Burt Lancaster was beyond his peak years in the seventies.
Nearing 60 and coming off of the success of AIRPORT this movie was released to
little fanfare or box office success. The western genre hadn’t quite died but too
was on its last leg. Gone were the days of white and black hats replaced by
pondering over the justification of violent justice.
The film opens with a group of cattlemen celebrating the end
of their drive in the usual fashion with plenty of drink, women and carousing
ending with guns being shot off randomly while in the town of Bannock.
Unfortunately those gunshots kill an elderly man in the city. Rather than stay
around to answer for this they head home in the hopes all will be forgotten.
That isn’t the case though when Marshall Jered Maddox
(Lancaster) returns and then sets out to arrest the men responsible. Arriving
in the town of Sabbath with one of the men he caught along the way dead and
strapped on his horse, he checks in with local Marshall Ryan Cotton (Robert
Ryan). Cotton tells him the odds are against him as the town is basically owned
by Vincent Bronson (Lee J. Cobb), a wealthy land owner who is used to having
his way.
Both men have a history together as renowned lawmen. While
Maddox carried on and developed a name for himself Cotton settled for one
shining moment and has coasted by ever since, satisfied to be a paid man on
Bronson’s payroll.
Bronson is willing to admit some wrongdoing as well as to
pay off the family of the man shot and killed. But Maddox isn’t interested in
deals or money, only in justice and performing the job he was hired to do.
Cotton was right in his appraisal of things as the townspeople stand against
Maddox. The man he killed and brought back was family to a store keeper who
holds no love for the lawman.
Bronson sends in a contingent to try and find a compromise
led by longtime friend Harvey (Albert Salmi). But Harvey, filled with the idea
that he is untouchable in this town, instead confronts Maddox only to be shot.
With no likelihood of a mutual agreement Bronson now sets out to take down
Maddox. The problem is he may have finally come up against a man not willing to
go down as easy as all others.
The movie depicts Maddox as a gunman turned lawman whose
only way of dealing with things is straight down the line. Break the law, pay
the price. If you refuse to go peacefully he has no issue killing you and
taking your body in. The pay is low, the odds are against you and the support
is minor when there. But it is what he knows.
Along the way the possibility of something better is waved
in front of him, a woman he once knew (Sheree North) whose husband is among
those he’s seeking. The chance to walk away from it all, to reunite with her
and go somewhere else to start fresh. But that would entail walking away from a
career he’s worked too long at to simply abandon.
Does this make him a bad man in the role of a solid citizen
or a solid citizen forced into a career that forces him to do bad things? The
decision is left in the hands of the viewer to decide by the end of the film.
Guns will blaze, dust will fly and bodies will fall before that end in typical
western fashion. The movie is well made and entertaining enough without the
concepts getting in the way of the standard fare. All involved turn in great
performances and director Michael Winner turns in another great film to enjoy.
Twilight Time is offering this movie in a clean and clear
presentation with nothing much in the way of extras. Those include an isolated
music track and the original theatrical trailer. Fans of westerns and of
Lancaster will want to make a point of picking this up right away though as the
release is set for just 3,000 copies like most Twilight Time offerings.
Click here to order.
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