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Featuring outstanding Arizona scenery in Cinemascope color, one interestingly written character (Billy), and Jack Nicholson in a young anti-hero performance, what is wrong with this Western? The answer is: Nothing is wrong. Having a budget that obviously consists of little more than pennies does not negatively impact this film much, except for some low-paid "discount" acting at times.

To me the most intriguing Westerns are ones that portray some aspect of the Old West based at least partly on fact. I put this film in that category as it does portray a phenomenon of those days, namely the existence of a few Sheriffs who were little more than legalized executioners.

The cast and crew just went out to Arizona and filmed this on the desert in a straightforward manner. It works for me.

The story opens up with a drifter stumbling into a town ruled by a sheriff who trusted no one and would make certain that everyone in town lived or died by his rules.

Many people in the town would love to just up and move away but the crazy sheriff would some way convince them to stay.

There was also a woman who recently moved into town and had an affair with the sheriff and held some deep dark secrets about him, which made him want her to leave on the next stagecoach out of town.

Jack Nicholson was very young in this picture but just his appearance in the film makes it worth your while to watch and enjoy.

I enjoy westerns but have noticed that about 95% of them have 3-4 different plots. Originality is NOT a trademark of the genre! Because of this, while "The Broken Land" is far from a great film, it IS original and kept my interest.

The film is set in some old western town. Soon you realize that the Marshal is insane or a total sadist. I'd vot for him being BOTH!! For him, the law is a meant to control everyone and soon he locks up one guy for having a father who was a crook! Then, he insists that a poor feeble-minded guy is a thief and is about to shoot him!! A stranger in town attacks the Marshal to stop this murder...and ends up getting locked up as well! And, it only gets worse!

While the film has a very nice plot, it was far from perfect...hence the score of 6. The actors were all no-names at the time (of course, Jack Nicholson has gone on to better things....or so I've been told). Most were reasonably good but not outstanding. The script also had a few loose ends such as the 'big revelation' from the lady at the end...which turned out to be not much of a revolation. Still, it IS original and kept my interest. Plus, if you aren't sure about investing your time, it's only a hour in length!

This short 1-hour Western movie centers on a drifter who comes to a small town and has run-in with its sadistic sheriff. A string of circumstances leads to running from a posse, robbery, and murder. Considering the limited length of this movie, it's a good story, the characters are likable, the dialog is literate, the performances are good (particularly Jack Nicholson), and it's well directed. If you collect Western movies, this one is worth having.

Director John Bushelman rings no bells for me but I see that he directed the 1978 TV mini series THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME, which was a better than tolerable horror effort.

Regrettably, the low budget puts paid to any hopes one might have of a hidden gem, particularly after one learns that a very young Jack Nicholson is in the jail of nasty Marshall Jim Cogan (Kent Taylor), who runs the place with whip and Colt .45, and does not hesitate to press false charges, even against the mentally retarded town idiot, amateurishly played by Gary Sneed.

Double chin Diana Darrin seems more than a tad old for the part of love interest to Robert Sampson, but at least she has some information about Marshall Cogan that she imparts to the populace at the decisive moment.

Nicholson and his mordant smile inevitably catch your eye as the sole spirited performance. Clearly, budget limitations did not permit contracting better players and script writing team, but at least the cinematography stands as better than usual for a B (C?) Western, all shot on rocky and dusty Arizona location.

Worth a watch, though probably not a rewatch. 5/10.

This early 60s western would be totally forgotten if not for a performance by a young Jack Nicholson. The film barely clocks in at 60 minutes, IMDb timing notwithstanding, and its bare bones screenplay tries to to far too much in that brief span. Characters are thinly drawn and poorly (and bizarrely) motivated. Not much to recommend here except for Jack completists.

Except for the strangely out of water Jack Nicholson as a cowboy, this movie has nothing to recommend it. Here, he looks and sounds like a TV sidekick, the only thing missing is a comb to run through his hey, daddy-o hair. No where near as compelling as his later western, RIDE THE WHIRLWIND, which, if you think about it, is basically the same story as this one. Except, with Monte Hellman directing, it was watchable. This movie wasn't good back in the early sixties when it was made-- it certainly hasn't stood the test of time. This looks and feels like a contract obligation movie-- meaning they had a slot in the production schedule and threw this junk together to fill the opening. The direction is boring, strictly point the camera and shoot-- one take by the look of it. The female lead, a pivotal role for the last half of the movie, can be seen looking down every time she moves, to make sure she hits her mark. Unwatchable.

While I don't watch a steady diet of westerns I watch them from time to time for the cast members and since THE BROKEN LAND has also a score of 5,0 I expected it to be bad but instead it was worth the view.

When the story begins Dave Dunson rides in a small town ruled with an iron fist by a corrupt Sheriff (Kent Taylor) that uses law for controlling everyone, including locking up Will Brocious (Jack Nicholson) only because his father was a crook, insisting that a feeble-minded guy was trying to shoot him and locking up Dunson because he wanted to stop his reign of terror. How it will unfold it's best if you see it for yourselves.

While the plot looked like that of so many other westerns it was still very entertaining and the acting by all no names except Nicholson was decent. Still, if you are a huge fan of westerns or you don't have nothing else to do and you already saw a lot of stuff this is for you.

The only reason to see BROKEN LAND, a low-rent western from 1962, is for a young Jack Nicholson as a hot head who tangles with a small town's evil sheriff and then teams up with two other men and a "wayward" woman who also have run afoul of the sheriff. Shot in Arizona, the film looks pretty good for a DeLuxe color print job, but the acting and dialogue are absolutely atrocious. Nicholson at least stands out with his toothy grin and hambone delivery. Apparently, Burt Reynoldsa was originally cast in the Nicholson role, not that that would have helped this turkey. All the cowpokes are laughably clean shaven with 1950s-style hairdos. The "wayward" woman of the film looks like someone's grandma in a bad wig. The entire cast consists of maybe 12 people. It is a very small town, obviously. My best guess is this was shot to fill out the bottom half of a movie bill, as it barely runs 70 minutes. Any kid watching this in a theater or drive-in must have been ready to jump off a bridge long before its short running time was played out.

To Put it in Perspective, Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher put a "New Face" on the Western in the 1950's and Sam Peckinpah put an Amen to it with Ride the High Country (1962) and then Reincarnated the "New" Western with The Wild Bunch (1969). Peckinpah, it Could be Said, Ended the New Wave of Westerns and Started the New New Wave of Westerns. No Mean Feat.

While Hardly in the Mann/Boetticher/Peckinpah Camp, This Little Movie is Indeed a Bit Different from Standard Stuff in its Introspection of Some Off Beat Characters that Include a Brutal Dictatorial Sheriff, a Dim-Witted Likable Stiff, a Good Hearted Drifter, and Jack Nicholson as a Slightly Miscast Bad/Good Guy. Diana Darin is the Damaged Goods still Managing to Look Good and Emote Kindness.

Overall, Worth a Watch for Early Nicholson, a Good but Short Story, and Some Colorful Cinemascope Landscapes.

A young Jack Nicholson is the only reason to watch this film. Jack was 25 years old when he appeared in "The Broken Land." At first, I didn't even recognize him, or even his classic one-of-a kind voice. Jack's the only actor in the cast (veteran Kent Taylor comes in second) who can bring to life the lousy dialogue. With a 60 minute run time (the "director's cut" is 75 minutes, according to IMDb), at least it goes by quickly. Maybe this film was the bottom half of a drive-in double feature (if anyone remembers drive-ins). If one does remember drive-ins, there was undoubtedly more action going on in the back seat of Daddy's Chevy then on the screen. Could be grindhouse material as well.

And what a delight to watch it in LBX please folks !!!! What a pleasure because it is so rare from an API production. The story itself is not that terrific, but for a B western, that's what I like, instead of the bland and standard yarns with the same character, as the likes of Bill Elliot or Roy Rogers.... Don't mind about Jack Nicholson, focus instead on this cosy tale, despite the fact that it won't bring anything exceptional, except the villain as lead character, but it is only a rare little gem, so unique and hard to find in LBX. And the acting is pretty good too for this kind of production, even the directing, from this unknown director. But I have always craved for evil lead characters, especially a rogue sheriff, played here by Kent Taylor.

Very early Jack Nicholson vehicle that is nothing more than a quick B-western with some exotic Arizona Apache Zone locales. Evil small town sheriff Kent Taylor rules the community with an iron fist and several within the small landscape join forces to change things. Nicholson is way down the list on the credits as a young hothead who has an itchy trigger-finger and likes to solve things with a rifle rather than by talking things out. An extremely wishy-washy film that is shorter than most documentaries these days (the film is only about an hour in length) and sports no real recommendations anywhere across the board. Only memorable to see how Nicholson was before his "Easy Rider" days. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).