Les hors-la-loi

As the satanic title suggests 'One Foot in Hell' is considerably darker than your average oater. Marking the mounting ambition of former small part actor Aaron Spelling who joined forces with veteran noir screenwriter Sidney Boehm to script one of the growing genre of westerns depicting the malaise of the lost generation of Confederate veterans aimlessly wandering the land after the Civil War.

As Alan Ladd's career as classic Hollywood's Quiet Dangerous One came to its conclusion he played a guy with a massive chip on his shoulder due to the death his wife (at which we actually see him cry) who gathers together a gang of roughnecks to wreak collective vengeance on the community he holds responsible by (SLIGHT SPOILERS COMING:) robbing the local bank with a lot of violence.

I saw this film on TV a couple of nights before and I must say that either I never heard of it or I didn't remember about it. The story is rather good and somehow original for a western: a man that blames a whole town for his wife's death and while earning their trust he plans his revenge that will be accomplished with its complete destruction aided by a group of outcasts he has selected carefully. But the result comes out as a kind of "cheap" product.

If you consider that the 50's gave us perhaps the best westerns in Hollywood history ("High Noon", "The Gunfighter", "Shane", "3:10 to Yuma", "Warlock", "The Searchers" and so many others) "One Foot in Hell" comes out as a minor product. Perhaps with a more skillful director and therefore a strongest and less standard direction the picture would have worked well.

Alan Ladd (as the patient avenger) was not at his best in the 60's and his severe alcoholism problems showed in his clearly damaged psychical appearance. Don Murray (as one of the members of the gang) overacts in most of his scenes. Perhaps the best acting piece comes from pretty Dolores Michaels as a prostitute also a member of Ladd's group.

This film could have been better qualified perhaps if it had been released in the 40's just before the western genre took a high and serious impulse in the 50's with extreme good products. It looks cheap and minor for the 60's.

What ostensibly starts as a formula Western of a man who encounters tragedy on the frontier and rises above it quickly takes a darker turn in this noirish 1960 MGM release. Alan Ladd is an ex-Confederate who encounters a rude reception from townspeople when arriving in the middle of the night with a sickly pregnant wife; delays in getting a bottle of inexpensive medicine to her result in her death. The local merchants are remorseful and try to bring Ladd into the community by making him a lawman, but he instead embarks on a sociopath's trail of revenge.

By sad coincidence the role of a nihilistic man who has seen his world destroyed and is now fully detached from moral constraint is well suited to Ladd in the last few years of life; childhood trauma, alcoholism, and a suicide attempt indicate a life which demanded heavy tolls for whatever success he achieved. Made in an era partial to sunnier Westerns, the Peyton Place-atmosphere of OFIH stands out in stark contrast. The cold-blooded killing of a lawman, back-shooting betrayal. And a lethal gunfight played out solely for betting are all present in a script that seems more appropriate to a 1970's Clint Eastwood outing. Black and white filming would have added a special patina to the story.

This being the twilight of the 1950's, studio pressures might have compelled writer Aaron Spelling (yes, he of 1980's prime time soap fluff!) to shift some emphasis to the more redeemable characters played by Dolores Michaels and Barry Coe. And just for a moment, I wondered if Michaels might have been Lauren Bacall appearing under a stage name.

Western watchers might pay special attention to the covered buckboard that appears throughout; the canvas appears to have transparent plastic windows, and the late 1860's is much too early for that.

One Foot in Hell is directed by James B. Clark and written by Aaron Spelling and Sydney Boehm. It stars Alan Ladd, Don Murray, Dan O'Herlihy, Dolores Michaels, Barry Coe and Larry Gates. A CinemaScope/De Luxe Color production with music by Dominic Frontiere and cinematography by William C. Mellor.

Incensed by the circumstances which led to the death of his wife and unborn child, Mitch Barrett (Ladd) plots revenge against the whole town of Blue Springs.

Alan Ladd's last Western doesn't find him in the best of shape or on the best of form, but it's a most interesting and entertaining picture regardless. In a veer from the norm, Ladd is playing a man gone bad, fuelled by hatred and thirsting for revenge, Mitch Barrett assembles a small group of strays and ruffians and sets his plans in motion. He wins the trust of the town and operates behind the facade of the law. Along the way he is extremely callous, the value of life means nothing to him now, while inner fighting and romance destabilises the group until the big denouement arrives.

The pace sometimes sags and there's a distinct rushed feel about the final quarter (one main character annoyingly dies off screen?!), yet there's still a lot to like here. The CinemaScope production is nice to look at, there's some very good scenes such as those involving cattle and liquid fire, while the all round nasty edge to the plotting and characterisations (Julie Reynolds' back story is a shocker) keeps it from being run of the mill. It's not the big Western send off that Ladd fans would have wanted, however it's still a recommended Western to like minded genre fans. 7/10

Alan Ladd wasn't much of an actor. If you don't believe me just take a look at his mediocre performance in the very mediocre western "One Foot in Hell" which was directed by the little known James B Clark and also featured Don Murray, (terrible), and Dan O'Herlihy (slightly less terrible), in prominent roles. The only thing it has going for it is a plot that differs somewhat from other run-of-the-mill westerns. (It's more akin to a gangster picture). Ladd is the sheriff who plans to take revenge on the town that let his pregnant wife die, by robbing the bank. Handsomely shot in Cinemascope by William C Mellor it passes a couple of hours painlessly enough but you're not likely to remember it ten minutes after seeing it.