Law and Order (1953)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writers:

W.R. Burnett (novel)
Inez Cocke (adaptation)

Release Date:

13 May 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Action | Romance

Tagline:

From Dodge City to Tombstone...His Guns Were The Only Law!

Plot:

Frame Johnson already cleaned up Tombstone and hopes to settle down near Cottonwood. But a marshal's work is never done...

Plot Keywords:

Marshal | Lynching | Newspaper | Roulette | Murder

Cast

Ronald Reagan	...	Frame Johnson
Dorothy Malone	...	Jeannie
Preston Foster	...	Kurt Durling
Alex Nicol	...	Luther 'Lute' Johnson
Ruth Hampton	...	Maria Durling
Russell Johnson	...	Jimmy Johnson
Barry Kelley	...	Sheriff Fin Elder
Chubby Johnson	...	Denver Cahoon
Jack Kelly	...	Jed
Dennis Weaver	...	Frank Durling
Wally Cassell	...	Durango Kid
Richard Garrick	...	Judge Williams

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16240) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Quotes:

[The town undertaker, Denver Cahoon, is trying to drum up business]
Denver Cahoon: Where's the Durango Kid?
Frame Johnson: That's him.
Denver Cahoon: You mean to say you brought him back alive?
Frame Johnson: Well, for the time being.
Denver Cahoon: Now, we've been friends for a long time, Frame. But since you cleaned up this town, I can't hardly make a living. How do you expect me to make any money off of him?
Durango Kid: Don't worry about it friend, you won't have to wait long.

Movie Connections:

Version of Wild West Days (1937)

Reagan's best horse opera

It would be easy to poke fun at a Western that features the red-white-and blue tie President Reagan and the Gilligan's Island Professor, Russell Johnson, but both men turn in believable and thought-provoking performances.

The Johnson brothers (Reagan, Johnson, and Alex Nicol) move to a town, appropriately named "Contention" (love that name!), as retired lawmen tired of shooting it out with bad guys and hoping for a peaceful existence. As is customary in Westerns, evil runs the town, and guess who eventually has to wield a 6-gun to clean things up. The positive ethics of supporting law and order with a non-violent approach serves Reagan surprisingly well; he plays the role with earnest conviction. Johnson, as his brazen and impulsive younger brother, is a polar opposite and good balance to study the nature of both men. When the latter involves himself with the sister of the head honcho bad guy, the stage is set for good and evil to encounter one another in classic Western tradition.

A better than average horse opera with a well presented message. Good for Saturday afternoon viewing.