Der eiserne Kragen

Enjoyed it for the most part but a few characters were aggravating (one due to the script, other due to their acting).

Drake's character...phew. That fella's the one "friend" some of us have, (or if lucky) HAD in our lives that's a guarantee trouble magnet. Of course, they somehow make sure you get involved... and always expect you to get them out of the trouble THEY always cause.

His character was such a PITA. Every opportunity he had to do the right thing, he chose poorly...until his last scene. Even then, it seemed he did it only to save the (hopeless) relationship with his girl.

Crowley's character... well it's the same one she's played in everything I've seen her in - besides one exception early in her career when she played a tomboy in a Lone Ranger episode.

PS - she's played the same character so much, she reminds me of being another actress - Patricia Barry.

Who too have played the same character in everything I've seen - except for 2 roles - a B/C level crime drama (light noir?) set around Staten Island early in her career (she and her dialogue delivery seemed so natural and at ease) and an outstanding Gunsmoke episode - "The Cabin", where she did such a great job, it's a shame to never seen her give another performance even close to that quality...

Wonder if during the 50's and 60's, producers would say "I need an actress that'll "overact". If I can't get Crowley, call Barry!"

Back to the movie - Enjoyed it overall.

Many familiar actors of the TV western genre from that era.

2 did stand out for me

Charles Horvath - think his dialogue with Stone near the end was the most I've seen him deliver, let alone the deepest. Felt sympathy for him wanting to just let Murphy go and get away because he knew what was coming but resigned himself to it nonetheless.

Carol Thurston - though her screen time was short, she looked just as she did playing the hopelessly in love gypsy girlfriend of the wrongly convicted outlaw in the Lone Ranger.

Can't believe she was dead within 6 years of this film, while still in her 40's.

Felt bad for the Murphy character who had to make the right choices not only for himself but for everyone else. He looked so beaten and sick of it all by the end.

BTW, not sure if the movie would've been any better shown in color. Think the B&W helped the dark, hopeless mood set for the hero.

Also - sure would've wanted to see the sheriff's face when he realized Murphy risked his life to bring back the bond money to the town who treated him so poorly.

Showdown finds Audie Murphy and Charles Drake who did a few films with Murphy as a pair of cowboy drifters coming to the town of Adonde to sell of the horse herd they've captured and for a little R&R. Drake gets in a poker game, gets drunk and stupid, and both wind up chained to a town may pole like post in the middle of the town main street. Also chained there is the town drunk Strother Martin and Harold J. Stone and his outlaw gang. The town has no jail and the pole is like the stocks in the village square in the colonial times.

Adonde wishes that they did invest in a jail after Stone breaks out taking Murphy and Drake with him and some money that the light fingered Drake lifted from the Express office. $12,000.00 in negotiable bonds. But he hides them and then it becomes a chess game between Murphy and Drake and Stone.

I won't go on with the plot, but it soon becomes apparent that the man Murphy's been riding with has a lot less character than he gave him credit for. In fact Drake's character is not unlike the one he played in the classic James Stewart western Winchester 73. Furthermore the girl he's been seeing Kathleen Crowley is not unlike Shelley Winters from that same film.

In fact this could have been a classic had Universal invested a little more money in script and direction. But at that time Audie Murphy's films were normally at the bottom of double bills in that last decade of them and Murphy was just serving out his contract.

Still the film has some grit to it with Murphy playing the only one in the film with any real character.

Partners Audie Murphy and Charles Drake wind up in a jailbreak with Harold Stone and his gang. When they find out that Drake has $12,000 hidden with his girl, Kathleen Crowley, they send Murphy to fetch it. But she wants the money, too.

I have some issues with how the situation is set up, but once it starts moving, it's pretty good: people doing what they're doing, and story being the conflict that occurs when their paths intersect and no one will walk away. It's why director R. G. Springsteen was still directing this western, the last one released under the Universal-International banner: a good eye, story sense, and ability to get good performances out of actors, even when the lines are overblown. Producer Gordon Kay may have ordered this shot in black & white to save some money, but cameraman Ellis Carter shoots the Alabama Hills as dry and dusty.

Audie Murphy was reportedly furious when he learned that "Showdown" would be in black and white for budget reasons. But the b&w seems appropriate for this western because Murphy's character is the perfect film noir hero. He usually played a gunfighter with a troubled past, a lawman, or a combination of the two but here he is Chris Foster, an ordinary cow puncher who just wants to collect his pay and celebrate with his pal Bert Pickett (Charles Drake). Because of Bert's drunken misbehavior, he and Chris have to go to "jail" which in the little New Mexico town means a post in the middle of the street with chains bolted to it and an iron collar for the prisoners. It is a very visually arresting (if you will pardon the expression) image. Also chained to the post is the notorious outlaw Lavalle (Harold J. Stone) and his gang which includes Foray (L.Q. Jones) and Caslon (Skip Homeier). When Lavalle and friends escape, Chris and Bert have to go with him putting them on the run from the law. From there, Chris tries to keep himself and his friend alive - not to mention clear their names - as they attempt to buy their way out with some bonds stolen from an express office. There is even, if not a femme fatale, a cynical dame who could help the two men out of their trouble but is unable to trust what Chris tells her. Now, if that's not a noir plot, I don't know what is. Noir, noir on the range. Not one of Audie's best, neither one of his worst (so far I haven't found a "worst"). But as always, Audie Murphy is a charismatic lead actor. The cinematographer is Ellis W. Carter. Location shooting was done at Lone Pine, California which is a good match for the film's setting in New Mexico, especially in the desert views.

Showdown is directed by R.G. Springsteen and written by Bronson Howitzer. It stars Audie Murphy, Kathleen Crowley, Charles Drake, Harold J. Stone, Skip Homeier, L. Q. Jones and Strother Martin. Music is by Hans J. Salter and cinematography by Ellis W. Carter.

Plot has Murphy as Chris Foster who has to get 12,000 dollars in stolen bonds from the ex-girlfriend of his partner, Bert Pickett (Drake), or the gang holding him hostage will kill him.

Filmed in black and white, something which didn't sit well with Murphy, this turns out to be a well photographed (the sumptuous back drop of the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine) low budget Oater of interesting ideas. The outdoor prison used here - criminals chained by neck collars to a pole in the center of town - is refreshingly original and a superb plot device that thrusts good guys (Chris and Bert) and bad guys together as a unit, for a while at least that is...

Trouble is, is that this is only a small section of the story which occurs at the pic's beginning. We get some exciting action and character laying foundations for the inevitable break out, and then it moves away from the jail scenario. The premise is so good one kind of hankers for much longer of this story angle, maybe even for the story to have been different and made this the bulk of the movie as a character piece - with the break out and subsequent held to ransom aspect in the last third. But I digress whilst forgetting this is a 1960s low budget job.

Narrative contains themes of addiction, tortured love and blind loyalty, which is credit to the writing of the wonderfully named Bronson Howitzer (really Ric Hardman!). However, the romantic thread bogs things down since it comes off as nonsense, with Crowley - as lovely as she looks - utterly unbelievable in the Western setting. Worse still is the head villain played by Stone, who not only makes preposterous decisions, he's also just not very villainous into the bargain. Still, Murphy is on good enough form and he's backed up by some notable genre performers.

A mixture of the usual good and bad for a Murphy 1960s Oater, but enough here to make it a comfortable recommendation to fans of star and genre. 6.5/10