Day of the Outlaw

I must admit up front that I am not a huge fan of Westerns and the biggest reason I watched this film was because it had Robert Ryan in it. For some time, I have thought that Ryan was one of the best "unknown" actors, as he appeared and even starred in quite a few films but most people today have no idea who he was. My admiration for him is because he looked a lot like an ordinary guy (since he wasn't overly handsome) but despite this, his performances always seemed so realistic. He really was a heck of a good actor and his work in this film is no exception.

DAY OF THE OUTLAW isn't a great Western but it is different enough from the average film that it seems fresh enough to merit watching. What I particularly liked is how the first 15 minutes or so of the film turned out to be not at all directly related to where the film went next. Not knowing the plot, this really took me off guard--and I like when a film isn't easy to predict.

I also liked the idea of a gang of thugs invading and holding a town hostage--though this idea has been done before in Westerns (FIRECREEK) and non-Westerns (THE WILD ONE). What made this one stand out more from the others is that this group wasn't just bad in the usual sense, they were moral degenerates--rapists and sadists, not just socipaths or thieves. Plus, the idea of a strong but wounded leader (Burl Ives) trying to control these sick freaks was fascinating--as was the final showdown.

All in all, a very good film and one you should try to find due to its intelligent script and excellent acting.

By the way, one reviewer said they felt Burl Ives was wrong for the part since in real life he was a nice-guy folk singer. Well, with gritty previous roles in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and THE BIG COUNTRY, I would certainly have to disagree with the sentiment, as Ives played the heavy in movies about as often as he played a good guy.

Outlaws make a stopover at a tiny frontier town, holding the residents hostage. The most notable feature of this western is its frigid, snow-covered setting, effectively conveyed by the stark cinematography. The plot concerning conflicts between ranchers and cowboys and the invasion of the outlaws is not terribly compelling but De Toth keeps it interesting enough. Ryan plays a disgruntled cowboy and, as always, he's worth watching. Louise, who played Ryan's Daughter-in-Law the previous year in her film debut in "God's Little Acre," here plays his love interest! Ives is fine as the leader of the outlaws. The score is nice.

This is an excellent western by Andre de Toth. It is mainly remembered for its final thirty minutes,an extraordinary ride in the snow ,where the director makes the best of black and white pictures while he's filming all the tired horses ...Hell freezes over.

But the first hour is absorbing as well with its depiction of an one-horse town lost in the snow,a dead end where one never really knows which ones are prisoners and which ones are guards .The "ball ",during which the four women are really having a bad time (particularly Tina Louise)is one of the most violent scenes ever filmed in a western .And all they are doing is dancing.It has to be seen to be believed! Robert Ryan is ,as always,excellent ,as a tired blasé man who just wants to live in peace.

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the tough cowboy Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) arrives in the snowing village of Bitters with his foreman Dan (Nehemiah Persoff) with the intention of killing the farmer Hal Crane (Alan Marshal) using the pretext of the barbed wire he is running around his farm. However, Blaise really wants his wife Helen (Tina Louise) with whom he had a love affair. During the showdown between the cowboys and ranchers in the saloon, the violent gang of outlaws led by Captain Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) appears out of the blue interrupting their quarrel. Jack Bruhn, who is a notorious captain of the army responsible for the massacre of a village of Mormons, disarms the men and explains that they have robbed the payment of the army and a cavalry is chasing them. He is wounded and wants to spend the night in the village and he gives his word to the locals that his gunners will not touch the women. Further he orders the barman to hide the booze from his men. When the local veterinary removes the bullet from the chest of Jack Bruhn, he realizes that he might have an internal bleeding and not survive. Blaise decides to lure the criminals and lead them in a journey with no return.

"Day of the Outlaw" is a bleak and original Western in a snowing landscape and based on a historical fact of North America: the violent confrontation between farmers and ranchers that ran barbed wire around their own land and public land that they used for grazing without permission and people that cut the barbed wire. The cinematography is magnificent and the sequences in the snow are impressive, with the horses submitted to a great effort to ride through the mountains. The performances are stunning with Robert Ryan and Burl Ives in the role of strong and tough characters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Quadrilha Maldita" ("The Damned Gang")

This is an uncommon, stark western starring the versatile Robert Ryan in tough guy mode, as a ruthless cattleman at odds with homesteaders in a tiny, bleak western town. As he is about to settle a feud with a local farmer, Burl Ives and his band of sadistic thugs ride into town and hold the citizens hostage. As Ives tries to keep his men from raping the women, Ryan must find a way to save the town, and redeem himself in the process.

Beautiful outdoor photography and solid acting combine with an unusual story line to make this a very interesting, tense flick. The movie eschews the usual western cliches in favor of maintaining a somber, moral tone. Ives excels as an internally conflicted villain. And Ryan, as always, is the man.