Just goes to show how different people see things differently. The only other reviewer for the picture as I write this trashes it pretty firmly. I didn't find it to be so bad, although the subject of a man wrongfully accused has been done in Westerns a considerable number of times before. One of the things that sets the movie apart is the resolution which came right out of left field when Dona Vega (Madeleine Holmes) confessed to murder on the witness stand. Earlier Luis Ortega (David Renard) told Judge Stone (Hugh Marlowe) that he saw Ben Matthews (Robert J. Wilke) kill his own brother, so the story left that bit of information dangling in the wind. So how the judge managed to pin the woman down based on other information he had wasn't made clear at all. Hmm, maybe the other reviewer had a point. I may have to go back and check this out again, but in the meantime, if you need to know who killed Jim Matthews - Mamacita did it.
5 Reviews
Water at 32 Degrees: Three States Of Matter Co-Existing
boblipton15 February 2021
Sheriff Alan Hale Jr. stops Robert Wilke's men from lynching his prisoner, John Alonzo. They say Alonzo murdered their boss's brother for carrying on an affair with Alonzo's wife, Lisa Montell. Hale says a circuit judge is coming, and they back down. When judge Hugh Marlowe shows up, they almost shoot him down for interfering with their lynching David Renard, but aspiring gun man Chris Robinson sends them running. Marlowe begins to investigate.
It's one of the dire-looking black and white B westerns of the early 1960s, but it's got William Witney directing, so there are interesting things brought up in the script. It's written as one of those times-a-changing movies, with Wilkes representing the cattle barons who took over the west to run things as they saw fit, with Marlowe standing in for law and the coming, fairer order. There are the remnants of the old Spanish land lords in the person of Miss Montell, and her mother, Madeleine Taylor Holmes, embittered at theimmense land grant being reduced to a single house, while Wilkes owns everything else, secure in his power.... but there are stirrings of discontent. Hale won't break with the current order just yet, but he did call in a judge, and Robinson saved Marlowe on a whim... but if Wilke pays him, he'll pocket the money and shoot Marlowe.
So it seems, but with the conflict between the old, current and future rulership, there's a lot of possibility for change. Or none. For a cheap movie, this carries a lot of subtextual baggage, but Witney treats it just right by ignoring it, and telling the stor as written. That's where the strength of the ritualized B western has always been: tell the story, and let the audience fill in the meaning.
It's one of the dire-looking black and white B westerns of the early 1960s, but it's got William Witney directing, so there are interesting things brought up in the script. It's written as one of those times-a-changing movies, with Wilkes representing the cattle barons who took over the west to run things as they saw fit, with Marlowe standing in for law and the coming, fairer order. There are the remnants of the old Spanish land lords in the person of Miss Montell, and her mother, Madeleine Taylor Holmes, embittered at theimmense land grant being reduced to a single house, while Wilkes owns everything else, secure in his power.... but there are stirrings of discontent. Hale won't break with the current order just yet, but he did call in a judge, and Robinson saved Marlowe on a whim... but if Wilke pays him, he'll pocket the money and shoot Marlowe.
So it seems, but with the conflict between the old, current and future rulership, there's a lot of possibility for change. Or none. For a cheap movie, this carries a lot of subtextual baggage, but Witney treats it just right by ignoring it, and telling the stor as written. That's where the strength of the ritualized B western has always been: tell the story, and let the audience fill in the meaning.
A must-see "B" picture!
JohnHowardReid21 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Copyright 3 February 1961 by Associated Producers, Inc. Released through 20th Century-Fox. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: February 1961. U.K. release: 26 March 1961. Australian release: September 1961. 5,521 feet. 61 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Jonas Stone (Hugh Marlowe), a federal circuit judge in the early days of the West, comes to the frontier town of Tularosa to try a Mexican named Manuel Alvarez (John Alonzo) for murder. The town has never had an official trial before and Judge Stone is opposed by rancher Ben Matthews (Robert Wilke) who dominates the area. Weak- willed Sheriff John Millard (Alan Hale) tells Stone about the crime. Some days previous, Ben Matthews' younger brother came to the barn of the Vega family, apparently to meet Alvarez' wife Alicia (Lisa Montell). While waiting in the barn, he was shot with Alvarez' pistol. Suspects are Alicia Alvarez, her proud mother, Senora Dona Vega (Madeleine Holmes), both of whom were in the house at the time, Ben Matthews, who had come looking for his brother, and Ortega (David Renard), Alvarez' partner in their general store. Alvarez claimed that he was taking an inventory in the store the night of the murder but he has no witnesses.
On the day Stone arrives in Tularosa, he finds Will Matthews (Jeffrey Morris), another brother, trying to lynch Alvarez and later bullying Ortega when the sheriff tells him that Ortega sent for the judge. The bullying of Ortega is broken up by Reb Gilroy (Chris Robinson), a young gunslinger who has just arrived in town.
NOTES: Witney's 80th of his 89 movies as a director.
COMMENT: Well-made "B"-picture that holds the interest and attention, thanks to a tight plot, solid acting and very capable direction. It is true that the story situation is well-worn and that the screenwriters do not try to develop it along the lines of a mystery thriller, but simply use it as a means of introducing the film's characters and throwing them into conflict. And it is true also that the characters themselves are stereotyped. But they are so well played that their conflict seems real. Witney's direction sets them off very effectively, the action scenes are vigorously staged and he gets the most out of the sets and props. The sets themselves look impressively real and not the usual tawdry paste-boards of the B-grade oater and the film editing astutely disguises the use of doubles in the fight scenes. The music score too is well above the usual standard and effective use is made of sound effects.
P.S. Cinematographer Kay Norton is a woman — the only female director of photography I know. Producer Margia Dean is the same actress who starred in "Secret of the Purple Reef".
SYNOPSIS: Jonas Stone (Hugh Marlowe), a federal circuit judge in the early days of the West, comes to the frontier town of Tularosa to try a Mexican named Manuel Alvarez (John Alonzo) for murder. The town has never had an official trial before and Judge Stone is opposed by rancher Ben Matthews (Robert Wilke) who dominates the area. Weak- willed Sheriff John Millard (Alan Hale) tells Stone about the crime. Some days previous, Ben Matthews' younger brother came to the barn of the Vega family, apparently to meet Alvarez' wife Alicia (Lisa Montell). While waiting in the barn, he was shot with Alvarez' pistol. Suspects are Alicia Alvarez, her proud mother, Senora Dona Vega (Madeleine Holmes), both of whom were in the house at the time, Ben Matthews, who had come looking for his brother, and Ortega (David Renard), Alvarez' partner in their general store. Alvarez claimed that he was taking an inventory in the store the night of the murder but he has no witnesses.
On the day Stone arrives in Tularosa, he finds Will Matthews (Jeffrey Morris), another brother, trying to lynch Alvarez and later bullying Ortega when the sheriff tells him that Ortega sent for the judge. The bullying of Ortega is broken up by Reb Gilroy (Chris Robinson), a young gunslinger who has just arrived in town.
NOTES: Witney's 80th of his 89 movies as a director.
COMMENT: Well-made "B"-picture that holds the interest and attention, thanks to a tight plot, solid acting and very capable direction. It is true that the story situation is well-worn and that the screenwriters do not try to develop it along the lines of a mystery thriller, but simply use it as a means of introducing the film's characters and throwing them into conflict. And it is true also that the characters themselves are stereotyped. But they are so well played that their conflict seems real. Witney's direction sets them off very effectively, the action scenes are vigorously staged and he gets the most out of the sets and props. The sets themselves look impressively real and not the usual tawdry paste-boards of the B-grade oater and the film editing astutely disguises the use of doubles in the fight scenes. The music score too is well above the usual standard and effective use is made of sound effects.
P.S. Cinematographer Kay Norton is a woman — the only female director of photography I know. Producer Margia Dean is the same actress who starred in "Secret of the Purple Reef".
Not A Routine Western
januszlvii6 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The Long Rope is anything but s routine western. For example: since an earlier poster noted the killer of Jim Matthews ( the Mexican mother and her motivation). it is fair to say that in itself is unusual. Then there is the matter of the star Hugh Marlowe ( Judge Jonas Stone), they do not give him a love interest in the movie despite the presence of beautiful Lisa Montell (Alicia Alvarez). Spoilers ahead: Then there is the matter of gunfighter Rob Gilroy ( Chris Robinson) he was hired to kill Judge Stone, but he ends up not only liking and saving the Judge from death, but seeing how much trouble he gets into decides to go with him at the end of the movie. When do you ever see an outcome like that? The answer is never. Then of course there is the matter of Lisa Montell. I can watch her in anything ( check her out in World Without End ( also with Marlowe), she steals the picture).. Why? Just look at her and you will understand. Maybe the most neglected beautiful woman in. Hollywood history. I give it 9/10 stars. For being unpredictable and of course for Lisa Montell.
...For the audience, to escape from this crap.
searchanddestroy-13 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
What a disappointment for me, a William Witney's gems seeker who has looked for this film since a very long time...
Oh, OK, this rare feature is not worst than other ones, but I would have expected something far better. It's boring, at a scale you can't even imagine. And even if it is an American movie, the - Portuguese or Spanish - dubbing is awful, terrible, as if it was an European western, where the characters's lips moves are not synchronized with the speaking. I watched it in f...pan and scan. So, you can imagine what a torture it was for me. I did not ask for a masterpiece, but I did not deserve that either.
The story has already been told in the plot line above. Routine for Sunday afternoons when you have really nothing else to do. Nothing at all. Except getting a good sleep. I guess it was a taping off from a Latin America channel.
Oh, OK, this rare feature is not worst than other ones, but I would have expected something far better. It's boring, at a scale you can't even imagine. And even if it is an American movie, the - Portuguese or Spanish - dubbing is awful, terrible, as if it was an European western, where the characters's lips moves are not synchronized with the speaking. I watched it in f...pan and scan. So, you can imagine what a torture it was for me. I did not ask for a masterpiece, but I did not deserve that either.
The story has already been told in the plot line above. Routine for Sunday afternoons when you have really nothing else to do. Nothing at all. Except getting a good sleep. I guess it was a taping off from a Latin America channel.
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