When his life is saved in a shootout by a fellow gunman whose life he in turn had saved, Alex Longmire promises to give up his way of life. Riding into town he finds the only job available is deputy to sheriff Jade Murphy, an honest man caught between small farmers and a local cattle baron. And he has a pretty daughter. So Longmire decides to stay and see if he can use his expertise with firearms for good.
Direction
Arnold brings Creature From the Black Lagoon dread to the prairie.
Acting
Jagger's weary integrity vs. Middleton's bloated menace.
Cinematography
CinemaScope landscape as moral emptiness, not grandeur.
Director
Jack Arnold
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jack Arnold made this between Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula, bringing his B-movie economy to the genre.
The 1956 release coincided with declining classic westerns; its cynicism anticipates the revisionist wave of the 60s.
US
