La journée des violents

First, I am so lucky to have caught this film in a letterboxed - wide screen - edition, even dubbed in french. Second, I have nothing to add to the other comments - why always repeat the same things the other users did so good ? - except just one little detail. The sequence where the bad guys lead by Robert Middleton enter the grocery store to terrorize the owner, and just after they have got from him what they want to, so just after they have succeeded in their nasty job, Robert Middleton takes a candy placed on the shop counter and - incredible - takes two coins from his pocket to pay the candies. After he nearly killed the poor shopkeeper, he pays him the candy. I found that absolutely fantastic. I don't know how to say it properly. That's the kind of things that are so rare to see. And I think that's the real expression of power. You may really hurt someone, kill him, destroy every thing in or around him, but you can STILL stay somewhere noble, generous, even if you are besides a real S. O. B. An authentic bastard. Fred McMurray has here a character not so far from the one he had in AT GUNPOINT, from director Alfred Werker; some kind of HIGH NOON scheme.

I love seeing, catching such tiny details.

Harry Keller, better known for comedies than Westerns, has the good luck of having Fred MacMurray in the cast, a city judge doing his utmost to make sure that the killer of a local resident is brought before the court and probably hanged.

All conditions seem in place to ensure that that happens, but things begin to slip: his fiancée Joan Walden falls in love with the handsome sheriff and his wedding is on the skids; the lady whose husband Rudy Hayes killed first wanted him dead, then changes her mind in tune with most of the town and just wants him banished; and, HIGH NOON-like, top villain Bob Middleton and his evil bros, including Lee Van Cleef, converge into town to ensure that Rudy does not pay with his life for the commission of murder.

Only good ol' Edgar Buchanan stands by poor Fred, who thankfully knows the arts of fisticuffs and manages to put some of the baddies to brief sleep... but soon all is stacked up against him. And then, miraculously, a shootout turns things around and even Walden comes running to him for a happy ending, the handsome sheriff thankfully discarded and forgotten.

And on that naif note the law and Fred win the day. 6/10.

Directed by Harry Keller. Starring Fred MacMurray, Robert Middleton, John Ericson, Joan Weldon, Skip Homeier, Marie Windsor, Edgar Buchanan, Eduard Franz, Peggy Converse, Lee Van Cleef, Robert Foulk.

The unscrupulous kin of a convicted murderer show up to pressure the impassive judge (MacMurray) for leniency in sentencing; one of them is Van Cleef, so there's no doubt that they're bad news. Serviceable Western with a goofy title miffs its dramatic potential; decent performances and a few promising scenes/interactions (including a sub-plot where the judge's lady love (Weldon) is having an affair with sheriff Ericson), but it doesn't add up to much. Film lacks tension on its way to the protagonist's decision and it all but fizzles out during the underwhelming climax. Working with a low budget, journeyman director Keller fails to bring much style or suspense to the proceedings, but it's still slightly better than its all-but-forgotten status would suggest.

53/100

"Day of the Badman" is a decent film and it stars Fred MacMurray...which isn't bad. But it's also a completely unnecessary film as the plot is essentially a reworking of "High Noon"....so why not just watch "High Noon"?!

When the film begins, you learn that a man was convicted of murder and is awaiting sentencing. However, his family comes to town and begins an intimidation program aimed at getting the guy only a slap on the wrist instead of a proper hanging. Over time, the good townsfolk turn out to be yellow and would rather let the killer go than face the wrath of his scum-bag kin. The only one standing in the way is the Judge (MacMurray).

The only real difference between this and "High Noon" is the subplot about the Judge's girl making time with the Sheriff. This clearly isn't enough reason to merit making the film but is mildly interesting. Competently made but lacking originality.

The parallels between Day Of The Badman and High Noon are way too obvious to be ignored. However one big important distinct difference is there. Gary Cooper was the former marshal of Hadleyburg and had no responsibilities. Coop comes back to answer a personal challenge from the four outlaws on their way to deal with him.

Fred MacMurray is a judge and a guilty verdict has been rendered on Christopher Dark and the usual punishment is hanging. But a whole mess of his swaggering relatives led by Robert Middleton have come to town and so intimidate the citizenry. Individually and collectively thy appeal to MacMurray for a lesser sentence.

Go throughout the cast and you'll see equivalent roles for the various characters in High Noon. One additional role is that of Marie Windsor who is her usual vicious vixen and girlfriend of Dark.

Even the widow of the man Dark killed, Peggy Converse is intimidated enough to change her mind and plead for a lesser sentence. John Ericson stands out as the sheriff ho hasn't got the character for the job.

In the late 50s Fred MacMurray made a series of westerns and he does well as the upright judge. Remember he's not a gunman like Cooper and in a sense that makes him braver than Coop. Day Of The Badman is clearly the best of MacMurray's late 50s westerns.

In the end he even has one more friend than Coop did.