IMDb > Terror in a Texas Town (1958)

Terror in a Texas Town (1958) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   437 votes
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Director:
Joseph H. Lewis
Writers (WGA):
Dalton Trumbo (written by) (front Ben Perry)
Ben Perry (front for Dalton Trumbo)
Contact:
View company contact information for Terror in a Texas Town on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
September 1958 (USA) more
Genre:
Western more
Tagline:
When the Texas Plains Ran With Blood and Black Gold!
Plot:
A Swedish whaler is out for revenge when he finds out that a greedy oil man murdered his father for their land. | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
Blacklisted Writers To Get Credits -- Most Of Them, Posthumously
 (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 4 August 2000)
User Comments:
The Whaler and the Western. more (18 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Sterling Hayden ... George Hansen
Sebastian Cabot ... Ed McNeil
Carol Kelly ... Molly
Eugene Martin ... Pepe Mirada
Nedrick Young ... Johnny Crale (as Ned Young)
Victor Millan ... Jose Mirada
Frank Ferguson ... Deacon Matt Holmes
Marilee Earle ... Mona Stacey
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
80 min | USA:81 min (DVD version)
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Spanish
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #18924) | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)
Filming Locations:
California, USA more
Company:
Seltzer Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was the final feature film for director Joseph H. Lewis. He would spend much of the next decade directing television episodes before retiring from the industry. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Cinemania (2002) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
The Whaler and the Western., 21 November 2009
7/10
Author: JohnRouseMerriottChard from United Kingdom

Joseph H. Lewis was something of a B movie king, with his best directorial efforts coming in the Western and Film-Noir genres. After this Sterling Hayden starrer he signed off from Hollywood for good, as a legacy it's difficult to say if it's a fitting point of reference to Lewis or entirely apt for his career. It's a quirky, even bizarre, picture that manages thru its surreal like tendencies to detract from its hackneyed Western plot.

Set in Prairie City, Texas, the tale revolves around George Hanson (Hayden), a Swedish whaler who after 19 years away, returns to Prairie to find his father has been murdered. As he delves deeper with a staunch undaunted determination, he finds that the law is corrupt and a horrible land baron called McNeil {Sebastian Cabot}, aided by gunslinger for hire, Johnny Crale {Ned Young}, is behind his fathers death. It appears there is oil in the land and McNeil is using force to buy up the land at ridiculously cheap prices. But if he thought George was going to be forgiving,? Or going to be easily frightened,? Well he and Crale are in for some big shocks.

Shot in stark black and white, Lewis' film throws up the always interesting conflict between homespun virtue and greedy evility. With compelling villains and nicely drawn characterisations for the decent citizens on the periphery of the protagonists struggle {note Victor Millan's poor Mexican farmer and Carol Kelly's downbeat girlfriend of Crale}, it's a very watchable movie, with one exception that is. Sterling Hayden was a good actor in his pomp, but here, with a robotically awful Swedish accent, he almost drags the film to the depths of Z movie status. But in his favour is the nagging doubt that he may be in keeping with the quirky nature of the beast. Who knows, he may have been acting to orders for this one? There's some controversy in the tid-bids here. The script was credited to Ben Perry, but actually was written by Dalton Trumbo who was blacklisted. Hayden, although not blacklisted, appeared before the House of Un-American Activities Committee and simultaneously admitted past communist affiliations and named names. Lewis was not involved in the unsavoury chapter but was a close friend of Ned Young, who's impact on the film was to not only be in it, but to also be instrumental in getting Lewis to direct it.

Stylish, odd and certainly different, Terror In A Texas Town has enough about it to make it worthy of a night in . 7/10

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