Low-budget Western (Allied Artists) that tries to be different and largely succeeds, but in a not very impressive way. Instead of the usual Western hero, Jack Slade is highly flawed. He's brutal, tormented, and in maybe the biggest departure, he's decidedly un-handsome. So, it must be that aura of danger that turns Dorothy Malone into a lioness-in-heat 10 seconds after meeting him. Slade's personality problems go back to childhood where he accidentally killed a man and has been reliving the guilt ever since. Actually, this cheap Western anticipates a major trend of the period—the so-called "anti-hero"— which Paul Newman, among others, popularized. Here, it gets obscure treatment but remains a telling departure, nevertheless.
The movie's more interesting than anything else, mainly because you never know what's going to happen. For one, Slade appears to enjoy pumping lead into a guy long after he's dead—not exactly a Western cliché. For another, he kills his adopted dad, accidentally, but no less effectively. Then too, how many hit-and-run scenes have you seen in a Western. And though not played-up, the movie could easily have developed an anti-gun subtext since the young Slade is ultimately undone by guns and the gun culture.
Director Schuster must come cheap since he adds nothing to the script and was apparently blind to Mc Lane's ridiculous over-acting. In fact, the acting as a whole is uneven to a damaging degree. Malone's got a small part, probably to make Slade more sympathetic, but vamps it shamelessly into a bigger impact that would soon lead to A-productions. Also, that final shootout is dragged out to a diminished extent, and I kept thinking Slade was just using Langton to put him out of his misery, but there's no hint of such nuance. Instead, Slade dies a bad man trying to kill his one friend and conscience. Nonetheless, the movie's basic ideas are complex and sound. I just wish the budget had been big enough to better realize the potential.
The movie's more interesting than anything else, mainly because you never know what's going to happen. For one, Slade appears to enjoy pumping lead into a guy long after he's dead—not exactly a Western cliché. For another, he kills his adopted dad, accidentally, but no less effectively. Then too, how many hit-and-run scenes have you seen in a Western. And though not played-up, the movie could easily have developed an anti-gun subtext since the young Slade is ultimately undone by guns and the gun culture.
Director Schuster must come cheap since he adds nothing to the script and was apparently blind to Mc Lane's ridiculous over-acting. In fact, the acting as a whole is uneven to a damaging degree. Malone's got a small part, probably to make Slade more sympathetic, but vamps it shamelessly into a bigger impact that would soon lead to A-productions. Also, that final shootout is dragged out to a diminished extent, and I kept thinking Slade was just using Langton to put him out of his misery, but there's no hint of such nuance. Instead, Slade dies a bad man trying to kill his one friend and conscience. Nonetheless, the movie's basic ideas are complex and sound. I just wish the budget had been big enough to better realize the potential.