Terror in a Texas Town (1958)

A Swedish whaler is out for revenge when he finds out that a greedy oil man murdered his father for their land.

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo, Ben Perry (front for Dalton Trumbo)

Stars:

Sterling Hayden, Sebastian Cabot, Carol Kelly

Cast

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

Storyline

Sven Hanson is one of a number of farmers whom Ed McNeil wants to run off their land (because he knows there's oil on it). When Hanson is murdered by McNeil's gunman, Johnny Crale, Hanson's friend Pepe Mirada hides his knowledge of the murderer's identity in order to protect his family. When Hanson's son George arrives and takes up his father's cause, not only Mirada but also Johnny Crale begin to reevaluate their attitudes.

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Plot Keywords:

oil | revenge | whaler | street shootout | evil landowner | 

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Taglines:

When the Texas Plains Ran With Blood and Black Gold!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sturm über Texas

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Seltzer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 81 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nedrick Young, who plays Johnny Crale, actually wrote much of the script, but because he had been blacklisted as a "subversive" during the McCarthy Red Scare period, he was not credited for it.

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Connections

Referenced in Cinemania (2002)

User Reviews

ordinary movie, interesting style

In most respects, this is a completely unremarkable low-budget western. Greedy rich guy hires evil gunfighter to terrorize local farmers. Upstanding good guy arrives and it's just a matter of time before the final showdown. It's competently executed most of the time. Some of it is imaginative and some of it is predictably cliché. Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, the final showdown did not surprise me in the least. Die-hard western fans and followers of Sterling Hayden will want to view this, but I don't know about anyone else.

Except that it is successfully filmed in an interesting and unique style, as if it were a 1950's comic book or pulp-fiction novel brought to the screen. This is immediately apparent in the opening credits, with its teaser glimpse of the final scene and including the alliterative hyperbole of the title, and continues consistently throughout the film. Perhaps many little known low budget 1950s film accomplished this feat, but this is the only one I'm aware of that does it so well.