never given a bad performance. Certainly I've never seen one. But he too surprised me.James Millican is one of my favorites. Every time I see him, I get surprised anew at how perfect he seems in his role, whatever role it is.Martha Hyer, though, is no surprise -- except to realize again just how perfectly beautiful she is, and how perfectly she fits her role, again, whatever role it is.Veteran Trevor Bardette gives another of his classic performances, and we see the iconic John Doucette in a bit, but standing out, as always.Equally iconic Leo Gordon has another small role, and just owns the screen whenever he is on it.Robert Middleton is another surprise. He, too, is always perfect in whatever role, but as a Western bad guy? Yes! As I said, surprise. And he even has a fight scene! Extremely well done.Even the music rates a 10, with the title song beautifully written and beautifully sung by Terry Gilkyson, of whom I had not heard, but obviously I should have: He has a long list of credits. The rest of the score is by the under-appreciated Hans J. Salter.Directing and cinematography and editing are all top-notch, and the story, from a novel by the master, Lewis Patten, is therefore very well presented.There is a good print at YouTube, unfortunately interrupted several times by commercials, something I ordinarily hate, but I guess it's the price to pay to see such a good movie.I highly recommend "Red Sundown."

Perhaps my review title would have been a more appropriate title for this western, which features the well worn plot involving a range war between a cattle baron and neighboring small ranchers over the lands claimed by the small ranchers, which often are held by deeds of questionable or worthless validity. Roy Calhoun, who starred in this one, also starred in at least one other film("Utah Blaine") about such a range war. Here, it's chunky Rufus Henshaw(Robert Middleton)who is terrorizing the small ranchers, threatening to fence them out of their traditional grazing land, which Henshaw now claims for himself. To help him convince the small ranchers and sheriff to see things his way, he hires notorious gunslinger Chet Swann(Grant Williams). Calhoun(as Alec) is reckoned to be the only local who might outdraw Swann. Calhoun has recently been hired as the Deputy Sheriff of the local community. Henshaw offers him better pay to work for him, but Calhoun refuses. Swann and Calhoun have several tense meetings before their final showdown, running around town buildings. Guess who ultimately prevails, but only with the vocal help of the sheriff's striking-looking single daughter, Caroline(Martha Hyer). As according to standard formula, at first they don't see eye-to-eye, but eventually, the implication is that Calhoun will return to her after he attends to some business elsewhere. Calhoun also runs into the equally striking-looking old Latino girlfriend, Maria(Lita Baron). She appears to be Henshaw's mistress. Seems she would rather be Calhoun's girlfriend again, but that's not in the cards.There's a bizarre episode where Calhoun's buddy, Purvis, convinces him to dig a trench in the floor of the cabin where they are hiding, in which he places himself, then Purvis places a thin layer of soil over him, providing him with a stove pipe to breathe through! Then, the baddies who have them surrounded, set fire to the cabin, and when all is ashes, they are mystified where Calhoun vanished to. After they leave(how does he know?), he supposedly pushes the soil away and emerges from his 'grave'. For me, the best part of the film was seeing the 2 beautiful women...There's a theme song "Red Sundown" with lyrics relating to Calhoun and Caroline, sung during the opening and closing credits....I swear, I can't tell the difference between the speech of Calhoun and Audy Murphy. One grew up in CA, while the other grew up in Texas..... Available in color at You Tube and on DVD.

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."