Showdown at Williams Creek

The very first film usually dubbed a Hollywood western was Cecil B. DeMille's The Squaw Man which came out in 1913. The plot involved an English earl going west to America after one of those Victorian affairs of honor and settling down with an American Indian wife.

A lot of the plot elements of The Squaw Man are in Showdown at Williams Creek. In this Tom Burlinson is not an earl, far from it he's a British officer who sees a chance for promotion in the 1860s in the army of Great Britain slim because of the custom of purchasing a commission. Ironically enough right at the time he was deciding to head to North America to seek his fortune, the Gladstone ministry and its Secretary for War Lord Cardwell was finally addressing just such abuses.

In any event Burlinson goes to America, falls in with some bad companions and one of them leaves him to die with an Indian arrow wound. But he's rescued by a band of Metis, mixed racial descendants of fur trappers and Indians and falls in love with Michelle Thrush one of the women who he has a son by.

The story is told in flashback by Burlinson on the stand during a murder trial where he's accused of shooting down Donnelly Rhodes that bad companion he fell in with. As the story unfolds Burlinson being left to die is only part of the reason for the homicide.

I first saw Burlinson in his native Australian production of The Man From Snowy River. He gave a good account of himself here as he did there. In that other film, I managed to learn what a 'brumbie' is, we call them mustangs in the USA.

Playing the judge in the courtroom is Raymond Burr who in fact is a native Canadian. I'm sure he was there to encourage independent Canadian film making and lend a little Perry Mason box office to the effort.

The film is nicely photographed in British Columbia and if it's broadcast in Canada or in the USA or at the North Pole for Santa Claus, I urge you catch it.

I saw this film by accident the other night on a college channel that fills its empty air time with films that are out of copyright. It is handsomely produced and beautifully photographed, and the acting and direction are better-than-competent. I was especially impressed with the quality of the dialog, which avoids the obvious and gives the illusion of 19th-century speech.

Only Raymond Burr's forced and colorless performance failed to impress. I will be charitable and assume he was ill at the time. (He died two years later.)

On a scale of zero to four stars, I would give it (just barely) three stars. It's certainly worth at least one viewing.

I consider this a grossly underrated movie. I watched it by chance last night, unaware of its title or possible fame. I was very impressed. Top marks to the Canadian Board for taking the time and effort to bring to the screen a true tale from its 19 century past, and to have such outstanding performers portray their roles so eloquently and with total belief. Burlinson was smack-on as the hard-done-by Irish officer who fell victim to the hazards of British Columbia's gold regime. And though she spoke very little, the innocence and hardship that Michelle Thrush revealed was celebratory. A quiet yet excellent performance. If only there were more films like this.

I did not like Showdown at Williams Creek, in fact it is one of the worst westerns I ever saw. Where should I start. Let's begin with ignoring little details about the life of Kootenai Brown ( Tom Burlinson) who the film was the story of. One example was showing the American Flag instead of the Canadian flag because everything about the movie was clearly Canadian including mentioning Edmonton and Vancouver. The only thing I liked was Olivia ( Michelle Thrush) who was beautiful to look at and did the best acting. The problem was not enough of Olivia. I suspect a lot of Olivia's scenes were left on the cutting room floor. It is simply a bad western and I give it 1/10 stars. The one star for Michelle Thrush.

Based on the true life of John George "Kootenai" Brown, this movie could have been better . But the flashback theme doesn't work. They should have just told the story.