When I think of Fred MacMurray, I don't picture him as a Western movie hero; I would say the same of Jimmy Stewart. Yet both actors made their fair share of fine Westerns and acquitted themselves well in the genre. This film is a decent one for MacMurray.
So talk about bad luck, not only does Jim Scott (MacMurray) have to contend with members of the Hayes family attempting to get their brother Rudy (Christopher Dark) absolved of a murder charge, but he'll also have to deal with the town sheriff moving in on his gal Myra (Joan Weldon) while he was engaged as a circuit judge. I thought the story did a pretty good job of exploring Scott's thought process when he had to digest the banishment proposal from Charlie Hayes (Robert Middleton) once it became the popular solution for the town folk.
Besides the Hayes bunch, the character that managed to trouble me the most was old Mrs. Quary (Peggy Converse), who built up a hatred for Sheriff Wiley (John Ericson) because he wasn't Johnny on the spot when her husband was murdered by Rudy Hayes (Christopher Dark). That happened before the picture opened, so one is left wondering how the Sheriff could have been in two places at once, the way Judge Scott explained it to the widow. Ignoring that, she would have been just as willing to have Rudy banished so the Sheriff would get his, trying to run the killer out of town. What really got me about the woman was how she described what should happen to Rudy - "I want to hear that neck of his crack with my own two ears". Yikes!
Apparently hotel owner George Foley (Hank Patterson) saw a profitable opportunity for his business with folks anticipating the Judge's verdict on the Hayes sentencing. That was a nifty move painting that '1' in front of the fifty cent going rate for a bed and bath at his joint. But then when he upped the ante by changing the '1' to a '4', I thought he was getting just a bit too greedy. Capitalism in the Old West I guess.
Say, here's a goof to keep an eye out for. When Sheriff Wiley came to visit Myra Owens at her place, he locked the door behind him. Yet when he got ready to leave, he simply opened the door and walked out. How come nobody on the film crew caught that?
So talk about bad luck, not only does Jim Scott (MacMurray) have to contend with members of the Hayes family attempting to get their brother Rudy (Christopher Dark) absolved of a murder charge, but he'll also have to deal with the town sheriff moving in on his gal Myra (Joan Weldon) while he was engaged as a circuit judge. I thought the story did a pretty good job of exploring Scott's thought process when he had to digest the banishment proposal from Charlie Hayes (Robert Middleton) once it became the popular solution for the town folk.
Besides the Hayes bunch, the character that managed to trouble me the most was old Mrs. Quary (Peggy Converse), who built up a hatred for Sheriff Wiley (John Ericson) because he wasn't Johnny on the spot when her husband was murdered by Rudy Hayes (Christopher Dark). That happened before the picture opened, so one is left wondering how the Sheriff could have been in two places at once, the way Judge Scott explained it to the widow. Ignoring that, she would have been just as willing to have Rudy banished so the Sheriff would get his, trying to run the killer out of town. What really got me about the woman was how she described what should happen to Rudy - "I want to hear that neck of his crack with my own two ears". Yikes!
Apparently hotel owner George Foley (Hank Patterson) saw a profitable opportunity for his business with folks anticipating the Judge's verdict on the Hayes sentencing. That was a nifty move painting that '1' in front of the fifty cent going rate for a bed and bath at his joint. But then when he upped the ante by changing the '1' to a '4', I thought he was getting just a bit too greedy. Capitalism in the Old West I guess.
Say, here's a goof to keep an eye out for. When Sheriff Wiley came to visit Myra Owens at her place, he locked the door behind him. Yet when he got ready to leave, he simply opened the door and walked out. How come nobody on the film crew caught that?