Le Bourreau du Nevada

Movie casts a lot of 60s tv stars that make it hard to stop watching. Robert Taylor come across as a real dick to Tina Louise and is way too old for her. But she won't identify ex-boyfriend Johnny who's run a straight and productive life since being an unknowing accomplice to a Wells Fargo heist. Everybody in town likes fugitive Jack Lord. Even Sheriff Daniel Boone won't arrest him and falls for Johnny's ex-girl. So it's up to Taylor to "book him Denno". You'll recognize a lot of the actors and try to recall where you saw them before which makes it interesting to watch. Spent a lot of time looking up actor on IMDB.

An uncompromising marshal known as 'the Hangman' (Robert Taylor) rides into a town to apprehend a suspect (Jack Lord), but needs a witness to identify him and so enlists a struggling young woman (Tina Louise). Fess Parker plays the sheriff of the town.

While "The Hangman" (1959) is a town-bound Western and hindered by the flat B&W photography, the story is good, which is the most important part. You get to know the characters and the film leaves you with a good feeling.

Tina Louise was only 23 during shooting (almost 24) and looks great, not to mention a convincing actress. Five or six years later she would start her 3-year run in Gilligan's Island. Shirley Harmer is also notable on the feminine front as Kitty, the wife of Johnny Bishop.

If you like Robert Taylor, be sure to check him out in the eponymous role of "The Law and Jake Wade" (1958), a standout 50's Western.

The movie is short & sweet at 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot at Old Tucson, Arizona, and Paramount Studios & Ranch, California.

GRADE: B/B-

This isn't your typical Western, but it isn't exactly "atypical" either.

This is actually more of a drama that just happens to be set in the West.

In other words, you could put this on a stage in front of a live audience, and probably get the same production.

And that's generally pretty good.

We have a story line that really isn't the story line.

The surface plot is Robert Taylor as a cynic who is trying to identify the fourth man in a robbery, a man we know early on played a very minor role, if any. The man is sentenced to be hanged.

He finds that people don't want to identify the man, Jack Lord with blond hair. It's much like "The Spy Who Loved Me" in that it is a quest to have a man killed who probably doesn't deserve it.

That's just the surface plot. In essence, Lord becomes the fourth character. The real plot is the romantic subplot that lays beneath the surface.

The woman in the triangle finds herself in emotional turmoil over betraying Jack Lord's character to the law, which is represented by Taylor and Fess Parker.

Parker is the younger, striking man who immediately sets out to make her his wife. Taylor is the older man who sets out to understand her and have a relationship.

In this, we have a switch. The younger man becomes the solid, steady force, and strangely devoid of romance. He is a tall, handsome, affable fellow. What women call "a catch" in public, but in practice, they just can't find what the all "chemistry" with.

Taylor's character, meanwhile, is full of charged emotion. While Fess is a "Earth", Robert is "fire".

The story becomes the story of female romanticism. It is a very credible depiction, whether we like it or not.

It isn't what I call a "great Western", but perhaps I judge it on the standards of usual action. It is actually a drama, one of those stage dramas that focus on a subject. It isn't dull, and the characters are three dimensional, like most golden age Westerns. It's very watchable.

The Hangman is directed by Michael Curtiz and written by Dudley Nichols and Luke Short. It stars Robert Taylor, Tina Louise, Fess Parker and Jack Lord. Music is by Harry Sukman and cinematography by Loyal Griggs.

Marshal Bovard (Taylor) arrives in town to identify and arrest the last of four outlaws who robbed a Wells Fargo stage. Unfortunately for Bovard, the man he seeks is very popular with everyone in town and nobody is keen to help the Marshal do his job.

It is thought, and on reflection it seems likely, that The Hangman is a caustic jab at grassers/finks, with the Hollywood Blacklist never far from the film makers thoughts. Bovard is a grumpy and rough fellow, a jobs-worth who has almost zero faith in the human race. He's confident that the people of this border town wont take much persuading to give up an outlaw, more so as he has money to offer as well. How wrong he is, and the rest of the film follows Bovard as he bangs his head against brick walls, until the banging stops and a light-bulb lights up over his head, perhaps not all people are bad?

In truth not a lot happens, there's no action of note, this is more about morality, redemption, human foibles et al. Yet the literary aspects of the story hold tight, keeping the viewers engaged till the end. It's a very nice looking and sounding picture as well, the absence of airy vistas is not a hindrance as Curtiz and Griggs utilise the interiors for some psychological results that deftly suit the narrative's pointed edges. While the sound mix and musical accompaniments achieve the best results possible to aid the tale.

It's a strange one in that it's more a film in a Western setting than being overtly a Western, it's also a little subversive. It even throws something of an annoying curve ball at the finale, though the makers were probably chuckling away to themselves about this as well. Great and sexy turns from the lead actors sees the material safely onto a healthy grazing pasture, to make it a recommended picture to fans of the stars and of literary Oaters. 7/10

This one has a flawlessly-written script by Dudley Nichols, the screenwriter of many well-known movies from 1930 to 1960 such as "Stagecoach" "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". There's often a good moral lesson to be learned from a screenplay written by Nichols. The original story was by Luke Short, the author of many Western novels.

The cast is very good too with Robert Taylor as the "Hangman" Deputy Marshall, and several people who would later become familiar TV stars: Tina Louise, Jack Lord, Fess Parker and briefly, Lorne Green. And of course you can't go wrong with the direction of the great Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca") who, like Nichols, was nearing the end of his career.

I especially liked the story, it's deeper than most westerns, as it explores the themes of justice, loyalty, and forgiveness.