Stylish, well paced , solid , meticulous and agreeable look with crossfire and intense drama Western . This finely acted movie is gripping every step of the way . This is the story of the sheriff who'd worn it -till he'd faced one gun too many...the young Eddie . Novice sheriff he had to learn to wear it- or watch to die and the boy who lived only to wear one of his own ! Marshal Ben Cutler (Fred MacMurray) finds unexpectedly opposition from the townspeople when he captures killer Eddie Campbell (Robert Vaughn) . After claiming his daughter's childhood-sweetheart killed the marshal, one man finds himself in conflict with his daughter (Joan Blackman), his fiancée (Maggie Hayes) and many of the townsfolk . Sheriff Cutler is going to have trouble when Campbell is sentenced to hang .
Good adult Western with exciting battle of wits between an obstinate marshal and an astute young killer who begins to psych out the sheriff's daughter and townsfolk . This acceptable , meaty Western contains interesting plot , gun-blazing shootouts , a love story , and results to be quite entertaining . This passable Nathan Juran Western balances action , suspense and drama . Decent western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded hanging hour approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone but his fellow town people for help , nobody is willing to help him . The highlights of the film are the court house scenes and the climatic final showdowns . The traditional story and exciting screenplay were well written by Daniel B. Ullman and Maurice Zimm based on a short story by John Reese . Nice acting by Fred MacMurray as beginner but old marshal standing against impossible odds . Top-notch Robert Vaughan as the charismatic gunslinger who gains townsfolk sympathy . Fine support cast such as Joan Blackman , Denver Pyle , Phil Chambers , Bing Russell , Emilie Meyer , and James Drury of The men of Shiloh , among others . Adequate cinematography in Technicolor superbly caught by cameramen by Henry Freulich and Henry Jaffa ; however , a perfect remastering being necessary . Atmospheric and lively musical score , the theme song for 3.10 To Yuma (1957) directed by Delmer Daves is played frequently here especially in scenes involving Vaughan and Blackman .
The motion picture was realized by a magnificent duo, the producer Charles H Schneer and the director Nathan Juran who sometimes used pseudonym "Nathan Hertz" ; both of whom collaborated in several films . Before entering the film industry as an art director in 1937 Nathan Juran won an Academy Award for art direction on How Green Was My Valley (1941). World War II interrupted his film career, and he spent his war years with the OSS. Returning to Hollywood, he turned to directing films in the 1950s. He handled mostly low-budget westerns and sci-fi opuses, his most famous being The attack of the 50 foot woman (1958) . He was also responsible for the superb fantasy adventure The 7th voyage of Sinbad (1958). Juran directed some Westerns starred by Audie Murphy such as ¨Drums Across the River¨, ¨Tumbleweed¨ , ¨Gunsmoke¨ and ¨Law and Order¨ with Ronald Reagan . In the early 1960s, he journeyed to Europe, where he spent several years piloting adventure epics and spaghetti westerns such as ¨Land raiders¨. Juran made sensational Sci-fi and fantastic movies , such us : ¨First men oh the moon¨, ¨The 7th voyage of Simbad¨ , ¨20 million miles to earth¨, ¨Jack the Giant Killer¨ and several others
