La raya de la muerte

Showdown at Boot Hill (1958)

** (out of 4)

Deputy Marshal Luke Welsh (Charles Bronson) is working as a bounty hunter when he finds the man he's been looking for in a small town. The man resists the arrest so Welsh is forced to shoot him, which doesn't sit too well with the people of the town who decide to make it rough on the bounty hunter. SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL was the first of two films that Bronson made with director Fowler (the next was GANG WAR) and it's an okay Western even if it doesn't feature anything you haven't seen hundreds of times before. I think the main draw is going to be fans of Bronson who are wanting to see his stuff before he became a major Hollywood star. It doesn't hurt any that the actor gets to act with John Carradine, another man who certainly knew about the highs and lows of the business. Cult fans are certainly going to enjoy seeing the two men together and thankfully they share quite a few scenes. At just 72-minutes the film pretty much has a start (Bronson getting his man) and an end (the showdown) but what happens in between is rather bland and doesn't really go anywhere in terms of action. Sure enough there are a couple of the dead man's friends who take exception and come after Bronson but the action is rather tame and never overly exciting. There's also way too much dialogue because more times than not we have supporting characters just sitting or standing around talking about what they should or shouldn't do. I know this was a low-budget movie but the genre turned out one small budget after another so they could have at least bumped the energy level up a bit. I was surprised to see how well the romance between Bronson and a local waitress (Fintan Meyler) turned out. There's a subplot about Bronson's shyness with girls and his depression about being short that's rather interesting to see simply because most won't be use to seeing Bronson play a softie. The actor does a pretty good job with the part even though it really doesn't ask him to do too much except act tough. Again, Bronson handles some of the more dramatic stuff but we're not talking Shakespeare here. Carradine pretty much walks through his role as a barber/doctor/preacher and he's always fun to see. Carole Mathews is pretty good as the love interest's mother and Robert Hutton plays one of the bad guys. If you're expecting the work of John Ford then it's best to look elsewhere because this movie doesn't offer anything too original. Fans of Bronson and Carradine are going to be the ones who want to check this one out.

Supposedly Charles Bronson's first starring role, this involves him playing a bounty hunter named Luke Welsh who has a warrant for a man named Con Maynor (Thomas Brown Henry). Maynor had killed two other men in another town so now he has to answer for that. Welsh meets up with Maynor in the local dining hall/saloon and out draws and kills him. It was all fair and square since Maynor drew first, and Bronson is later exonerated at a local hearing.

The only problem is that the town is not co-operating when Welsh tries to collect proof of Maynor's death in order to collect his bounty. It's seems Maynor was very popular in this town and the people resent Welch for what he did. They take pot-shots at him in the dark while the sheriff stands by and does nothing. See, the sheriff liked Maynor, too.

But Welsh won't leave until he collects that $200 bounty and in order to do that, he has to find out why this town is enamored with Con Maynor. It's later revealed that Maynor stole and killed in other communities and then did good things for this town with a lot of his stolen wealth. A kind of twisted 'Robin Hood' would be the best way to describe it. In other words, Welch is dealing with a corrupt, sleazy town that's in deep denial about Maynor and it's own past.

This oater starts off well, but then it engages in histrionics and psychological emotionalism, especially when Welch tries to 'find himself' while he falling in love with a local woman named Sally (Carole Mathews). It gets to be a bit much as we see the Bronson character do a lot of unnecessary hand-wringing while getting away from all the local action at hand.

At 73 minutes, it could have been cut to an hour which would have made the story tighter and not meander off into unnecessary directions. Besides, not much else happens at Boot Hill other than Maynor getting buried there.

With John Carradine as the barber-undertaker and Robert Hutton as the town foil.

5 out of 10

As with most films that "miss", it almost always comes down to a bad script...as it does here. The subject matter the movie tries to deal with is potentially interesting, and could have had some real emotional impact, but the slow, meandering pace and some goofy dialogue undermine what could have been a good psychological Western. It's really a shame because the directing is actually pretty good, the score feels just right, most of the actors hold their own, and the sets actually look remarkably authentic considering what an extremely low budget this movie clearly had.

Throughout the entire movie I kept thinking that it reminded me of another project, but couldn't put my finger on it...and then it dawned on me that the whole thing has the feel of a 1950s TV Western...it especially reminded me of the way the first season of "The Rifleman" was shot. Not sure if this movie was meant to be the second part of a drive-in movie double-bill, or (based on the quality and running time) if this might have actually been shot as a potential pilot for a TV series...Bronson looks fantastic here...he is young, fit, handsome, and would have made an excellent TV star had he been given the opportunity. This project might have passed as decent enough TV watching, but it misses the mark as a feature film, which is a shame considering its potential.

Not only did the film have potential, but you can see the potential Charles Bronson had if he'd chosen to become an actor instead of a silent-but-deadly action hero over the span of his career. His early work gave him some really good opportunities to emote, but I guess the other direction he went in paid a lot better. I suppose one can't argue with success, but it is interesting to think of what might have been.

"Showdown at Boot Hill" is certainly not worth paying money to rent or buy, but if it comes on cable, it is definitely a harmless enough way to spend an hour and change.

This western with a message starts out fast with an early gunfight, but then slows down considerably & takes things at a leisurely pace for most of the remainder of the movie. Character development, especially of Bronson & his girlfriend, is very good, & meaningful issues are explored (e.g., "Is he a bad guy if he's a model citizen in his town, has helped his neighbors in important ways, but just happens to have killed three people elsewhere?"). The plight of short people is also explored to some extent. Overall, a solid story with some action. I rate it 8/10.

This was an entertaining film...mainly for the dialog, which at times was hilarious. For example: Saloon scene: When her client passes out, Jill (saloon owner) tells her: "Don't worry..you'll still get your percentage..but girl complains bitterly: "He wasn't even a gentleman..didn't take his hat off! to which Jill replied: "The ones that bother me are the one who don't take their boots off!" When in a western have you ever heard anything close to that in its implications? Bronson is as my mom would say "so homely, he is good looking." Good thing he kept that mop of hair his whole life. John Carradine was super fun to watch...his every word..his facial machinations..his "I've seen it all" attitude. It was very well cast and at times, almost had a "comic book" feel to it. By that I mean, the people were more like caricatures than real people. Yes, if it comes your way and you like 50s westerns, see it!