La frusta d'argento

It will not be a mile stone in western history for sure but it presents the advantage to have Dale Robertson, Robert Wagner and Rory Calhoun together. Nothing special to me. But for a B Fox western it is enough for my taste. It is rare, effective, fast but not furious. I prefer more ambiguous, ambivalent characters, as Audie Murphy in NO NAME ON THE BULLET, or Alan Ladd in ONE FOOT IN HELL; here it is a bit too smooth, but entertaining enough to justify the time to waste watching it.

Robert Wagner, thirty years before Hart to Hart. Here, he's young Jess Harker, waiting to leave his quiet little hometown, in one of his early roles. the stagecoach company lets him drive the stage, but of course, there will be obstacles along the way. when they get held up, they go after the gang. co-stars Dale Robertson and Rory Calhoun. Some scenes filmed in the hills east of modesto. GIANT trees on the ponderosa. Directed by Harmon Jones.. his first film as director was As Young As You Feel, with some huge hollywood names; he directed a bunch of big films, but moved into Television pretty quickly. It's good! no real surprises, but it's good.

Frustrated with the lack of opportunities in his hometown, young Jess Harker( Robert Wagner) plans to leave, but sympathetic stagecoach armed guard Race Crim (Dale Robertson) persuades his boss to give Jess the stage driver job. He accepts and gives the kid a chance to drive the stagecoach's main-line carrying $27000 dollars in gold dust and two important passengers. Crim rides as a guard, but when they arrive at a waystation, a gang of outlaws is waiting to ambush the coach. Jess panics and disobeys orders, resulting in the death of both coach passengers and the theft of the gold. Crim's love is among the dead, and he swears vengeance on Slater's gang, heading off after them. Jess is ordered back, but instead joins the posse led by Rory Calhoun's sheriff Tom Davisson, eager to make up for his mistakes. Crim however has turned vigilante, and shows no mercy for Slater's men as a hunts them down, before Tom and Jess apprehend Slater before Crim can hang him. Tom wants justice done, but not the frontier justice that the townsfolk have in mind, and as tensions simmer, friends will clash as doing the right thing becomes the unpopular option.

A fresh-faced Robert Wagner does well as a cocky man who soon goes through trial and tribulations before growing up and becoming someone, and that with the help of Dale Robertson and Rory Calhoun who both went on to have a successful career in westerns. Dale Robertson went on to make Tales of Wells Fargo. This western has plenty of Stagecoach chases, shootouts and they are quite excitingly shot, which gives this decent western a boost. Characterisation is fine, too.

The script is well written, handling clichés very well. The direction is brisk and orderly. The actors are very professional, even the God-awful Robert Wagner. Watching Dale Robertson I am surprised that he didn't become a bigger star: he is at ease in front of the camera, charming when it is called for, and very realistic in his delivery. Rory Calhoun was quite adequate for an undemanding role. This really seemed to be a vehicle for the young Wagner. I must admit I have only enjoyed him in one movie in his career and generally find him uninteresting and sub-par. Was Zanuck gay and in love with him? I will never understand Fox pushing him; but the 50's did bring on the teenage girls in the audience. I guess that was it. Overall, this movie is a little gem that deserves more recognition. I recommend it.

Character-driven western whose guiding idea unfortunately is better than the result. Sheriff Tom, tough guy Race, and young man Jess, are friends in a small frontier town. Jess, however, wants a chance to prove himself a man, so he gets trial run as a stage driver. Trouble is he screws up by not driving off to protect doomed passengers when stage is ambushed at a way station. Instead he stays behind to help his friend Race. Now Jess needs to redeem himself by helping Sheriff Tom and posse track down stage robbers before vengeful Race guns them all down. Climax occurs in town when lynch mob gathers to head for Tom's jail.

It's really Wagner's film. As the untried Jess, he shows his acting chops in a vivid performance still early in his lengthy career. Robertson (Race) and Calhoun (Tom) also get a lot of screen time as self-assured westerners. Oddly, they look so much alike, I got confused at times. The oater's unusual since no bad guy gets focal time, while the girls are strictly peripheral. Instead, the highlight is a well-photographed and lengthy chase scene across scenic rocks and hills. There's one unexpectedly jarring occurrence that I guess Hollywood convention couldn't let stand without smoothing out. Had they instead let it go extreme, the movie would be memorable. One key point, I wish Robertson's ambiguous character (Race) were more intense. That would have injected needed emotion to the movie as a whole There's a dramatic potential in the key conflict between Race and Tom that's unfortunately underplayed.

All in all, it's an interesting western with an unusual plot and some riveting scenery, but drains too much story potential.