Die letzte Kugel

The parallels between Day Of The Badman and High Noon are way too obvious to be ignored. However one big important distinct difference is there. Gary Cooper was the former marshal of Hadleyburg and had no responsibilities. Coop comes back to answer a personal challenge from the four outlaws on their way to deal with him.

Fred MacMurray is a judge and a guilty verdict has been rendered on Christopher Dark and the usual punishment is hanging. But a whole mess of his swaggering relatives led by Robert Middleton have come to town and so intimidate the citizenry. Individually and collectively thy appeal to MacMurray for a lesser sentence.

Go throughout the cast and you'll see equivalent roles for the various characters in High Noon. One additional role is that of Marie Windsor who is her usual vicious vixen and girlfriend of Dark.

Even the widow of the man Dark killed, Peggy Converse is intimidated enough to change her mind and plead for a lesser sentence. John Ericson stands out as the sheriff ho hasn't got the character for the job.

In the late 50s Fred MacMurray made a series of westerns and he does well as the upright judge. Remember he's not a gunman like Cooper and in a sense that makes him braver than Coop. Day Of The Badman is clearly the best of MacMurray's late 50s westerns.

In the end he even has one more friend than Coop did.

"Day of the Badman" is a decent film and it stars Fred MacMurray...which isn't bad. But it's also a completely unnecessary film as the plot is essentially a reworking of "High Noon"....so why not just watch "High Noon"?!

When the film begins, you learn that a man was convicted of murder and is awaiting sentencing. However, his family comes to town and begins an intimidation program aimed at getting the guy only a slap on the wrist instead of a proper hanging. Over time, the good townsfolk turn out to be yellow and would rather let the killer go than face the wrath of his scum-bag kin. The only one standing in the way is the Judge (MacMurray).

The only real difference between this and "High Noon" is the subplot about the Judge's girl making time with the Sheriff. This clearly isn't enough reason to merit making the film but is mildly interesting. Competently made but lacking originality.

Harry Keller, better known for comedies than Westerns, has the good luck of having Fred MacMurray in the cast, a city judge doing his utmost to make sure that the killer of a local resident is brought before the court and probably hanged.

All conditions seem in place to ensure that that happens, but things begin to slip: his fiancée Joan Walden falls in love with the handsome sheriff and his wedding is on the skids; the lady whose husband Rudy Hayes killed first wanted him dead, then changes her mind in tune with most of the town and just wants him banished; and, HIGH NOON-like, top villain Bob Middleton and his evil bros, including Lee Van Cleef, converge into town to ensure that Rudy does not pay with his life for the commission of murder.

Only good ol' Edgar Buchanan stands by poor Fred, who thankfully knows the arts of fisticuffs and manages to put some of the baddies to brief sleep... but soon all is stacked up against him. And then, miraculously, a shootout turns things around and even Walden comes running to him for a happy ending, the handsome sheriff thankfully discarded and forgotten.

And on that naif note the law and Fred win the day. 6/10.

Decent and though-provoking Western with a magnificent Fred MacMurray and a splendid plethora of secondaries . An intelligent , adult and impressively tense Western based on a story by John Cunningham and screenplay by Lawrence Roman . A top-notch cast under superb direction by Harry Keller makes this movie notable in every aspect ,being shot on Universal International Pictures scenarios and locations that serve to increase the mood of claustrophobic tension .This Acceptable , Simple , Powerful , Enjoyable picture tells the story of a valiant judge : Jim Scott (Fred MacMurray) who attempts to settle down for a peaceful existence ; however at the noisy town he must fight and standing against impossible odds , as he has to confront the vengeful , vicious Hayes clan (Robert Middleton, Skip Homeier , Lee Van Cleef) who amble into town on the day . As the upright judge who seems unconcerned against threats is expected to sentence killer Rudy Hayes to hang . Things go wrong when the judge to be aware the sheriff (John Ericson) , Scott's chief ally, is also the secret lover of Scott's girlfriend (Joan Weldon) . Meanwhile , Hayes Brothers make an explicit death menace against him .The story of a man who was too proud to run . When these hands point straight up...the excitement starts! . He turned killer...for one day . Violence...Temptation...Treachery...were the only laws they obeyed!

A Tense and Suspenseful Western with a simple story that engages the viewer until the last scene . The film packs thrills , psychological drama , action , crossfire , loving triangle , and being enough entertaining . It's a medium budget film with acceptable actors , technicians , functional production values and pleasing results . Pretty good and pleasant traditional Western with professional direction and flawlessly acted by Fred MacMurray who steals the show as a peaceful judge who learns that he has become a tough fighter . A Hollywood production full of interesting characters , shootouts and intense drama .This ¨Day of the badman¨not the best Western ever,...but pretty darn close . It is a brilliant studio of a mob mentality in ¨Fred Zinneman's High Noon¨ -the Prototype for a Hundred Westerns- style with strong individual characterizations , and paced in psychological tendry . As the desolation and bleakness of this town stands in contrast to the heroism starred by the brave judge .But for all the obviousness of its meaning , including a simplistically liberal message , which once made it seem a landmark in the adult Western , the picture is really intriguing , not merely because Harry Keller's tersely economic narration of his material , but because Universal Pictures made a decission to cut budget and reducing locations .This acceptable and passable western is plenty of suspense as the dreaded trial approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone but his fellow town people for help , nobody is willing to help him , as the townsfolk start wondering how much bloodshed one hanging is worth . The narration is perfectly adjusted , from the beginning , until the final showdown and being approximately developed in Runtime 81 min . Director managed to create a nice work of art with fine acting , appropriate scenarios , and attractive plot . It provides wonderful sociological lessons that are timeless and transcend the genre. Bursting with appealing , top-drawer characters, including decent filmmaking and interpretation . The confrontation results to be tense , charged and riveting . Fred MacMurray makes a Pretty Good Judge named Jim Scott , he doesn't wear a gun who must contend with the vicious relatives of a murderer he's about to sentence. This is one of a clutch of acceptable horse operas Fred made in the forties , in the late 50s and the early sixties , such as ¨Texas Rangers¨, ¨The trail of the lonesome Pine¨, ¨A gun for a coward¨, ¨Good day for a hanging¨ and this ¨At gunpoint¨. Although MacMurray also played other genres as drama , adventures , wartime , children films , such as : The happiest millionaire , The shaggy dog , Son of Flubber , The absent-minded profesor , The princess come across , The Caine mutiny , Dive bomber , Above suspicion , Murder he says , The miracle of the bells , Alice Adams , The apartment , and Noir film as the classy : Double indemnity . MacMurray is accompanied by the beautiful Joan Weldon as his unfaithful fiancee. And a very good and large support cast , such as :John Ericson , Robert Middleton , Marie Windsor , Edgar Buchanan , Eduard Franz , Skip Homeier , Don Haggerty , Ann Doran and the always great Lee Van Cleef .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Harry Keller . Harry worked at Republic Pictures , specializing in westerns , where he shot a lot , such as : Phantom Stallion ,Red River Shore ,Paso Stampede , Bandits of the West , Savage Frontier , Marshal of Cedar Rock , Thundering Caravans , Black Hills Ambush , Rose Cimarron , Fort Dodge , Stampede , Desert of lost men , Tarnished and most of them starred by Allan Lane and Rex Allen . When that studio folded he went to Universal, directing westerns again : Quantez , Gundown at Sandoval , 6 Black Horses , interspersed with some dramas/thrillers : Step Down to Terror , Man Afraid , Voice in the mirror , Female Animal , comedies : Tammy and the Doctor and war pictures : In Enemy Country. In the late 1960s he stopped directing films and started producing them, although he did keep his hand in directing TV shows. Keller gained some degree of fame as the director called in by Universal to reshoot scenes from Orson Welles' masterpiece Touch of evil (1958), and by most accounts -including Welles'- matched Welles' style quite well . Rating . 6.5/10 . Better than average western . Well worth watching

This routine horse opera from Universal stars Fred MacMurray at the height of his success. He plays Judge Jim Scott, the incorruptible small town hero who has to sentence a killer - and contend with the pressures exerted by the guilty man's family.

Filmed in Universal's trademark bright, clear Eastmancolor, the film has an attractive look, even if the characterisation is crude. The bad guys go unshaven, and Lee Van Cleef even wears a black hat.

Rudy Hayes killed a man in cold blood, and at eleven o'clock on this fateful morning, Judge Scott will carry out his sworn duty and sentence the murderer to death by hanging. Charlie Hayes (Robert Middleton) and the hot-headed Howie (Skip Homeier) have come into town as representatives of the all-bad Hayes clan, to see if they can exert some crooked influence, and save Rudy's neck.

Such sub-plot as exists centres on Judge Scott's fiancee, Myra, who has fallen in love with another man - no other than Barney Wiley, the town's good-looking new sherriff (John Ericson).

Even in the Wild West, it is stretching things a little to have a circuit judge engaging in a knife-fight before sitting, and drawing his pistol in the courtroom. The attempts of the Hayes boys to pervert the course of justice are ham-fisted and frankly unbelievable, as is the spurious whinnying of a horse which alerts Judge Jim to danger - twice!

The early passages of the film are good, showing the judge operating in and with the community as a respected citizen, until in mimicry of 'High Noon' the good people of the town desert the judge when the going gets tough. Edgar Buchanan, stalwart of a thousand westerns, is competent as Sam, the judge's loyal sidekick. Myra (Joan Weldon) and Barney are so lightly-drawn as characters that the actors can be forgiven for failing to impress. No doubt Marie Windsor had fun playing the bad girl Cora, but both the Hayes kinsmen, Monte and Jake, are dreadfully under-used.

Predictable, static and utterly unsubtle, perhaps this film, and those like it, do no more than mirror the values of the society which gave rise to them - the predictable, static and utterly unsubtle America of the Eisenhower era.