An evil arthritic rancher and his murderous daughter are having settlers killed to prevent them from selling their land to the railroad.An evil arthritic rancher and his murderous daughter are having settlers killed to prevent them from selling their land to the railroad.An evil arthritic rancher and his murderous daughter are having settlers killed to prevent them from selling their land to the railroad.
Lon Chaney Jr.
- Artemus Taylor
- (as Lon Chaney)
William Holmes
- 'Ding' Bell
- (as Bill Holmes)
Ward Wood
- Second Henchman
- (as Bob Wood)
Gordon Wynn
- John Quigley
- (as Gordon Wynne)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirectorial debut of Rod Amateau.
- GoofsThe opening battle scene breaches one of the conventions of film-making. The opening shot shows Union cavalry charging from the left of screen to the right. This is followed by shots of Confederate Infantry on the right of the screen firing to the left. There follow some other shots, some showing troops charging directly at the camera, others showing Union cavalry coming from the left of screen. The final shots of the battle show the Confederate infantry retreating to the left of screen pursued by Union infantry coming from the right. The convention would dictate that the Union troops should always come from the left, and that the Confederate troops should have retreated to the right of screen.
- Quotes
Jefferson Waring: I can't feel a thing for ya, Taylor. You're a beaten old man and I'm not sorry. You've ruined so many lives yours isn't even a down payment.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Madelynn Kopple on Kid Monk Baroni (and Other Jack Broder Movies) (2007)
- SoundtracksThe Battle Hymn of the Republic
(uncredited)
Written by Julia Ward Howe
Chorus heard as a theme after the initial battle scenes
Featured review
With the Civil War over, ex-Rebel John Ireland vws never to kill a man again, and heads west. He gets caught up short in Missouri, where paralyzed Lon Chaney Jr. Is burning out land grant recipients because the railroad is going to come through, and make the land worth a fortune. He's assembled a team of baddies, including Laurence Tierney, Jack Elam, and daughter Myrna Dell; the good people, like newspaper editor Frank Marlowe and his daughter, Dorothy Malone, are scared to oppose him. The only thing standing in his way is a shortage of sociopaths. Some of Chaney's hirelings have scruples.
Rod Amateau's first movie as director has an overtly stated political theme, which is carried out in a heavy-handed fashion by a highly competent crew and interesting cast.. Yet while you can see the roots of ultra-violent spaghetti westerns here, it isn't well carried off.
Rod Amateau's first movie as director has an overtly stated political theme, which is carried out in a heavy-handed fashion by a highly competent crew and interesting cast.. Yet while you can see the roots of ultra-violent spaghetti westerns here, it isn't well carried off.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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