Rebel in Town

In postwar Civil War, a father and his four sons, all former Rebel soldiers, eke out a living robbing, always on the run. When three of the brothers ride into town to get water, tragedy occurs when one of them guns down a young boy who has fired at them with his cap pistol. Most of the focus is on five main characters: Bedloe Mason, his sons Gray and Wesley, John Willoughby and his wife, Nora.

Bedloe, the patriarch of the Mason clan, and his four sons were forced to leave their burned out home in Alabama after the Civil War. Bedloe's main concern is to keep his family together, so whenever the family faces trouble, they vote on what they should do. After the boy is killed, the vote is to keep on the run, leaving the trouble behind them.

Gray, the youngest Mason son, is uncomfortable with the idea of running away. After long introspection, he decides the only honorable thing to do is to return to the town, regardless of consequences. Gray's decision disturbs Wesley, the unrepentant killer who is afraid this will result in him being implicated.

After the killing, John Willoughby, father of the unfortunate youngster, loses grip with reality as he wrestles with grief and desire for revenge at any cost. Recognizing this and not wanting any further bloodshed, Nora struggles to keep her man rational and sane. For that reason she refuses to identify a wounded man John brings home as one of the Rebels she saw in town on that fateful day.

Though a "B" western, "Rebel in Town" benefits from good acting, competent direction and an intelligent, well-written script with lots of things for us to think about. Bedloe, a religious man, tries to comfort his troubled son with the thought that sometimes there is no answer so it is better just to let things be, further suggesting that since we are all the children of God, He is responsible for what we do, whether good or bad. Gray counters that he cannot consider his brother an agent for God. Such kind of writing is hardly the stuff of usual westerns.

What a tremendous little western, very unusual, far from clichés, a film noir in the western. Excellent characters study, analysis and helped by a jaw dropping photography. Yes, Alfred Werker proves with this film that, during the end of his career, he was a terrific western maker, as much as a Budd Boetticher in his westerns starring Randolph Scott. Don't forget that Alfred Werker was not a western specialist and was also a veteran in the business. And John Payne as impressive here as he was in Phil Karlson's 99 RIVER STREET. Some awesome scenes, very brutal for the period. This little western is underrated, and should be far better known.

When an Ex-Confederate patriarch and his four sons stop for supplies on the run after robbing a bank, one of them gets nervous hearing a cocked pistol behind him and turns quickly, blasting a 9 yr old boy playing with a toy pistol. The murder of the child spawns hate and a blind rage for vengeance in the small western town. J. Carroll Naish has one of his best roles as the Bible-spouting sire of a brood of scum, trying to keep them in order. John Payne as the traumatized father of the dead boy gives an unnerving performance as a decent man who's become emotionally unbalanced. His uncertainty and mental disruption are almost palpable as his alarmed wife (Ruth Roman) desperately tries to stifle his increasingly homicidal personality. It's very unsettling to see Payne in this unheroic light...the difference from his usual demeanor draws a very convincing portrait of a severely unbalanced man. Ben Cooper (who usually plays a disturbed role) is uncommonly sympathetic here as the only member of the gang responsible enough to acknowledge guilt for the tragedy, even though his own life is at risk instead of his older brother's, the unrepentant perpetrator. This is definitely several cuts above your average western and sustains viewers'interest throughout. Highly recommended....

Rebel in Town is directed by Alfred Werker and written by Danny Arnold. It stars John Payne, Ruth Roman, J. Carrol Naish, Ben Johnson, Ben Cooper and John Smith. Music is by Les Baxter and cinematography by Gordon Avil.

The phrase a hidden gem gets used far too much, so much so I try my utmost to veer away from it if at all possibly. However, for fans of grown up Westerns then Rebel in Town is most assuredly a gem of a find for sure. Story is set just after the American Civil War in the town of Kittreck Wells. A family of Confederate soldiers (The Masons) have staged a robbery in a nearby town and need to go into Kittreck for water supplies. A turn of events will bring the family of outlaws into the life of ex Union soldier John Willoughby (Payne), a hard working family man, who still has a fierce commitment to rid the land of Confederate rebels.

It could have ended up as just another trite "B" Western message movie, but this is so much more, the quality of the writing is such that the script demands full attention. The effects of the Civil War are of course central, where the characters from both sides of the fence are here painted in rich colours. John Willoughby had a tenuous grip on post war forgiveness before his family is shattered by the arrival in town of the Mason family, but soon enough his thirst for revenge begins to tip him over the edge. The Mason family are not merely outlaw fodder, they are a complex bunch, each of the four brothers different in their own values and approach to life, but it's with the patriarch Bedloe (Naish) where the screenplay finds real strength. A God fearing man, he hates what his family has become, and although he clearly rules the roost, he is given to complete democracy, his boys always are given the vote on the decisions the family must make. The juxtaposition between the two heads of family, from different sides of the war, is intelligently thought out by the makers.

Added bonus here as well is the characterisation afforded Ruth Roman as Nora Willoughby. So often in "B" Westerns female characters are given to being love interests or a cause for macho posturing, not so here. Nora Willoughby is arguably the key character, she fights throughout the play to not only overcome her grief, but also that of her husband. She is relentless in her attempts to stop John from become a crazed revenge fuelled mad man, for she can see the bigger picture that her man simply can't. The other key character of note is Ben Cooper's Gray Mason, the younger of the Mason family and the family's conscience, his interaction with - via a plot development to integrate him with the Willoughby's - is a priceless commodity for the picture's dramatic worth. With characters of great substance it only then needs good performances from the actors to make it all work, and we get that. Even the smaller supporting roles are well held by director Werker, such as Marshal Adam Russel (James Griffith) who is calm and measured and a mile away from the caricature type of law men we get in the genre.

The look of the piece is terrific, Avil's black and white photography comes from the film noir stlyed playbook, which is most befitting for the story's psychological axis. Werker had dabbled in film noir, notably with the excellent He Walked By Night, so his instruction to Avil for the look on show is astute and makes sense. Action scenes are well staged, but it's with certain scenes where the pic soars high. The catalyst scene that sets the wheels in motion is boosted by an authentic recoil, which is great to see. Also attention grabbing is a corporal punishment section that should make you wince, while the father and son axis between John and his son Peter at the film's beginning begs for deeper thought once film reaches its closure. With a lovely print being shown on TCM-HD rounding out the bonuses, this is a super treat for Western fans and therefore comes highly recommended. 8/10

Hollywood made a slew of so called "B" westerns during the 1950s, mainly black and white 80 minutes jobs meant to fill a second feature at the local theatre.....when I saw the top notch actors in this film I figured it would be worth watching and it was very good....John Payne, J. Carrol Nash, John Smith, Ben Johnson and Ruth Roman round out a very solid cast.....in a lot of these so called B westerns there were a lot of films about confederate soldiers on the run rummaging and pillaging so the plot was somewhat familiar....what set the tone for this film was the slaying of a young boy who was gunned down by a rebel coward, who thought that a cap gun going off was the real thing and he turned around in an instant and shot the kid dead...what follows are real character studies of the rebel family and their self righteousness about how a member of their family killed a little boy and the intense manhunt led by John Payne, the boy's father....Ruth Roman plays a very compassionate, caring mother while grieving for her dead son and tries to instill logic and a level head into her husband Payne who starts to lose his cool nearly every moment in the film.....Strange part to the movie when one of the rebel band is rounded up by Payne and brought to his house not knowing he was one of the rebel band....questions follow and soon Payne realizes his "guest" is part of the family that killed his son....a mob scene follows as usual and soon law and order is restored....in the end Payne nails the real killer (John Smith) in a knife fight in a barn as he tries to escape town....his father, J. Carrol Nash forgives Payne in the end for his son's cowardice..... Payne is reunited with his wife who was at the breaking point with her husband's blood thirst for revenge.....a solid, very worthwhile western, considering it was made rather cheaply by a small studio Bel Air productions..but released by United Artists.....