This one unfortunately doesn't have Burt Kennedy behind the writing credits, but it's not bad.
Randolph Scott is once again on a revenge kick, this time going after Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll) who he believes had led his wife to commit suicide. The only problem with that is that it turns out that his late wife was also a tramp who was loose with the men. Scott blindly refuses to see this aspect of her character and is bent on revenge.
Himself and his sidekick, Noah Beery Jr., arrive in town just in time for Tate's wedding to Lucy Summerton (Karen Steele, who would later appear in Boetticher's RIDE LONESOME) and plan to interrupt it. But Scott has few allies here. Most of the town likes Tate except for the Doc (John Archer) who dislikes Tate almost as much as Scott does. He thinks Tate has brought the town's reputation down since his arrival a couple of years back.
There's some action at the wedding as Scott informs Lucy that she will be a widow by sundown if she marries Tate, and a shootout ensues sending Scott and Beery down the street to hold up in the livery stable. The sleazy sheriff (Andrew Duggan) who's in cahoots with Tate, has them surrounded with no avenue of escape. By now, Beery thinks his partner Scott's plan for vengeance has gone too far, so he comes out and surrenders his weapon only to have the sleazy sheriff gun him in the back with buckshot. Even at this point, Lucy wants nothing to do with Tate and calls off their wedding.
Scott witnesses this and vows revenge against Duggan for back-shooting his friend. When the rest of the town sees what Tate and his henchmen are capable of, along with some anti-Tate urging by the Doc, they have a change of heart and force the sheriff and his men to drop their guns. Duggan is forced to face Scott alone in a draw in which he is no match.
That only leaves Scott to face Kimbrough in a final duel, but Tate's lover (Valerie French) shoots Tate, wounding him so Scott can't finish him off. He allows Kimbrough to live with the stipulation that he leave town and never come back.
What brings this down a couple of notches is the fact that Boetticher doesn't use the outdoor settings that he used extensively in his other westerns. There's not enough space, making the whole thing look a little too claustrophobic. Almost all the action takes place in town, making the story look bogged down and static with too much time being chewed up in the livery stable.
Still, it's worth a look and is far better than many other oaters of the period.
6 out of 10
Randolph Scott is once again on a revenge kick, this time going after Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll) who he believes had led his wife to commit suicide. The only problem with that is that it turns out that his late wife was also a tramp who was loose with the men. Scott blindly refuses to see this aspect of her character and is bent on revenge.
Himself and his sidekick, Noah Beery Jr., arrive in town just in time for Tate's wedding to Lucy Summerton (Karen Steele, who would later appear in Boetticher's RIDE LONESOME) and plan to interrupt it. But Scott has few allies here. Most of the town likes Tate except for the Doc (John Archer) who dislikes Tate almost as much as Scott does. He thinks Tate has brought the town's reputation down since his arrival a couple of years back.
There's some action at the wedding as Scott informs Lucy that she will be a widow by sundown if she marries Tate, and a shootout ensues sending Scott and Beery down the street to hold up in the livery stable. The sleazy sheriff (Andrew Duggan) who's in cahoots with Tate, has them surrounded with no avenue of escape. By now, Beery thinks his partner Scott's plan for vengeance has gone too far, so he comes out and surrenders his weapon only to have the sleazy sheriff gun him in the back with buckshot. Even at this point, Lucy wants nothing to do with Tate and calls off their wedding.
Scott witnesses this and vows revenge against Duggan for back-shooting his friend. When the rest of the town sees what Tate and his henchmen are capable of, along with some anti-Tate urging by the Doc, they have a change of heart and force the sheriff and his men to drop their guns. Duggan is forced to face Scott alone in a draw in which he is no match.
That only leaves Scott to face Kimbrough in a final duel, but Tate's lover (Valerie French) shoots Tate, wounding him so Scott can't finish him off. He allows Kimbrough to live with the stipulation that he leave town and never come back.
What brings this down a couple of notches is the fact that Boetticher doesn't use the outdoor settings that he used extensively in his other westerns. There's not enough space, making the whole thing look a little too claustrophobic. Almost all the action takes place in town, making the story look bogged down and static with too much time being chewed up in the livery stable.
Still, it's worth a look and is far better than many other oaters of the period.
6 out of 10