This western opens with a man, later identified as gunslinger Wes Steele, riding through the Arizona desert; after his horse takes a tumble he is forced to shoot it and continue on foot. Eventually he comes across the site of a massacre; everybody aboard the stage, including a woman and child is dead. He unhitches the horses and rides one into the nearest town. The deputy sheriff pulls a gun on him and he shoots back injuring the man. Fleeing from the angry mob that emerges from the saloon he hides in the bank... here he hears the bank's owner, Stanley, arguing with his men; they were the ones that robbed the stage and one of them is upset about the deaths. They hear Steele moving about and use his presence as an excuse to shoot the dissenting gang member. Steele flees once again this time he takes shelter in a cellar. The next day he learns that he is in the house of the sheriff! The Sheriff is in bed with yellow fever but Steele is found by his daughter; if he is to survive the mob that is searching for him he will have to convince her of his innocence.
This B Western has a decent story and is well acted; Ray Milland does a fine job, both as protagonist Wes Steele and as the film's director. Mary Murphy does a decent job as the Steele's love interest, the sheriff's daughter, Nadine Corrigan. Other notable performances come from Raymond Burr and Lee Van Cleef as Stanley and one of his henchmen. The opening scenes in the desert gave a real sense of how hot and dry it was making Steele's predicament seem real. This didn't let up when he got to town as most of the action took place in the sheriff's house creating a sense of claustrophobia. The film's strength is this claustrophobic atmosphere; in fact there is surprisingly little real action; just a few shootings and a fist fight but that isn't a fault to my mind. The are some faults of course; it is stretched credibility to believe that Steele would take shelter in the bank just as the real crooks were discussing the crime, then that he would hide in the house that just happened to belong to the sick sheriff... also he claimed that he was trying to get away from his reputation as a gunfighter but he kept telling people who he was! Still if you can ignore these faults it is a good way to pass the time if you like westerns.
This B Western has a decent story and is well acted; Ray Milland does a fine job, both as protagonist Wes Steele and as the film's director. Mary Murphy does a decent job as the Steele's love interest, the sheriff's daughter, Nadine Corrigan. Other notable performances come from Raymond Burr and Lee Van Cleef as Stanley and one of his henchmen. The opening scenes in the desert gave a real sense of how hot and dry it was making Steele's predicament seem real. This didn't let up when he got to town as most of the action took place in the sheriff's house creating a sense of claustrophobia. The film's strength is this claustrophobic atmosphere; in fact there is surprisingly little real action; just a few shootings and a fist fight but that isn't a fault to my mind. The are some faults of course; it is stretched credibility to believe that Steele would take shelter in the bank just as the real crooks were discussing the crime, then that he would hide in the house that just happened to belong to the sick sheriff... also he claimed that he was trying to get away from his reputation as a gunfighter but he kept telling people who he was! Still if you can ignore these faults it is a good way to pass the time if you like westerns.