Les Dernières Heures d'un bandit

In my view by far the best book on the Western is Phil Hardy's "The Western".It is volume one of the Aurum Encyclopedia of the Cinema a series which explores different genres in each volume.The methodology of the series is to provide capsule reviews on a year by year basis and the book has been useful in steering me towards some of the less well publicised Westerns

Phil Hardy does not deem this movie worthy of a seperate review and consigns it to a one line mention in an appendix This is a tad unfair because while routine in conception and execution it is sturdt enough and the studio obviously thought well enough of the basic plot to remake it in the late 1960's as "Gunfight in Abilene"starring the least convincing Westerner in the genre's history,Bobby Darin Mahobney plays "Jim Trask" a retuning Cofederate veteran who is pressured by old friend and ruthless entrepreneur "Dave Mosley" played by Lyle Bettger to take up his former job as the law in Abilene,a town riven by conflict between ranchers and the cattle interests represented bty Mosley who feels he can manipulate "Trask" to seve the cattlemans cause

Trouble soon breaks out and open conflict erupts between the parties before the final shootout restores order

Performances are perfunctory and the direction is routine,but genre lovers could do worse as a way of whiling away a wet afternoon

This is an average western that is predictable right from the start. Excellent performances by Jock Mahoney as Jim Trask, Martha Hyer as Peggy, Lyle Beher as Dave and, a young, David Janssen as Deputy Vern Ward make Showdown At Abeline worth a look. The hired gun was played by Ted de Corsia which was the only error in casting that I could find. The town of Abilene and surrounding areas, do not match the flat lands of Kansas but otherwise, excellent photography give the film added appeal.

Couldn't quite give this film an 8, but I think it's a solid 7. First off, it's beautifully shot. The cinematography takes advantage of a few great landscapes, and some solid lot work, and even dares to shoot dark at dusk and in the dark. The depth of the film being pushed becomes really apparent, and it has a thick, rich, painterly quality to it.

Jock Mahoney is said to be wooden, but I think he adapts well in the role of a war- weary veteran with a disability he needs to hide since it is central to his ability to fight and shoot. This is one of a few dynamics that are written into a script that nourishes the emotions and attention of the viewer, something often lacking in modern scripts., where the visual and the casual destroys the immersion. All that's really needed to carry the film is one hero, one tragic figure, one template bad guy (who still warns the tragic figure he's gonna lose, and the tragic figure doesn't take his heed), and a heroine. This keeps the film competently engaging.

The real meat of the script is given to Dave, played strongly and with complexity by Lyle Bettger, whose big eyes project emotion well. His part is really phenomenal in that he is a decent man who is a childhood friend of Mahoney's lead Jim Trask, and yet Trask undoes his entire life and accomplishments, and I ended up wanting him to triumph more than the lead character. It's one of the most tragic figures I've ever seen played in any Western. The trajectory of Dave's destruction occurs on multiple levels, partially through the usual underestimating of his foe, but also at his failure to step in and take down the hero, who has done a list of wrongs any man would kill for.

There's a boilerplate villain, played competently, but not phenomenally, and a heroine who is gorgeous and devoted, but their characters are pretty two dimensional. The strength of this film is really in the dynamic between a hero trying to find his way, and the epic tragic figure of his childhood friend. In fact, the tragedy is almost overwritten, to the point you almost lose support for the lead by the end.

This film has the feel of a peak Hollywood Western, not too clean but far before the revisionism of the 70s. It just has a real authenticity to it, with the dialog and the horse work and stunts, which include Jock Mahoney doing some serious diving into the dirt and hand to hand fighting. The actor was a real physical threat, and it shows.

All in all, a strong film, especially for its time and budget.

Director Haas does a reasonable job with a B Western production suffering from a somewhat less than believable script- It is partly compensated by an in-form Jock Mahoney, well accompanied by David Jansen, Ted de Corsia and Lyle Bettger.

Interesting Secession War aftermath, strange character development for Lyle Bettger, Mahoney's guilt over past incident.

Photography, action sequences are OK.

Watch it if you have nothing else to kill your time with.

While this modestly-cast production from 1956 has a number of the elements found in the usual B-western, its plot and characters offer a bit more depth and complexity than one might expect. This is largely due to the "triangle" relationship between Jock Mahoney, his former girlfriend, Martha Hyer, and the man she's now engaged to marry, Lyle Bettger. It's an awkward situation and the fact that these three people, at least at the start of the story, like each other gives the situation refreshing ambiguities and nuances. At least it's not the usual "good guys and bad guys." As has been mentioned in other reviews, this movie is well-cast though I agree Ted de Corsia is too old and out-of-shape to be convincing as the "hired gun." Curiously, just 11 years later, Universal released a re-make of this movie called "Gunfight in Abilene" with, of all people, Bobby Darin in the Jock Mahoney role. Though they're quite similar, it's still of interest to compare the two productions.