I know next to nothing about Director Gene Fowler Jr but it seems to me that he could have done better with the material and the cast that he had for SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL.
With the exception of the first DEATH WISH (1974) and CHATO'S LAND, Charles Bronson has not cranked out a better performance. His delivery is clear, he looks convincingly rugged and fit for a marshall and bounty hunter looking for a man who allegedly killed three people.
John Carradine is the town barber cum undertaker and philosopher, and he delivers in style, too.
The B&W photography rates clear, always focused, with some clever angles.
Unfortunately, the script is a mish-mash of contrary emotions, unclear motivations, and men who think nothing of pulling a gun, even knowing the other bloke is a marshall/peace officer, which ultimately renders the film pretty meaningless, with that obligatory relationsip with Meyler at the end... even if there seems to have been no chemistry between Bronson and Meyler. (Carole Matthews, Meyler's mother, would certainly have been a catch, but then we would be wandering into Rod Cameron territory...)
Worth a watch, probably not a re-watch. 6/10.
With the exception of the first DEATH WISH (1974) and CHATO'S LAND, Charles Bronson has not cranked out a better performance. His delivery is clear, he looks convincingly rugged and fit for a marshall and bounty hunter looking for a man who allegedly killed three people.
John Carradine is the town barber cum undertaker and philosopher, and he delivers in style, too.
The B&W photography rates clear, always focused, with some clever angles.
Unfortunately, the script is a mish-mash of contrary emotions, unclear motivations, and men who think nothing of pulling a gun, even knowing the other bloke is a marshall/peace officer, which ultimately renders the film pretty meaningless, with that obligatory relationsip with Meyler at the end... even if there seems to have been no chemistry between Bronson and Meyler. (Carole Matthews, Meyler's mother, would certainly have been a catch, but then we would be wandering into Rod Cameron territory...)
Worth a watch, probably not a re-watch. 6/10.