Tonight's Movie: Red Sundown (1956)

Rory Calhoun, a favorite Western star, was born on August 8, 1922.

When I wrapped up work last evening I decided to honor Calhoun's birthday by watching him in RED SUNDOWN (1956).

RED SUNDOWN has been highly recommended to me by several people, including my dad and my friends Blake, John, Toby, and Kristina, among others! In fact it was on my list of 10 films I was planning to see last year; for various reasons I had to push the list forward into 2018 but I finally made headway and crossed this title off tonight!

Calhoun plays Alec Longmire, who finds outlaw Bud Purvis (James Millican) wandering on the prairie. Alec rescues Bud but they soon tangle with Rod Zellman (Leo Gordon), who chases after Bud and Alec, which leads to a memorable gunfight in which the seriously wounded Bud comes up with a unique (if more than a little creepy) way to save Alec.

Alec promises Bud he'll give up living by the gun, though he hadn't planned on an offer as deputy sheriff from Sheriff Murphy (Dean Jagger). The good-natured sheriff offers Alec the job and Alec accepts. The job is all the more appealing as the sheriff has a lovely daughter, Caroline (Martha Hyer).

The town is in the middle of a land war pitting Rufus Henshaw (Robert Middleton) and his goons (including John Doucette) against the townspeople. Creepy Chet Swann (Grant Williams) arrives in town to work for Henshaw, with orders to kill.

Like most '50s Universal Westerns, this is a colorful, relatively short film which packs lots of entertainment value into its 81 minutes. That said, it goes above and beyond the norm with interesting plotting and some wonderful performances.

Calhoun is always good in Westerns, but he's especially fine here as a young man struggling to go straight but finding it harder than expected, between the doubts of Caroline and the need to pick up his gun again, even if this time it's on the side of law and order.

Jagger is also wonderful as the sheriff who gives Alec a second chance. The dialogue when they meet is absolutely terrific, as the sheriff asks Alec if he's on any of the wanted posters in the sheriff's office and Alec says "Let's go look." The friendly, frank discussion which follows between the two men is an excellent scene.

The movie provides a heck of a part for character fave James Millican, who had been in films in bit parts since the mid '30s and gradually climbed into more substantive character roles in the late '40s and '50s. He was really hitting his stride in the mid '50s, in films such as this and DAWN AT SOCORRO (1954), where he played a Wyatt Earp type role opposite Calhoun's spin on Doc Holliday, but tragically Millican died of cancer in 1955, before this film was released. He was only 45.

Millican is unforgettable as the gunman who says if he had it all to do again, he'd get a real job; he gets a second chance at living, only to lose it again. In his final moments he finds a way to save Alec twice over, first keeping him from dying and then also obtaining Alec's promise that he'll go straight.

Hyer has sharp edges in this one, as the woman who seems attracted to Alec but doubts his character. She's particularly dismayed when she finds him with an old girlfriend, Maria, played by Lita Baron, who was then Mrs. Rory Calhoun in real life. Unbeknownst to Caroline, Maria is now actually Henshaw's mistress.

And then there's Williams, who would later work with director Jack Arnold on the heartbreaking sci-fi film THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957). He's quite something as the deranged killer unleashed on the town by Henshaw.

The film has a succession of good action scenes, with my favorite being when Henshaw's men arrive and take over the saloon, but they have a surprise coming. A great moment.

The movie was filmed by William Snyder. The above-average score was by Hans J. Salter, and the title song was composed and sung by Terry Gilkyson. The supporting cast includes Trevor Bardette, David Kasday, Chuck Roberson, Rusty Westcoatt, Chuck Hayward, Lane Bradford, and Helen Brown.

Many thanks to my friend John Knight for providing a lovely widescreen print for me to watch. What an enjoyable experience! This is certainly a film which needs to be out on Region 1 DVD in the U.S.