Un pie en el infierno

Alan Ladd plays Mitch Barrett, who after having his home and lands in Atlanta destroyed during the civil war heads with his pregnant wife west for a fresh start. The two make it to a western town where Mrs. Barrett and the baby die for want of medicine that cost $1.87. Simmering with hatred, Mitch never forgives the town...particularly the sheriff, general store owner and hotel owner. The three of whom he holds personally responsible for his wife's untimely death.

Cold and meticulous he plans his revenge, amassing four partners to help him with his plan. I appreciated the end...but overall thought Alan Ladd's acting lacked interest or emotion. He was so flat it made the revenge theme hard to follow. The story and plot were interesting...but Alan Ladd's flat performance ruined the film for me.

As Mitch Barret : Alan Ladd exacts a merciless vendetta on small town inhabitants by becoming a sheriff. As Mitch manages to turn an implacable sheriff . Along the way , he joins forces with other people : Don Murray , Dan O'Herlihy , Barry Coe , Dolores Michaels to carry out a twisted plan. One Foot in Hell one Hand on a Gun one day a town would never forget . One Foot in Hell is one whale of a Motion Picture ! It is one of the most exciting , one of the most powerful human epics in the story of the West !

This is the thrilling story of the day hell came to town wearing a badge well starred by Alan Ladd , being one of the last movies , actually the last was The Carpetbaggers 1964 and subsequently dying of alcoholism. Alan Ladd starred some notorious Westerns as Branded , Drum Beat , The Proud Rebel , The Iron Mistress , Badlanders and his big hit : Shane . Based on a Playhouse story , called The last man with interesting script from Aaron Spelling and Sydney Bohem who produced , too . There is a good studio character , including a large plethora the roles with especial peculiarities , such as a drifter , a pickpocket , a Saloon girl and a drunkyard . Along with Ladd there appears a lot of familiar secondaries providing nice interpretations such as : George Coe , Dan O'Herlihy , Don Murray Larry Gates , John Alexander , Robert Adler , Karl Swenson , among others.

It displays colorful and glimmer cinematography by William C Mellor . As well as evocative and stirring musical score by Dominic Frontiere . The picture was well directed by James B Clark . This good filmmaker was an artisan who usually shot episodes for popular TV series as Batman, High Chaparral, Lassie , Daniel Boone The Monroe , Voyage to the bottom of the Sea , Firehouse , Loner and occassionally making feature films as A Dog of Flanders , Villa ! , Sierra Baron , Under Fire , Misty and My side of the Mountain. One Foot in Hell rating : 6,5/10 . Notable . The flick will appeal to Alan Ladd fans . Well worth watching .

I saw this film on TV a couple of nights before and I must say that either I never heard of it or I didn't remember about it. The story is rather good and somehow original for a western: a man that blames a whole town for his wife's death and while earning their trust he plans his revenge that will be accomplished with its complete destruction aided by a group of outcasts he has selected carefully. But the result comes out as a kind of "cheap" product.

If you consider that the 50's gave us perhaps the best westerns in Hollywood history ("High Noon", "The Gunfighter", "Shane", "3:10 to Yuma", "Warlock", "The Searchers" and so many others) "One Foot in Hell" comes out as a minor product. Perhaps with a more skillful director and therefore a strongest and less standard direction the picture would have worked well.

Alan Ladd (as the patient avenger) was not at his best in the 60's and his severe alcoholism problems showed in his clearly damaged psychical appearance. Don Murray (as one of the members of the gang) overacts in most of his scenes. Perhaps the best acting piece comes from pretty Dolores Michaels as a prostitute also a member of Ladd's group.

This film could have been better qualified perhaps if it had been released in the 40's just before the western genre took a high and serious impulse in the 50's with extreme good products. It looks cheap and minor for the 60's.

Alan Ladd wasn't much of an actor. If you don't believe me just take a look at his mediocre performance in the very mediocre western "One Foot in Hell" which was directed by the little known James B Clark and also featured Don Murray, (terrible), and Dan O'Herlihy (slightly less terrible), in prominent roles. The only thing it has going for it is a plot that differs somewhat from other run-of-the-mill westerns. (It's more akin to a gangster picture). Ladd is the sheriff who plans to take revenge on the town that let his pregnant wife die, by robbing the bank. Handsomely shot in Cinemascope by William C Mellor it passes a couple of hours painlessly enough but you're not likely to remember it ten minutes after seeing it.

As the satanic title suggests 'One Foot in Hell' is considerably darker than your average oater. Marking the mounting ambition of former small part actor Aaron Spelling who joined forces with veteran noir screenwriter Sidney Boehm to script one of the growing genre of westerns depicting the malaise of the lost generation of Confederate veterans aimlessly wandering the land after the Civil War.

As Alan Ladd's career as classic Hollywood's Quiet Dangerous One came to its conclusion he played a guy with a massive chip on his shoulder due to the death his wife (at which we actually see him cry) who gathers together a gang of roughnecks to wreak collective vengeance on the community he holds responsible by (SLIGHT SPOILERS COMING:) robbing the local bank with a lot of violence.