Trois heures pour tuer

Dana Andrews gives a convincing performance as Jim Guthrie who nearly got lynched and returns to town three years later to find out killed the brother of the woman he was going out with.

The victim did not want Guthrie marrying his sister, Laurie who is now married to someone else, her husband might be one of the killers.

A sympathetic Sheriff gives Guthrie three hours to find the killer. A saloon girl who had a thing for Guthrie helps him out.

Guthrie goes after four friends of his who shouted the loudest for him being lynched.

It is a routine western with a countdown, a straightforward story with a child born out of wedlock. There is no hint as to why Guthrie returned to town to clear his name and what he has been up to for the past few years.

Dana Andrews is right at home in this tumbleweed revenge-drama about a cowboy accused of murder, hiding out in the desert before going back to clear his name. Maybe not as well known as "3:10 To Yuma" or "Bad Day At Black Rock", but certainly just as good. Andrews is excellent, of course; he never exuded much of an animated personality, but he's strong and reliable, you trust him, and the fools in town who want to string him up look even sillier for not believing his story. A taut little western, nicely-made and with a good supporting cast.

A superior B-picture dealing with a gunfighter accused of murdering his fiancee's brother . Jim Guthrie (Dana Andrews) is a fugitive who has been run out of town after being nearly lynched for the murder of a man he did not kill. As Guthrie is the Man With The Rope Scar on his neck . All but pulled to pieces by a small town lynch mob including many of his so-called friends . Framed for murder, he escaped for three years but returns to find the real killer. But Jim is back , and he feels himself betrayed . As Jim arrives in town and he meets his old flame Laurie Mastin (Donna Reed) who is married to another ex-friend .Then the would-be-lynchers , fearing that Guthrie will exact some kind of vendetta for their anti-social treatment to him , set out to get him before he gets them.

An interesting and moving Western with a suspenseful premise , as an accused gunslinger back in town and he wants to track down the real murderer , then to find him out ; who is the true killer ? .The picture neatly slots together the dual time frames , containing emotion , thrills , shootouts , fights and an intriguing whodunit . Enjoyable and thrilling screen play from Roy Huggins , Maxwell Shane, Richard Alan and based upon a story by Alex Gottlieb. Main and support cast are frankly good . Dana Andrews gives an acceptable and sober acting as Jim Guthrie who barely escapes lynching by the town mob, becoming a wanted fugitive , bearing the physical and mental scars of his experience, and subsequently determined to clear his name. This one results to be the best character , generating a strong sense of bitterness and pain at the speed with Dana Andrews feels himself double-crossed . Other players are pretty well , such as Donna Reed playing the pregnant girl he left behind who marries another man, and Diane Foster as the girl Andrews takes with him after the real killer has been identified and harshly dealt with . Adding other notorious secondaries as Carolyn Jones , Whit Bissell , Stephen Elliott , Richard Coogan , Francis McDonald , James Westerfield , Richard Webb , Charlotte Fletcher , among others .

It displays an atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr who photographed several Westerns . As well as evocative and adequate musical score by Paul Sawtell . The motion picture was well directed by Alfred L. Welker . This film was made from his last years , as Alfred L. Welker was working from the 30 in the business . He realized a catalogue of routine assignments broken by highlights including : The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 1935 and He walked by night 1949 the prototype serial-killer film noir , and a string of Western oaters . As Alfred Werker directed all kinds of genres : Drama , Film Noir , Adventures , sagebrush Westerns , such as : The Last Posse , Devil's canyon , Repeat Performance , Pirates of Monterrey , Whispering Ghosts , The Mad Martindales , Moon Over Her Shoulder , My Pal Wolf , Rebel in city , At Gunpoint , The Young Don't Cry , Canyon Crossroads and Sealed Cargo , a WWII Thriller that also starred Dana Andrews . Rating . 6.5/10 . Better than average Western . Worthwhile seeing .

A taut little Columbia western produced by Jimmy Cagney's brother William reminiscent of 'Fury', 'High Noon' and Dana Andrews' own 'Ox-Bow Incident'. A strong female contingent includes a brunette Donna Reed, a red-haired Diane Foster and a blonde Carolyn Jones; while two of the dramatic highlights feature Whit Bissell at his most cowardly, first in his barber shop, and later when Andrews sneaks up on him and his co.conspirators (observed only by the audience) while discussing him in the local saloon.

Durable leading man Dana Andrews stars in this B-side western about a fight between Andrews and Richard Webb that ends in Webb being murdered - but despite appearing to be caught red-handed, is Andrews actually the culprit? After a near-summary execution by some over-zealous locals, Andrews narrowly escapes returning several years later to clear his name.

Familiar plot has surprising depth in the female casting for a film of this ilk, alongside Donna Reed as Andrews' former beau is Dianne Foster as the versatile and open-minded admirer Chris, while Carolyn Jones and Charlotte Fletcher play a pair of damsels who've both fallen for card shark Laurence Hugo, one of many on Andrews' hit list.

Good also to see Stephen Elliott who later garnered fame in films like "Arthur" and "Beverly Hills Cop", in his film debut in the key supporting role of Ben, the town's new sheriff who's friendship with Andrews affords him three hours grace to catch the killer or be tried for murder (hence the title).

There's a simmering tension that prevails the full eighty-odd minutes, with a particularly taut scene in which veteran Whit Bissell (playing the town's ubiquitous barber) takes a razor to Andrews' throat, as he nervously fends off accusations that he is the real killer. Pretty decent whodunit western that no doubt some armchair sleuths will solve before the climax, nevertheless, it's a bittersweet ending that rejects the typical clichés making this overall, a better-than-average yarn.