Fury at Showdown

After serving a year for a killing in self-defense, gunfighter Brock Mitchell tries to help his younger brother save his ranch but a crooked lawyer has other ideas.

John Derek stars as a gunslinger just released from jail and a crooked lawyer whose brother had died in a gunfight when facing a showdown with Derek plots revenge by goading the easily riled Derek into a gunfight with his gun thug (Laramie's John Smith). Fury at showdown is a tightly-conceived stark western similar in vein to the Brass legend ( also directed by Gert Oswald) in terms of its starkness and its emphasis on character depth and tension. Not much action, but there's a killer fist fight between Derek and Smith. You got to see it to believe it.

Sometimes the tension can fluctuate and the pace is slow; overall, though, it's a decent western with good performances- but Derek steals the acting honours as the young man who is trying to restrain his anger and not turn to violence. The camera work, the town and characterisation is good. The finale was quite tense.

The only reason I watched this super-obscure 1957 oater (allegedly shot in seven days) is because Philip Hardy, in his 1980s encyclopedia of westerns, called it a "masterpiece" (his word).

I certainly wouldn't go that far, but the direction (Gerd Oswald) and camera-work (Joseph LaShelle, who IIRC shot Laura) are definitely eye- catching. Many angles include ceilings, and there are a number of striking shots of actor(s) in extreme FG with other(s) in extreme BG. Oswald and LaShelle even use the film noir technique of lining up actors in dialogue scenes at various depths so they can all be in the shot without cutting (or having to re-set up the camera).

This second feature programmer is in fact far more interestingly made than A Kiss Before Dying, Oswald's A picture of the year before. Why Oswald went from that well-publicized production of a bestseller to this B- drive-in special is unknown to me. Too bad he didn't show the same level of creativity on that clever Ira Levin mystery that he does on this horse opera, which is quite routinely scripted aside from a few minor curiosities, such as Nick Adams homoerotically caressing the unconscious face of his big brother John Derek.

This Western had one particular thing going for it that really stood out. Every time there was a wide shot of the town, there were not large numbers of people walking around the streets. Perfect! In most Westerns, there are way too many people all over town. At this time in history, when 95% of the population worked on farms, it is just totally unrealistic the way directors put so many people in town. This movie was right on the mark. Well done. Some reviews say it was too slow. Well, it wasn't a time of the internet and instant everything. Things moved slower as did the pace of the movie, which seemed appropriate. As I have mentioned in my reviews of other Westerns, I still have a problem the way actors are dressed. Costumes seem to be "cowboy" attire taken from the 1930's and put in stories from late 1800s. This includes saddles and bridles. Having it in black and white gave it a nice "old time" feel.

I've seen this movie rated as 1 1/2 stars on the 5-scale in some places but it's much, much better than that. True, it's a low budget film, but it doesn't take a big budget to come up with a good script and people who know how to play their roles with conviction. This movie has one of the best fistfight scenes I've seen in a long time, with the big mirror behind the bar as the first casualty - followed by chairs, the front window of the saloon, and a lot of wear and tear on Brock Mitchell and Miley Sutton (played by John Derek and John Smith respectively) who end up being dragged down the street beneath a wagon. This is a movie with good guys you like and bad guys you like to hate. It may be a low budget film, but I've seen some with much bigger budgets that I didn't like anywhere near as much. This one is well worth your time - get out the popcorn and enjoy a good Western.

Fury at Showdown is directed by Gerd Oswald and adapted to screenplay by Jason James from the novel Showdown Creek written by Lucas Todd. It stars John Derek, John Smith, Carolyn Craig, Nick Adams, Gage Clarke and Robert Griffin. Music is by Harry Sukman and cinematography by Joseph LaShelle.

After killing a man in self defence, reformed gunfighter Brock Mitchell (Derek) finds that the brother of the man he killed is intent on evening the score.

It's a tried and tested formula here, that of a one time gunman trying to reform but finds others simply will not let him. There's a love interest tantalisingly in the balance, some brotherly love playing a key part in the story, a bit of angst, fisticuffs (including a superb saloon brawl) and machismo, and a well constructed finale. Oswald has skills with the camera, nice shots and an ability to ensure each frame has something to offer, his work really belying the quickfire turnaround for release he was tasked with.

Elsewhere, Lashelle's monochrome photography is lush, seen at its best with the TCM-HD print doing the rounds on cable networks. Also appealing is Sukman's musical score, very subtle and stripped back to be a nice tonal accompaniment. Acting is in the main decent, with Derek a likeable presence in the lead, to leave us with a good sturdy Oater where Fury at Showdown manages to overcome its small budget and isolated location setting to hold its head up high. 7/10