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"Ride Beyond Vengeance" is more than a typical western. Although produced on a low budget by television producers Mark Goodson And Bill Toddman ("The Price is Right") and featuring several names mostly familiar to TV audiences, it has a dynamic, if pessimistic script more concerned with character development than standard action--not that the film lacks action or violence.

Cowboy Jonas Trapp (Chuck Connors of "Rifleman" fame) falls in love with the beautiful Jessie (Kathryn Hays), very appealing in her first film, a wealthy girl out of his humble class. Against the wishes of her snobbish aunt (Ruth Warrick), she marries him, later faking a pregnancy to win her aunt's consent. But Jonas tires of living off of his wife's family, and eventually deserts her to become a buffalo hunter. 11 years later, with his self-made fortune, he sets out to return home, only to be set upon by three sadistic marauders, Michael Rennie, Bill Bixby and Claude Akins, who steal his money and leave him for dead. Rescued by a farmer (Paul Fix, Connors' "Rifleman" co-star) who nurses him back to health, Jonas becomes consumed by the desire for revenge. As fate would have it, all three men live close to Jonas' former home. Matters quickly get worse when Jonas reunites with his wife, only to discover that she is now engaged to Rennie.

Made on a three week schedule on an obvious sound-stage, "Ride Beyond Vengeance" succeeds in transcending it's shortcomings by the powerful acting of a first-rate cast. Connors gives his best performance, and he is well (if briefly) supported by Joan Blondell (as a gossipy townswoman), Gloria Grahame (a cheating wife having an affair with Bixby), Gary Merrill as Jonas' foster father, Frank Gorshin as an arrogant ranch hand, and Buddy Baer as a Bouncer. Buried way down the cast list is young starlet Marrisa Mathes, who is sympathetic and real as the grieving girlfriend of Bixby who reaches out to Jonas. But, next to Connors, the film belongs to Bixby, as a sadomasochistic dandy. James MaCarthur and Arthur O'Connell appear in a present day prologue to set the scene and narrate the story. The screenplay is based on Al Dewlen's novel, "The Night of the Tiger" and spends considerable time fleshing out the characters. Of course, violence rears it's ugly head here and there, but not so much as to put off the viewer. (It did, however, put off critics when it was released back in 1966) but it went on to garner a massive audience when it had its television premiere. Today, it seems better than it was initially given credit for, and remains well worth seeing. A widescreen DVD release is due out in December. It's about time!

Ride Beyond Vengeance casts Chuck Connors as a returning buffalo hunter returning to his wife after an eleven year absence. Sounds a whole lot like the plot premise for the Iliad and Connors does go through some trials just like Ulysses did.

Eleven years earlier Connors married Kathryn Hays who faked a pregnancy to get her aunt Ruth Warrick to consent to the wedding. Hays is a few steps up the social scale from Connors. Anyway he hauls out and says he'll make a fortune and return.

But like Ulysses he stays away and on his return is set upon and actually branded with a running iron. The three who do it are a pair of bottom feeding sadists Bill Bixby and Claude Akins and also Michael Rennie who's a rich man courting Hays because he and everyone else think her husband is dead.

Connors ain't dead and when he wakes up he's going to take care of business the way Ulysses took care of all of Penelope's prospective suitors.

This no frills B western has a fine supporting cast to Connors and Hays. In very telling bits are Joan Blondell as a bordello madam and Gloria Grahame as an unfaithful wife having an affair with younger Bill Bixby. It's a flashback to the Forties and Fifties when Grahame was the big screen's number one trollop.

As for Bixby and Akins the two of them are incredible studies in villainy. Akins who in his big screen career played some of the biggest low life villains ever really hits rock bottom here. He overacts outrageously, but all to good effect.

Bixby is the first one who Connors catches up with and his devolution as a human being may contain his finest big screen performance. Later on Frank Gorshin in a small bit himself gives a description of Bixby's final moments that will unnerve you for days.

Ride Beyond Vengeance is one brutal and savage western which no way would have made it in the days of those cowboy heroes for Republic. This is one western recommended highly for adults and forbidden for little kids.

I grew up in Bay Saint Louis Mississippi.My Mother was makeup artist for the Little Theatre there(mid fifties).Under her influence I did my first role there(in my mid teens).The best character actor with the group was a man by the name of Mark Solomen.He helped coach me in my first role.At the time, he had just read what he said was the best western novel he had ever read.He ended up giving me the book. It was an original hard bound version called "Night Of The Tiger". I agreed it was a great novel even though it was the author's first attempt. At the time, I had no way of knowing that through a most unique set of circumstances I would end up launching a career in films myself(on Yancy Derringer, in 1958).Because I am a good horseman as well as a western type(6'4"anglo),by the mid sixties I was a seasoned veteran of the westerns of the era in both TV and feature films. In the early sixties I became friends with Chuck connors,and ended up working for him as standin and horseback double on some of his western projects including Rifleman, Cowboy in africa,and Branded. It was when we were doing the Branded series,and the time came for us to shut down for hiaetus.I was told we would be doing a movie with a thirty day shooting schedule in the meantime, and that I would shortly be called in to do make up and costume tests for Chuck,on lot three at MGM,with a skeleton crew. When that day came,I reported to the Paramount Sunset lot where I got into a stretch limo with all the key personnel including director, producer(Andrew Fenady),makeup artist, costumer etc. On the way to MGM the producer and director were discussing how meaty some of the main character's dialogue was. As they quoted him it began to sound familiar to me so I turned to andy(the producer)and asked what's the name of this film. I could'nt believe it when he said "Night Of The Tiger". Needless to say I related the above story to him. It turns out he had found the paperback version in a west hollywood supermarket while his wife was buying groceries. And of course he responded to the book the same as Mark Solomen had all those years earlier back home,and he went right out and bought the movie rights. On the first day of production I brought the book with me and gifted Andy with it. Andrew Fenady was one of the youngest and most brilliant producers I have ever known. In fact he and Nick adams created Johnny Yuma "the rebel". Who else could have pulled together such a cast for a "quickie" western. There can be no question but that this cast was drawn to the project by the power of the story. Imagine,Bill Bixby,Jim Mc Arthur,Claude Akins,Paul fix,Michael Renny,etc. The only thing I disagreed with Andy on was the change of title. He felt that Night Of The Tiger sounded like a jungle movie. This film remains in my top ten favorite westerns (with some of clint eastwood's spagetti westerns). It is also one of the most unique coincidences of my life.

At the opening and closing scenes , in which appear the notorious secondaries Arthur O'Connell and James McArthur , there are frames on an old worn wooden caption which reads : " Coldiron , Texas site of the reprisal population 754¨ . Then , there happens some flashbacks concerning Jonas Trapp (Chuck Connors, whose name has been changed from "Julius Rupp" to "Jonas Trapp") falling in love with the charming Jessie (Kathryn Hays) , a wealthy and gorgeous girl out of his humble class . Against the wishes of her stiff-upper-lip aunt (Ruth Warrick) , she marries him , later faking a pregnancy to win her snobbish aunt's consent . But Jonas abandons his home to seek fame and fortune . Many years later , with his self-made fortune , he sets out to go back home, to meet his strong-willed spouse , only to be set upon by three sadistic , villian assailants (Claude Akins , Bill Bixby , and veteran Michael Rennie) ; matters quickly get worse when these marauders rob his money , mark a sign on his chest and leave him for dead . Robbed and left to die he is saved by a farmer who nurses him back to health, as the rescued Jonas becomes consumed by the desire for vendetta , now the hunted becomes the hunter and he is determined to stop a ruthless drunk gunfighter and other attacker townsmen . As fate would have it, all three men live close to Jonas' former home . No one will forget that night of vengeance when the tiger came back to stalk his prey! Their desires...their hatred...their violence exploded one furious night !The West had yet to see its greatest showdown...this was it !.They stalked each other like animals in the night knowing only one would survive

Nice-looking but far from run-of-the-mill Western , including some novelties , but also with usual elements , such as franctic action , thrills , crossfire , drama , romance and some spectacular action scenes . Along with a love triangle in which implicates trio starring , as Jonas/Connors reunites with his wife Jessie/Kathryn Hays, only to discover that she is now engaged to Brooks/ Michael Rennie. The plot is plain and simple , a man results to be chased , ambushed , stolen , mistreated and humiliated by a nasty band ; now as a revenger seeks vendeta against those stole him , they are : a drunken gunslinger : Claude Akins , an elegant womanizer : Bill Bixby with several loving affairs and a wealthy owner : Michael Rennie . A blending of functional main actors with great character players of whom Chuck Connors holds the best role as a brave gunman seeking revenge in Spaghetti Western style , in fact this film is really influenced by the Italian Western , using its main motives : a relentless vengeance and spontaneous burts of violence . The movie titled¨Ride beyond vengence¨ changed its title from that of its source , a 1956 novel called "The Night of the Tiger," written by Al Dewlen , and also based on the names of the characters in the movie, with some brief exception . A warm and thrilling storyline and thanks to a personable realization and overwhelming action scenes makes an enjoyable movie , a real pleasure to listen to as well as watch . The hothouse plot drives mercilessly forward with frenetic action , breathtaking shooting , thrills , treason , rivalry , twists and turns . And a thrilling and exciting ending , containing a breathtaking fistfight with punches , leaps , slaps , knocks ...that is deemed by many as one of the best ever to show up in a film , western or otherwise . Chuck Connors gives a tough and two-fisted performance often emphasized by his muscular 6'6" physique . He plays a strong man who tired of living off of his wife's family, then eventually deserts her to become a buffalo hunter . Connors had a decent acting career , though Baseball had always been Connors' first love, and for the next several years he knocked about the minor leagues . Shortly after , devoted full time to his playing career, which often emphasized his impressive physique and height . Then a MGM casting director spotted Connors and recommended him for a part in the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn comedy Pat and Mike (1952). Originally cast to play a prizefighter, but that role went instead to Aldo Ray and Connors was cast as a captain in the state police . He now abandoned his athletic hopes and employed full time to his performancing career . During the next several years Connors made 20 movies, culminating in a key role in William Wyler's 1958 western The Big Country (1958) and a successful Sci-Fi , Soylent Green , along with his friend Charlton¨Chuck¨Heston . Also appearing in many television series , he finally hit the big time in 1958 with The Rifleman (1958), and it was ranked #32 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" , it began its highly successful five-year run on ABC . Other television series followed , as did a number of movies which , though mostly minor, allowed Connors to display his range as both a stalwart "good guy" and a menacing "heavy". Chuck played various Westerns , such as : The hired gun , The deserter , Pancho Villa, Bordello, Texas Train and especially Geronimo ; he even performed a Spaghetti Western made in Italy : Kill Them All and Come Back Alone . Connors died at age 71 of lung cancer and pneumonia on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California . Chuck is well accompanied by a very good support cast , such as : Michael Rennie as a mean , arrogant banker , Ruth Warrick as the strict aunt , Joan Blondell as a gossipy villager , Gloria Grahame as a cheating spouse having an affair , Gary Merrill as Jonas' foster dad , Bill Bixby as a violent seducer , Claude Akins as an alcoholic killer , James McArthur as a Census controller visiting the small town , Arthur O'Connell as a barman , Buddy Baer as a bouncer , Robert Q. Lewis , William Bryant , Jamie Farr , Harry Harvey , and Frank Gorshin , the famous Riddler of Batman series as a greedy ranch hand.

Well financed by Columbia Pictures (1966) and Andrew J. Fenady , producer who also wrote the screenplay along with author Al Lewden who created the novel "The Night of the Tiger" . And atmospheric soundtrack by Richard Markowitz , adding wonderful song at the beginning and ending . It is titled : ¨You Can't Ever Go Home Again¨ with Music by Richard Markowitz , Lyrics by Andrew J. Fenady and Sung by Glenn Yarbrough . It packs an evocative and adequate cinematography by Lester Shorr , but in television style . Being original and professionally directed by craftsman Bernard McEveety . He was a nice artisan who directed a lot of episodes of TV series and telefilms , such as : Jim West , Planet of Apes , The quest , How the West Was Won , Marcus Welby Gunsmoke , B.J. and the Bear , Banacek , Las Vegas , Centennial , S.W.A.T. , Hawaii 5.0 , Petrocelli , The mask of Alexander , Cimarron , Three for the Road , The Rockford cases, and The Big Valley . Bernard ocassionally directed for big screen , such as : Broken Sabre , Napoleón y Samantha , One Little Indian and Brotherhood of Satan . Rating : 6.5/10 . Acceptable , passable and decent Western . Well worth watching .

Solid western with a wonderful cast of veterans. Connors fits the stoic lead character like a glove, in certain ways it's an extension of his Rawhide character, with the rest of the performers well cast in roles that weren't any stretch for them but which they play well. Joan Blondell and particularly Gloria Grahame are woefully underused in parts that could have been played by any competent actress but they make them somewhat more memorable because of their talent. Leading lady Hayes played Kim Hughes on As the World Turns for years. The modern scenes used as a framing device at the beginning and end are superfluous and could have easily been discarded.

This is a great little movie, with everything from a double-flashback story line to the contemporary prologue and epilogue. Chuck Connors gives his best performance, as the hard-bitten buffalo hunter, whom abandoned his new bride (Kathryn Hays) to make a fortune for her. On his return, he is robbed by a band of thugs (Claude Akins, Bill Bixby and Paul Fix). They rob him, beat him, and brand him! Connors spends the rest of the film obtaining justice, both from the thugs and from the woman he left behind.

The real acting kudos in this movie belong to Kathryn Hays, Gloria Grahame, Claude Akins and, most of all, Bill Bixby. Kathryn Hays sweet face belies the rage she feels at having been abandoned by Connors. Gloria Grahame is the older, still beautiful woman who cannot accept that her mature beauty is not appreciated by ladies man, Bill Bixby. Claude Akins produces a truly original portrait, a SYMPATHETIC psychopathic, sadistic killer. But Bill Bixby is the real revelation, as the narcissistic, masochistic ladies man. Bixby's performance is dowright hypnotic. The ending would be more satisfying in a novel than a movie; but, this film is well worth seeing.

In a West Texas town in the Old West, a newly married couple lives well in her aunt's mansion, but the husband (Connors) feels he must make his own money and so travels to Dodge City to become a buffalo skinner. After 11 years he returns home $17,000 richer, but is waylaid by three shady characters (Claude Akins, Bill Bixby and Michael Rennie). Naturally he seeks vengeance. Gary Merrill plays his stepdad while Frank Gorshin shows up in a small role. Towering Buddy Baer is on hand as a formidable bouncer.

"Ride Beyond Vengeance" (1966) began as a Doc Savage movie which folded due to legal rights to the story "The Thousand Headed Man." With the cast already under contract, producers switched to a Western using the 1956 novel "The Night of the Tiger" by Al Dewlen.

It only cost $650,000 and was made by a (mostly) television production team and so some bits have a TV vibe with the flick being comparable to an A. C. Lyles Western of the same period, e.g. "Black Spurs" and "Apache Uprising." These kinds of 'B' Westerns are mostly town-bound yet with fleshed-out characters, some soap opera and a glaring indoor set or three. There may be a couple scenes shot in the local country or stock footage.

There are some highlights that make the flick worthwhile, particularly the knock-down, drag-out fight in the last act, considered by some as one of the best ever, western or otherwise. Meanwhile the dramatics are engaging enough and there are several scenes featuring a friendly orange cat. But the histrionics are sometimes over-the-top, especially when it comes to Akins (which didn't bother me personally). The overly lugubrious tone and needlessly ambiguous close don't help matters, not to mention the bookend scenes in the modern day are curious and thoroughly unnecessary.

Winsome Kathryn Hays is mostly known for playing Kim on As the World Turns for 38 years. She only appeared in two theatrical movies, including this one. You might remember her from the Star Trek episode "The Empath" (1968) wherein she played the mute Gem. She looks her best here with long hair. Marissa Mathes is also on hand as the equally winsome Maria while Gloria Grahame (known for "It's a Wonderful Life") has a small part as a cheating wife (she was 42 during filming).

The film runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was primarily shot at Backlot, Desilu Studios, Culver City, California.

GRADE: B-

Drab, garrulous and studio bound despite being in colour, and with sets and furniture that snap like balsa wood during the big brawl scene.

Bookended by an unusual present-day prologue, in order to distinguish this from a TV episode, director Bernard McEveety employs a restless camera, flashbacks within flashbacks, a noisy music score and a couple of moments of macabre violence.

As usual we get an interesting supporting cast of veterans making fleeting appearances (of whom Arthur O'Connell and Joan Blondell register most strongly) and a couple of faces later familiar on TV, Frank Gorshin & Jamie Farr. The latter gets even less screen time than Gloria Grahame in her only screen appearance of the sixties (when she was busy raising a family), and that's saying something.

This may well be the best role Chuck Connors ever had outside of his regular TV series work. A griping tale of a man who leaves his wife to go off and make a fortune for her only to return 10 years later. A return that is met with rejection by the woman he left behind and a brutal beating and robbing that leaves the man branded as a thief. An action that sets him down a road of vengeance against the three men who robbed him and sets the entire town on edge. With excellent performances by Bill Bixby, Michael Rennie, Kathryn Hayes and Claude Adkins as a borderline psychotic who talks to his invisible friend "Whiskey Man." This one is definitely worth catching and of late has appeared many times on the Westerns Channel where it is shown uncut and without commercial interruption which helps to add even more to the movement of the story. A film filled with many great actors who are all sadly either gone or no longer practicing their craft today. All of whom give the viewer some of their best performances ever. As for during the 60s when this was made, it would have definitely had an audience in those drive-in theaters of yesterday. An excellent one all around.

I finally caught this film in its entirety on the Fox MOVIES!!! channel (or whatever they call it), and it has more than its share of compelling moments. Given the personnel and the people behind the production, one might suspect that this was a project aimed at television, except that A) it is apparently intended to be shown in 1.85-to-1 aspect ratio (irrelevant to TV in 1966) and B) it is so violent that it is difficult to believe that it could have gotten on the air without some serious cuts, and there is no way that the makers wouldn't have known this in 1966. But the director and producers were the same people behind the series BRANDED, starring Chuck Connors, which went out of production at just about the time that this movie was released.

Chuck Connors plays Jonas Trapp, a proud but poor laborer in a small western town who -- as we learn from the backstory unfolded in a string of flashbacks -- married the wealthiest young woman in town (Kathryn Hays). Unable to abide the ease of their life together, or to persuade her to join him in building up a fortune of their own, he lights out for the frontier to become a buffalo hunter, and, as the movie opens (following an introductory section set in 1966), he is returning home after 11 years, carrying over a decade's worth of hard-earned cash. Alas, he has the bad luck to chance on a small encampment, seemingly abandoned, and is accused by three riders of trying to rustle the calf that is found bound nearby. The leader of this trio, Coates (Claude Akins), is drunk and a little crazy to start with, and wants to hang Trapp as a rustler; the banker Durham (Michael Rennie), talks him out of that, despite the egging on off sleazy, fancy-dan hanger-on "Johnnsy" (Bill Bixby). So instead, they put a large branded "T" on his chest and leave him for dead, and one of the trio takes Trapp's money before abandoning him. He doesn't die, however, partly through the intervention of seemingly kindly farmer Hanley (Paul Fix), who chances along to find him.

Realizing what has happened to him, and seething with rage, Trapp goes into town, where all three of his attackers live. His own wife, not knowing who he is after 11 years absence, rejects him violently. But he manages to track down his attackers, one by one, over the next 24 hours, and takes revenge on each of them. But more difficult than vengeance will be any possibility of putting his life back together, not only in the wake of his maiming but also the 11 years dividing him from his wife. And complicating matters further is the fact that she was preparing to marry Durham.

There's a pretty good pacing to this picture, despite having at least one foot in old-style Hollywood story-telling. And the violence, when it comes, is rather startling to see, given the vintage of this picture (could it have been intended for overseas distribution?). And director Andre Fennady has a good handle on action and narrative, so that not a huge amount of time is wasted.

But -- and this is a big caveat -- the movie falls short in many ways. It's all well and good to have startling images and convincingly nasty villains of all types. But this is still a fairly flat western compared either to the Italian-financed oaters that were making their way across the Atlantic (most notably those made by Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood, natch). Fennady has no sense of the over-the-top dramatic nuance that made not only Leone's westerns, but also those of Sergio Sollima and other filmmakers of the era, so indelible to the viewer. The action here is just that, action, with no dramatic artistry. And Richard Markowitz, try and he might, never does come up with a sufficiently memorable soundtrack to underscore that action.

This is a good try at something different in the genre -- and kind of remarkable, coming from Goodson-Todman Productions (yes, the game show guys) -- but I'd rather watch A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS or THE BIG GUNDOWN. On a more positive note, it is entertaining to see these actors in something this jarring in its viciousness, and the supporting players populating the screen: Joan Blondell, Gloria Grahame (in too short an appearance), Gary Merrill, Frank Gorshin, and Buddy Baer, along with a youngish Jamie Farr; and, in the framing sequences, James MacArthur and Arthur O'Connell.

Rugged Chuck Connors (in one of his best roles as a vengeful buffalo hunter) heads an impressive parade of Hollywood veterans and current TV stars that people this modestly pleasing and occasionally bloodthirsty Western saga: Claude Akins, Buddy Baer, Bill Bixby, Joan Blondell, Jamie Farr, Paul Fix, Frank Gorshin, Gloria Grahame, James MacArthur, Gary Merrill, Arthur O'Connell, Michael Rennie and Ruth Warrick. Connors marries wealthy beauty Kathryn Hays (the then-Mrs. Glenn Ford) but seeks to make a fortune for himself in buffalo skins, a quest which takes him 11 years and earns him $17,000. However, no sooner has he arrived back in town that he falls foul of the drunken sadism of boorish Akins, suave gambler Bixby and would-be respectable banker Rennie. Regaining his strength after being cared for by Fix, Connors soon comes face to face with Hays (who mistakes him for a saddle tramp) and, subsequently, his assailants whereupon he starts the slow process of reprisal. Bixby gets his in gruesome fashion to the torments they had themselves inflicted on Connors (with a branding iron), Akins is trashed and killed in the climactic bar-room brawl and Rennie (who is engaged to Hays) is unmasked as the thief of Connors' money. Not badly done of its kind, actually, and undeniably given a boost by that cast and its flashback structure – starting out as it does in a contemporary setting with barman O'Connell narrating of the legendary events that occurred on "The Night Of The Tiger" to visiting government official MacArthur.

Returning home after toiling eleven years as a buffalo hunter in order to to provide for his rich, estranged wife, Chuck Conners (in a terrific performance) is beaten, branded, and robbed of his life savings by banker/gambler Michael Rennie, psychotic dandy Bill Bixby, and drunken cowboy Claude Akins. (and Akins imaginary friend!) Needless to say that Chuck's infuriated when he finds out that Rennie is courting his wife.

Ride Beyond Vengeance is uniquely bookended by modern scenes of a visiting census taker being told the story by a bartender, in the exact place where Conners' vengeance went down. It gives the unfolding events both a feel of historical significance and a sense of western mythology.

Co-produced by game-show impresario Mark Goodson, this is stark, mean film, truly top-notch in terms of characterization and story. Anyone who thinks the Italians had a monopoly on hard-boiled, violent westerns in the sixties really should see this!

Bixby is a lot of fun to watch, especially in the scene where he's confronted by Conners on a lonely road and made to squirm. Frank Gorshin's description of the aftermath is incredible!

An exciting climax features one helluva rowdy fight between Between Chuck and Claude Akins.

I highly recommend this!

This quirky little western is no more than mediocre but it sports a number of odd touches that you won't see elsewhere. The high point (or low point) comes when Chuck Connors is branded on his 45-inch chest with a red-hot iron shaped like a "T." Also worth noting is an eclectic, one-of-a-kind supporting cast which manages to find room for Bill Bixby, Jamie Farr, James MacArthur, Arthur O'Connell, Michael Rennie, Frank Gorshin, Gary Merrill, Paul Fix, and Claude Akins, as well as three veteran actresses: Joan Blondell, Ruth Warrick, and Oscar-winner Glorida Grahame. What a marquee! This is also one of the few westerns told in flashback and one of the few to feature, among its characters, a census-taker.

Told in a "double flashback" technique, this is not a 'pretty' western. Conners, in his best ever role is the hunter returning to claim the girl he left behind-10 years ago. There are so many memorable performances here it is hard to start--Akins and his imaginary friend 'Whiskey Man', Gorshin as the see-all ranch hand, and Bixby-well Bixby should have gotten the best supporting Oscar as the conniving dandy with a sado-masochist bent. This one is told in rugged fashion, and has a neat little theme song to go along with it. This is MUST viewing.

I see why some folk like it, the downbeat and harsher edges appealing, if only it wasn't so badly constructed and played! It is to my mind a classic example of the funk American Westerns had got themselves into at this juncture of genre film making.

Michael Rennie and Bill Bixby are badly miscast, Claude Akins overacts to within an inch of his life (a rare poor show from him), while Bernard McEveety's direction shows why he was more at home in TV work. It all looks desperately fake, the interiors of key buildings looking like Wild West themed restaurants, the rest of the exteriors looking like what they are - stages! (most likely built from Chuck Connors' woodenness) Script is weak, which leads to a story that is never once authentic in tone or feeling, scenarios that are meant to be telling are unconvincing and the action is laughably staged.

No hidden or misunderstood gem here, just bad film making that irritates as opposed to entertaining. 1/10

This movie is in one word, "Classic!", the characters are very memorable, and it portrays a quality and originality that you do not find in movies anymore! The author of this story, obviously knows how to write a story, that keeps the viewer mesmerized! I would recommend this movie to anyone!

A surprisingly good western in the 60s A nice way to present the Old West where the bartender played by Arthur O'Connell tells the story to the young man played by James MacArthur. And this is a powerful story. Jonas Trapp (Chuck Connors), buffalo hunter, returns home 11 years later and found his wife taking another wedding. But the story becomes even more complicated when it is robbed on the way and marked with hot iron by three men (Michael Rennie, Bill Bixby and Claude Akins) one being the pretender (Rennie) to the wedding with his wife. Jonas Trapp brings hell to the small town. It becomes a powerful avenger nickname in the city of "The Tiger" becoming a legend. It is a great western, maybe a western B but high level, with a well-written script and great performances of the cast. Chuck Connors is perfect in his role transmitted all the bitterness and disappointment of a man who returned home with plans for the future. The fight between Connors and Claude Akins is pure adrenaline, only seen in "Shane" and "North to Alaska". A western that will always be in our memory, still one of the great westerns of the 60s Very good, very good.

This is a darn fine movie, but it does not have the character development that many are claiming. The town, and the movie as a whole, has many odd characters, but we don't know much about why they are odd. We simply know that they are odd. Even Bixby is not developed. He starts as a psycho. He's a psycho in the middle. And he's a psycho at the end.

The character development is substantial on Connors (the good guy), Rennie (the bad guy), and Hays (the good guy's wife who is now with the bad guy). But is it good character development? Not really.

Connor's character could fall in love and marry, but he wouldn't have let the Aunt influence his marriage or his wife. He certainly would have left his home and wife as he did, but he never would have let himself get into that situation in the first place.

Rennie did play a guy who could turn bad, but he didn't play a stupid man. He wouldn't have let things get so far out of hand. At almost every turn, Rennie could have stopped Connors. Yet somehow, he lets things get worse and worse. Rennie's character was smart and knew how to manipulate people and situations. He could have killed Connors. He could have hired someone to do it. He could have returned the money anonymously. He could have framed anybody, living or dead, as the thief. He could have just stayed home. Even if he had just stayed home, it would have been enough. Stay home, Rennie, stay home. Let the town deal with Connors.

Hays played a woman who could fall in love with Connors under the right circumstances, but the character she played would not have fallen in love unless Connors was rich and/or if Connors had the approval of her aunt. Her character was weak and could never stand on her own. At least, that is who she was early on when a weak character was necessary. Later in the movie, she became strong and hard. I guess her aunt told her to do that. At the end, she became soft and warm towards Connors. I guess her aunt must have died by then. She was at least as psycho as Bixby from what I can tell. I'm sure she spent her remaining years taking care of her houseful of cats and screaming at anyone who used her sidewalk.

How come Connors was smart enough to save all that money, but he was too dumb to get a bank draft? How come Connors really hoped that he would be able to get a shave when he entered that campsite, but he was too dumb to stop anywhere along the way and buy a shave? How come Connors wanted so much to see his ex-wife, but he didn't even think about spending any of his money on a bath, a shave, and a set of clothes? Bixby and Akers went on and on about how bad Connors stunk. Are we supposed to believe that Connors thought his high-born wife wouldn't mind the smell? There are only two characters that are necessary to this movie: Connors and Akins. It would be the exact same movie if Bixby, Rennie, O'Connell, Hays, Blondell and the rest were replaced, rewritten or discarded. It is a simple story of vengeful good versus pure evil. Jimmy Stewart played that role several times. So did Eastwood, Wayne, and most of the other macho stars. First the star has something bad happen to him. Then he spends the rest of the picture trying to set things right. At the very end, good triumphs over evil. It works well because, when the whupping starts, the audience is really rooting for the good guy.

So why is it a great movie? Because it is a great western with great actors. There are many fine actors in this movie, and they all do a stand-up job. It is excellent. If you like westerns or dark film noir, you will like this. It is a much better movie than Johnny Guitar.

But, just like in Johnny Guitar, you can pick apart the plot and character development without even trying.