Stranger at My Door

This rather sanctimonious Western is worth seeing, despite the delivery of awful dialogue delivered by Macdonald Carey about ' salvation '. The opening scenes are good traditional Western scenes, and then Skip Homeier on the run accidentally lames his horse and is taken in by a preacher and his wife, who the moment she sees him looks visibly sexually interested. Then the tension mounts to almost operatic splendour with a monster stallion literally attacking the lot of them ( sexual symbolism anyone ? ) and Skip Homeier gets them all hot and bothered ( that I understand as he exudes erotic charm). Then religion returns as it would in such a sexually charged film, denying what it desires, and the delirious over the top music adds to the manic feel of the film ( imagine Korngold doing a Wagner pastiche ). And not only does Skip Homeier give a fine performance and even puts Patricia Medina in the shade in every sense of the word. It is an excellent example of camp that John Wayne would have hated. There is even a ' miracle in it '. Well worth tracking down. The final lines reveal a sanctimonious return to probably save it from the Hays Code.

Never realized how bad an actor Skip Homeier was. Patricia Medina seems lost and miscast.

MacDonald Carey made several entertaining low budget western films in the 1950's, before gaining lasting fame as the lead on the soap opera "Days of our Lives". In this western with a message, Carey finds himself in a saga of good vs. evil, faith vs. worldliness. An escaping convict and a peaceful minister do battle for the salvation of the felons soul! Both men seem equally sure of their eventual victory.

I enjoyed this film and feel it was well suited to Mr. Carey's abilities. It was also fun to see the casting of Slim Pickens (What would westerns have done without him ?). Even though this storyline was recycled, this one is still very much worth viewing.

"Stranger at My Door" is a pretty good movie, though I must warn you...the ending is really schmaltzy and could have been handled much better.

The story is set in the American west...during the cowboy era. It begins with a group of bank robbers running from the law. The group decides to split up and the remainder of the film is about the notorious outlaw, Clay (Skip Homeier). He happens upon the ranch of a nice family and he asks to stay while his hobbled horse recuperates. Being that the man of the house is a preacher who believes in the innate ability of anyone to reform, he allows Clay to stay...and Clay makes it clear if the family goes to the law, he'll make them pay! What's next? See the film and find out for yourself.

The acting is good, the story interesting, the horse escape sequence very well made...and the film is one I was ready to give a 7 or even 8 to until it came to the ending. The ending, sadly, was so heavy-handed and silly that it left me quite disappointed.

This film is full of all kinds of surprises. I found it very sophisticated for a western. It's action packed but spiritual, too. And boy what a horse scene. It's a redemption story but in a most unique way. I recommend for the whole family.