Backlash (1956)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Borden Chase (screenplay)
Frank Gruber (novel)

Release Date:

11 April 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Western

Tagline:

PAST APACE AMBUSH...PAST TREACHERY'S SILKEN NET!...Five Dead Men Led Jim Slater Down a Trail of No Return!

Plot:

Jim Slater seeks a survivor of the Apache ambush his father died in.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Mass Grave | Greed | Forgiveness | Post Civil War

Cast

Richard Widmark	...	Jim Slater
Donna Reed	...	Karyl Orton
William Campbell	...	Johnny Cool
John McIntire	...	Jim Bonniwell
Barton MacLane	...	Sgt. George Lake
Harry Morgan	...	Tony Welker
Robert J. Wilke	...	Jeff Welker
Jack Lambert	...	Mike Benton
Roy Roberts	...	Maj. Carson
Edward Platt	...	Sheriff J.C. Marson (as Edward C. Platt)
Robert Foulk	...	Sheriff John F. Olson
Phil Chambers	...	Deputy Sheriff Dobbs
Gregg Barton	...	Sleepy
Fred Graham	...	Ned McCloud
Frank Chase	...	Cassidy, Shotgun Rider

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Quotes:

[the Sheriff warns Jim about the brothers of a murderous Deputy Sheriff Jim killed in self-defense]
Sheriff J.C. Marston: When they hear about this, they're going to come looking for you.
Jim Slater: Seems logical.
Sheriff J.C. Marston: If it's your idea to shoot it out with them, you're going to lose.
Jim Slater: Could be.
Sheriff J.C. Marston: And even if you beat 'em, you're going to lose... because I'm going to hang the man that wins.

Learning Some Horrible Truths

Donna Reed comes upon Richard Widmark at a place called Gila Valley where five men were massacred by Indians and one man escaped with $60,000.00. Three of the five men were identified, but none of the deceased is either Widmark's father or Reed's husband. Of course both are hunting for their respective relations.

The search yields some truths that neither one is willing to face up to. But both seek and find support and comfort in the other.

Backlash as a previous reviewer remarked is almost like a detective story set in the west. John Sturges gets some find performances out of his cast.

The two who stand out and steal the film from the stars are William Campbell as a punk gunfighter and John McIntire as the amoral outlaw leader in whose hands Widmark and Reed fall into at the end of their odyssey.

No studio backlots for this western, good location photography and a very nice plot distinguish this film. Catch it the next time AMC runs it.