The Law and Jake Wade (1958)

Outlaw Clint Hollister escapes from jail with the help of Marshal Jake Wade, because once Clint did the same for him. Jake left Clint just after, but Clint finds him back and forces Jake to... See full summary »

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

William Bowers (screenplay), Marvin H. Albert (novel)

Stars:

Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Taylor	...	Jake Wade
Richard Widmark	...	Clint Hollister
Patricia Owens	...	Peggy
Robert Middleton	...	Ortero
Henry Silva	...	Rennie
DeForest Kelley	...	Wexler (as De Forest Kelley)
Burt Douglas	...	Lieutenant
Eddie Firestone	...	Burke

Storyline

Outlaw Clint Hollister escapes from jail with the help of Marshal Jake Wade, because once Clint did the same for him. Jake left Clint just after, but Clint finds him back and forces Jake to lead him to a loot Jake buried one year ago when he quitted Clint's gang.

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Plot Keywords:

loot | outlaw | ghost town | comanche indian | five word title | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1958 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Der Schatz des Gehenkten

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (as Perspecta Sound) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Marshall Wade comes into a town near the start of the movie leading an extra horse, he throws that horse's rein up against a rail and it drops right off. As he steps down from his horse, the other horse's rein is now tightly wound around the rail.

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Quotes

Peggy Carter: Your father was a preacher?
Rennie: Kind of a phony evangelist. I tell ya, he was about the meanest man I've ever met in my life. He just naturally liked to beat up on anything that was smaller than him. And of course, he could always say he was beating the fear of God into ya.
Peggy Carter: Well, where is he now?
Rennie: Well, I, ah, well I hope I know where he is. He was the first man I ever killed.

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Connections

Referenced in A Majority of One (1961)

User Reviews

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Some of the best westerns of the Fifties and Sixties were directed by director John Sturges. Sturges's films combined that rare blend of action for the kiddies with adult problems and issues.

Here the problem is a debt owed or at least that's what Marshal Jake Wade feels towards Clint Hollister. Before Jake broke with the Hollister, it seems that Hollister saved him from a hangman's noose back when he ran with Hollister's gang. Jake hears about Hollister being arrested and sentenced to be hanged so he rides a piece and breaks him from jail.

That squares it as far as the Marshal is concerned, but the outlaw leader has other ideas. Seems Jake ran off with the proceeds from the last job. No good deed goes unpunished in this life. Hollister re-unites with his gang and they kidnap the Marshal and his fiancée and force him to lead them to the money.

You have to watch the film for the rest of this. If you're any kind of a fan of westerns, I think you'll know how this turns out.

Robert Taylor plays the upright Marshal Jake Wade who could have let the whole thing slide and let outlaw Richard Widmark hang, but he feels a debt. It's a good part for Taylor as he was winding down his contract at MGM. Unfortunately Taylor doesn't figure that Widmark owed him something for running off with the loot. The two leads play well off each other.

Rounding out the cast is Patricia Owens who is your typical crinoline western woman and the rest of Widmark's gang which included DeForest Kelley, Robert Middleton, and Henry Silva among others.

Nice Saturday afternoon fare for all fans of the American western, like me.