Stand-out Western marvelously performed by an all-star-cast and stunningly directed . Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunfighter George (Glenn Ford) and his wife Dora (Jeanne Crain) must flee the Cross Creek little town in fear of all the gunslingers who might want to challenge him , but villagers swear to hide his secret and support him . Some bandits (Broderick Crawford, John Dehner , Noah Beery Jr.) pass through and decide to spend that day . Citizens ask the unexperienced storekeeper to rid the little town of bandits when a vicious gang of freebooters arrives in town . George carries out protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish . He has to take a stand when a gang of nasty outlaws takes over his town . Meanwhile , the outlaws are pursued by a motley posse . What happens in the next few minutes makes one of the most dramatic climaxes of any story you've ever seen! .
This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot , intrigue , thrills , shootouts and results to be quite entertaining . Outstanding Western balances action , suspense and drama . It's a classical recounting about an unexperienced shopkeeper , general merchandise's owner , a peace-loving who is really an expert shooter and surrounded by cowards and frightening people ; being probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . The highlights of the film are the climatic showdowns , the twisted surprise at church and , of course, the final gundown . The traditional story and exciting screenplay was well written by Frank D. Gilroy though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable tale is enhanced for interesting moments developed among main characters and especially on the relationship between Glenn Ford and his wife Jeanne Crain . Magnificently performed by Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford , they are awesome experts in the art of conjuring sensational acting , here are reunited in this atypical but thought-provoking western with a lot of reflection , distinguished moments and dramatical attitudes , in addition a multitude of entertaining situations . Top-notch plethora of secondary actors playing vicious, sadistic sociopaths who take advantage of the frightened townspeople such as Broderick Crawford , John Dhener, Noah Beery as well as villagers perfectly performed by Rhys Williams as Tibbs , Virginia Gregg as Rose , Chubby Johnson as Frank , John Doucette as Ben , Leif Erickson as as Lou and special appearance by Russ Tamblyn as Eric playing a spectacular as well as amusing dance number . Atmospheric cinematography in Black and White is superbly caught by cameraman cameraman George Folsey , though being necessary a correct remastering . Thrilling as well as lively musical score by Andre Previn .
This is another superbly powerful Western being compellingly directed by Russell Rouse . He was an expert screenwriter as the classic D.O.A. filmmaking occasionally for cinema all kind of genres as Caper films such as ¨The Caper of the Golden Bulls¨, Dramas as ¨The Oscar¨, Noir cinema such as ¨Wicked Woman¨, ¨New York Confidential¨ , ¨The Well¨ , ¨The thief¨ and another Western titled ¨Thunder in the sun¨. Well worth watching and it will appeal to Glenn Ford fans .
