The Intruders

I got this 1970 TV movie on VHS and was so surprised how good it was. The story was great and the acting is at the top. Don Murray plays the marshal of a town called Medalia, who has lost his nerve and his gun skills. When the Jesse James and Cole Younger gangs cut a murderous swath through the land, the citizens brace themselves for an outlaw invasion! It has a great cast including John Saxon, Anne Francis, Harry Dean Stanton, Gene Evans, and Stuart Margolin. In the cast is a very young Harrison Ford who played the part of Carl, the leader of the citizens committee who stops all the strangers that come into the town of Medalia! Harrison was meant to have a very big part as one of the citizens of Medalia, but during a fight scene, he fell on a gun and cut his teeth and was unable to be in the rest of the movie, so he ended up with only one scene. But all in all, this was a very entertaining western for a 1970 made-for-TV movie that should be on DVD or VHS!

Screen legend Don Murray (Shake Hands With the Devil, Viking Queen) gets away from his peace loving hero persona and plays a sheriff who is living on a reputation, but now he has a wife and home, and everything to lose. That includes his nerves. A young upstart comes into town and tries to take his job away from him. But Murray has one companion who won't ever betray him, John Saxon, a half Native American who is Murray's best friend. The man who really leads the town council, another screen legend, Edmond O'Brien (DOA,Warpath), slowly takes the young squirt seriously, especially when Cole Younger is spotted near town, and Murray loses his nerve. In one instant, Murray goes from hero to laughing stock and is about to lose everything. So what can he do? Harrison Ford is supposed to be in this, but I don't know where. A classic Western with top stars. Why it's never on AMC is beyond me.

This is an interesting film for many reasons; a good script, and although some of the characters are familiar the story angle is unusual; the hero is an insecure man who isn't sure he's still "got it". There's also a terrific cast of veteran performers (as well as one superstar-to-be), but surprisingly the acting honours (in my opinion, anyway) go to a lesser-known, the late Shelly Novack. Very simply stated, Novack steals the show as the cocky gunslinger, "Pardo". This type of character - the strutting young gunfighter who's always trying to provoke authority figures into fights - is almost a western stereotype, but Novack makes it seem fresh and vital, and gives much propulsion to the story as it unfolds.