Henchman_Number1 Alec Longmire (Rory Calhoun) is given a second chance to go straight when he escapes an ambush with the help of hardened gunfighter Bud Purvis (James Millican). After promising Purvis that he will hang up his guns, Longmire arrives in the town of Durango looking for ranch work but instead is offered the job of deputy for Sheriff Jade Murphy (Dean Jagger). Even though it's an honest job Longmire is reluctant to accept because of his promise to Purvis. With some encouragement from Murphy and his daughter (Martha Hyer) Longmire relents and pins on the badge but he quickly finds himself in the middle of a range war between land baron Rufus Henshaw (Robert Middleton) and a group of small ranchers who have staked claims on the land. This is another solid program western from the Universal International stable. No new ground is covered in this one but director Jack Arnold wisely doesn't try to re-invent the wheel, sticks with the tried and true and turns out an entertaining Oat Burner. Red Sundown is a straight up action Western with minimal romantic melodrama even though Calhoun's wife in real life (Lita Baron) shows up in a small part as a former old flame. Bad guys Grant Williams and Leo Gordon round out the cast.Filmed in Technicolor and based on the novel 'Back Trail', Red Sundown is a reasonably ambitious western that would have been better served by a more expansive production budget. There is a lot of story to try to pack in eighty one minutes considering the sub plots that were never able to be fully developed. Nevertheless Red Sundown still pretty good Western fare.

weezeralfalfa Perhaps my review title would have been a more appropriate title for this western, which features the well worn plot involving a range war between a cattle baron and neighboring small ranchers over the lands claimed by the small ranchers, which often are held by deeds of questionable or worthless validity. Roy Calhoun, who starred in this one, also starred in at least one other film("Utah Blaine") about such a range war. Here, it's chunky Rufus Henshaw(Robert Middleton)who is terrorizing the small ranchers, threatening to fence them out of their traditional grazing land, which Henshaw now claims for himself. To help him convince the small ranchers and sheriff to see things his way, he hires notorious gunslinger Chet Swann(Grant Williams). Calhoun(as Alec) is reckoned to be the only local who might outdraw Swann. Calhoun has recently been hired as the Deputy Sheriff of the local community. Henshaw offers him better pay to work for him, but Calhoun refuses. Swann and Calhoun have several tense meetings before their final showdown, running around town buildings. Guess who ultimately prevails, but only with the vocal help of the sheriff's striking-looking single daughter, Caroline(Martha Hyer). As according to standard formula, at first they don't see eye-to-eye, but eventually, the implication is that Calhoun will return to her after he attends to some business elsewhere. Calhoun also runs into the equally striking-looking old Latino girlfriend, Maria(Lita Baron). She appears to be Henshaw's mistress. Seems she would rather be Calhoun's girlfriend again, but that's not in the cards.There's a bizarre episode where Calhoun's buddy, Purvis, convinces him to dig a trench in the floor of the cabin where they are hiding, in which he places himself, then Purvis places a thin layer of soil over him, providing him with a stove pipe to breathe through! Then, the baddies who have them surrounded, set fire to the cabin, and when all is ashes, they are mystified where Calhoun vanished to. After they leave(how does he know?), he supposedly pushes the soil away and emerges from his 'grave'. For me, the best part of the film was seeing the 2 beautiful women...There's a theme song "Red Sundown" with lyrics relating to Calhoun and Caroline, sung during the opening and closing credits....I swear, I can't tell the difference between the speech of Calhoun and Audy Murphy. One grew up in CA, while the other grew up in Texas..... Available in color at You Tube and on DVD.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) Red Sundown is a 1950's Western directed by Jack Arnold, who grownup kids will know from some of his 1950's films: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), It Came from Outer Space (1953), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).I love the song at the end and start, "Red Sundown", it's one of those catchy Western title songs or ballads popular in 1950's Westerns, it also reminded me of the song in "5 Card Stud" (1968) sung by and staring Dean Martin.I liked the old color in this film. Rory Calhoun (who did all sorts of stuff including film noir and Westerns) is the main guy here, he's a bit weak as an actor, playing a gunfighter and the main protagonist. Some fight gets started in a bar over a table and then the guys hunt him and his friend. They find them at some shack, whereby his friend saves him by burying him in an absurd scene. The shack gets burnt but he survives. He goes to a small town, where he gets hired by the local sheriff as his deputy. The sheriff Jade Murphy is played by Dean Jagger who was a familiar face in 1950's films. The fight between squatters and some cattle baron ensues with the sheriff and his deputy trying to sort it all out. Throw in some young lady, who is the sheriff's daughter.I did notice Lee Van Cleef in a flashback, which was uncredited. Director Jack Arnold may have used stock footage of his many films. Also, look for a young, unrecognizable Grant Williams from the fun "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957).I think there's too much dialogue in this one, yet the film is a bit above average, just barely. That's because it has decent direction, good production values, and capable acting. It isn't great, but still something to watch for Western film lovers.

dougdoepke In the 1950's, Universal was cranking out these Audie Murphy and Rory Calhoun Technicolor oaters at a furious pace. Calhoun gets his turn here. He may not manage Murphy's hard-eyed stare, but he does well enough in the grim determination department. Then too, this feature was fortunate to get Jack Arnold away from mutant creatures long enough to lend the proceedings his cut-above-average direction.So, can ex-gunslinger Calhoun stay away from guns long enough to keep his promise to dying buddy Millican. Notably, this was the latter's final film, and movie veteran Millican departs on a particularly poignant note, rare for any Western, A or B. Anyway, Calhoun has good intentions, but there're always the baddies who've got other ideas. Here, the pudgy but agile Westerfield naturally wants all the land, not just some, and Sheriff Jagger is not quite up to handling his gun-toting crew. So guess who he hires as deputy. Plus the sheriff's comely blonde daughter (Hyer) helps Calhoun make up his mind, despite his earlier promise.Now Calhoun can handle heavyweight Westerfield as their surprisingly acrobatic barroom brawl shows. But can he handle professional gunslinger Williams (Swann), who appears to have been born with a perpetual sneer. This is Calhoun's real test, after which maybe he can at last keep his promise. But then Swann is one sly gunman. Here Williams goes against type since he usually plays a good guy. But the sneer is a good touch and speaks volumes.All in all, it's a good little Western even if it never leaves greater LA (Thousand Oaks). Thanks to Arnold, however, the pace never drags, plus there's Millican's truly moving performance, worthy I think of at least a sagebrush Oscar.