Bullwhip (1958)

Director:

Harmon Jones

Writer:

Adele S. Buffington (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Saddle Tramp and Red-Headed Hellcat ...They ripped across the West like a bullwhip!

Plot:

In order to avoid the hangman's noose, a cowboy agrees to marry a beautiful but fiery redhead. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Cast

Guy Madison	...	Steve Daley
Rhonda Fleming	...	Cheyenne
James Griffith	...	Slope Karp
Peter Adams	...	John Parnell
Don Beddoe	...	Judge Carr
Dan Sheridan	...	Podo
Burt Nelson	...	Pine Hawk
Al Terr	...	Lem Pierce
Tim Graham	...	Pete
Hank Worden	...	Tex
Wayne Mallory	...	Larry
Barbara Woodell	...	Mrs. Sarah Mason
Rush Williams	...	Judd
Don Shelton	...	Hotelkeeper
Jack Reynolds	...	Sheriff

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #18902) | UK:U | Norway:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

In August 1958, this film was playing at many drive-in theaters on a double bill with The Littlest Hobo (1958).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the exterior shot of the judge; Julia and Pine Hawk opening the front door of the Sheriff's office and entering, we see that behind the door is a corridor with a flight of stairs on the left leading upward. In the next shot, an interior shot showing them entering the Sheriff's office through the front door, we see that it is one room, with no sign of any flight of stairs, let alone a corridor.

Soundtrack:

Bullwhip

Disappointing western with holes in the script

There's not much to commend this Western apart from Rhonda Fleming looking good in an Indian princess outfit straight out of a musical. The plot is full of holes, such as Parnell's men knowing exactly where to find Steve and his sidekick and Pine Camp switching his loyalty from Cheyenne to Steve after being thrashed by him.

Pine Camp is an unconvincing Indian, just as Fleming makes an unconvincing half-breed.

When Cheyenne's wagons meet the Indians in an exchange of hand gestures I couldn't help feeling that Cheyenne should have been looking at them to the right, rather than to the left. I played back this sequence several times and the "wrong way round" effect persisted.

James Griffith was a bit of a disappointment - he spent all the time looking enigmatically po-faced, though at least he kept us wondering about which contract he was going to fulfil.

The bullwhip of the title wasn't much in evidence - just when Rhonda was flicking it in a fit of petulance and when she used it ineffectually on Steve.

The film could have been beefed up a bit by more tension between Steve and Cheyenne, especially if they had been played by not-so-nice actors; imagine Jack Palance and Barbara Stanwyck in the lead roles.