Flicks

I've been watching a lot of westerns lately. Maybe the recurring theme of winning justice has special appeal.
Three of them worth mentioning are Ramrod, Rough Night in Jericho and The Halliday Brand.
Ramrod is a complicated story (for a western) about a bitter, scheming daughter (Veronica Lake) battling her father and his chosen son in law with the help of the brave, but-not-so-bright Joel McCrea.
It's a rugged story with some brutal action and good performances. I was surprised at how much I liked Don DeFore (Mr. B on Hazel) as a flamboyant gunman.
No new ground is broken here, but director Andre de Toth delivers a focused, cracking picture.
The Halliday Brand is one of the uglier westerns I've seen. It looks like it was shot in a garbage dump. The lean budget is in evidence everywhere.
Also the casting has some serious weaknessess.
Joseph Cotten is too old (and too civilized) to play Ward Bond's outlaw son. It's a major flaw, as is Bill Williams' nothing performance as Cotten's brother. I'm not a Betsy Palmer fan in this one and Viveca Lindfors is terribly out of place as a half-Indian love interest.
Ward Bond is pretty good though.
That said, The Halliday Brand is worth seeing for its sharp assessment of anti-Indian racism. That theme dominates the film and the story doesn't pull many punches.
The film's central conflict -- the hard-nosed, bigoted father and the reckless, rebellious son (Cotten) -- is played out with gusto right up to the unsympathetic ending.
I expected Rough Night in Jericho to be one of those 1960s westerns with Dean Martin winking at the camera most of the time. But Dino keeps it professional, as do George Peppard, the lovely Jean Simmons and the great character actor John McIntire.
Sure enough there are some of the usual genre absurdities. I love Martin shooting the stagecoach reins out John McIntire's hands from a hundred yards away. And how about George Peppard firing his rifle into a stagecoach within inches of his lady love's face? (Apparently ricochets are of no concern.)
Goofiness aside, there a lot to like here.
Peppard and Slim Pickens, playing a villain in this one, engage in a nasty, brutal fight with Slim wielding a horsewhip.
McIntire is spot on as the aging ex-lawman and Peppard's pal and business partner. Their relationship is a highlight.
Also of interest is the byplay between Martin and Peppard. They quickly size each other up as potent threats, but also recognizing that in another day and time they might well have been friends.
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All three of these films are worthwhile for genre fans, with The Halliday Brand being the most flawed but also the most interesting in some ways.