I don’t want you to kill him. But if it has to be you or him – if it comes to that – I want you to come back. Sam Ward (Darren McGavin) and Logan Keliher (Audie Murphy) were once brothers in arms in the Texas Rangers. They literally saved each other’s life. When they left the force, Ward turned outlaw and is angry at Keliher for marrying his former wife Susan (Beverley Owen) and adopting his son Sammy (Kevin Tate) whilst Ward was imprisoned for his crimes. Ward escapes from prison and forms a gang to rob a bank in Keliher’s town with Ward planning to kill Keliher after the robbery. Keliher foils the robbery with Ward the only survivor of his gang. Ward escapes with the loot though he is wounded by Keliher. Keliher links up with a posse led by Pink (Skip Homeier) with Jeff (Berkeley Harris) and uses his knowledge of Ward’s ways to track him down. When Ward is captured and the bank money is recovered, several members of the posse debate whether they should kill Ward and his girlfriend Lottie (Ruta Lee) and keep the bank money for themselves. Then their plans are interrupted by an Apache war party … He’s the best gunhand in Griffin, so I hired him. It doesn’t mean I like him. In which Audie does the bad thing which is actually the right thing, after a fashion, when push comes to shove in this western which has some very pretty bells and whistles and his friend is now his deadliest enemy. It’s one of Audie’s best. Adapted from Marvin Albert’s 1958 novel Renegade Posse by Mary Willingham and Calder Willingham, this is a well-constructed and nicely produced Universal western with terrific design by Henry Bumstead and Alexander Golitzen. The cast is assembled nicely with persuasive villains threatening Audie’s secondhand family – McGavin scores as the smirking Ranger turned bandit and Lee scores as good time gal who can be a good Samaritan. Little Kevin Tate impresses here and he had a good career as a child actor, starring in TV’s My Three Sons for a couple of years but his final part was an uncredited bit as a hitchhiker in 1973’s Breezy. He died aged 44 on James Dean’s anniversary in 1999. The locations were shot in Eastmancolor by Joseph F. Biroc at Virgin River in Zion National Park and Snow Canyon, Utah with a lively score from Frank Skinner under some terrific action scenes. Directed by Robert G. Springsteen. I got one big advantage over you. You won’t kill me unless you have to. I won’t hesitate one second about killing you
mondomovies 