Stranger at My Door (1956)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

William Witney

Writer:

Barry Shipman (story)

Release Date:

6 April 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

The faith of a fighting parson...the fury of a killer's kiss! He shielded an outlaw to save his soul...while his wife fought the love in her heart for a killer!

Plot:

Notorious outlaw Clay Anderson and gang rob the town bank and flee in separate directions. Riding hard...

Plot Keywords:

Redemption | Wild Stallion | Divine Faith

Cast

Macdonald Carey	...	Hollis Jarret
Patricia Medina	...	Peg Jarret
Skip Homeier	...	Clay Anderson
Stephen Wootton	...	'Dodie' Jarret
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Sheriff John Tatum
Howard Wright	...	'Doc' Parks
Slim Pickens	...	Ben Silas
Fred Sherman	...	Mr. Winslow
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Rev. Hastings

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Quotes:

Clay Anderson: For me, salvation is a clean pistol and a good horse.

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Action (1977)

Good little movie with a message

"Stranger At My Door" isn't a bad movie at all. Certainly it's what would be called a 'B' Western, the budget was low, and it didn't have any really big name stars in it. That said, it made the most with what it had, which is better than some movies do.

Skip Homeier is noted outlaw Clay Anderson, whose gang has just held up a bank. They meet outside of town and divide up the loot, then agree to reunite in Kansas City in several weeks. Just as all the others ride off, Clay finds that his horse has gone lame and he has no way to escape from the sheriff who will certainly be looking for him. He takes refuge at the home of a preacher with a new young wife, and the preacher's son from an earlier marriage. He claims that he's just someone passing through, but before long the preacher and his family find out that they have an outlaw in their midst.

The preacher is satisfied to let Clay stay with his family - he thinks he can change him and bring him to salvation. He isn't worried Clay will harm his son - Clay has taken a liking to him - but what the preacher doesn't know is that their guest is also making a play for his wife. The preacher is confident he can change Clay; Clay is confident that he can't and won't be changed. He tells the preacher "For me, salvation is a clean pistol and a good horse."

I won't give away the story but most of the ending is 'triggered' (pun intended) when the preacher's son is accidentally shot by the sheriff while he is gunning for Clay. The distraught sheriff flees and Clay goes after him upon hearing from the doctor that the boy isn't going to live. Clay has a soft spot for the boy and wants to get even with the sheriff for shooting him, even accidentally.

(Did you ever notice how often in these Westerns a youngster develops a bond with a 'bad guy'? There must be some psychological message in that, about kids seeing the good side in a bad person - and conversely, the bad guy having enough heart to take a liking to the youngster. Like Aesop's fable about the lion who befriended the mouse, kind of... and I think it is meant to show that there is good in everyone however deeply it is hidden.)

That's all I will tell about the story itself. I happen to be a big fan of Skip Homeier who I think deserved higher billing than he tended to get. He was in many really good Westerns, both movies and TV shows - "The Tall T", "Ten Wanted Men", "Day of the Bad Man", "At Gunpoint", an appearance on The Rifleman TV show, and many others. To me he was the consummate "bad cowboy" character - tall, lean, and with a great sneering manner to him - yet he could also play a good guy, something he did rather less frequently. On a couple of occasions he turned good right at the end of the story. Macdonald Carey is also good in this movie as the preacher; I had seen him previously in "Man or Gun?" and that is one of my favorite "B" Westerns. Patricia Medina is nice looking and handles her part well, though it's not a hugely demanding role. The son is played by Stephen Wootton, who seems to have given up acting by his mid-teens. He's about ten years old here and does a satisfactory job in his role, which is substantial.

To me though, this movie belongs to Skip Homeier. I've never understood why he had a hard time getting the billing his roles deserved - here, he surely should have been listed after Carey and before Medina, but he's listed third. Possibly he even should have had top billing given his main role in the story.

You might never get to see this gem because I don't believe it's been released on home video, but if you get the chance and you like Westerns that are a little off the beaten path, this is one you might like.