Decision at Sundown (1957)

Bart Allison and sidekick Sam arrive in the town of Sundown on the wedding day of town boss Tate Kimbrough, whom Allison blames for his wife's death years earlier.

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writers:

Charles Lang (screenplay) (as Charles Lang Jr.), Vernon L. Fluharty (from a story by)

Stars:

Randolph Scott, John Carroll, Karen Steele

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Randolph Scott	...	Bart Allison
John Carroll	...	Tate Kimbrough
Karen Steele	...	Lucy Summerton
Valerie French	...	Ruby James
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Sam (as Noah Beery)
John Archer	...	Dr. John Storrow
Andrew Duggan	...	Sheriff Swede Hansen
James Westerfield	...	Otis
John Litel	...	Charles Summerton
Ray Teal	...	Morley Chase
Vaughn Taylor	...	Mr. Baldwin
Richard Deacon	...	Reverend Zaron
H.M. Wynant	...	Spanish

Storyline

Bart Allison arrives in Sundown planning to kill Tate Kimbrough. Three years earlier he believed Kimbrough was responsible for the death of his wife. He finds Kimbrough and warns him he is going to kill him but gets pinned down in the livery stable with his friend Sam by Kimbrough's stooge Sheriff and his men. When Sam is shot in the back after being told he could leave safely, some of the townsmen change sides and disarm the Sheriff's men forcing him to face Allison alone. Taking care of the Sheriff, Allison injures his gun hand and must now face Kimbrough left-handed.

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Plot Keywords:

one armed gunfighter | shot in the back | revenge motive | interrupted wedding | american southwest | 

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Taglines:

At last the search was over ... now he was face-to-face with the killers who had dishonored his wife !

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Décision à Sundown

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Scott-Brown Productions, Producers-Actors Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the beginning when you first see Tate Kimbrough, you can see the fingernail on his left index finger is black, indicating he bruised it at some point around filming.

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Goofs

Several coils of rope hanging in the barn where Scott is trapped are secured with modern tape.

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Quotes

Sheriff Swede Hansen: That sign means what it says, mister.
Bart Allison: [With certitude] So do I, sheriff.

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Connections

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005)

User Reviews

Good Boetticher western where Scott is the ugly hero.

Randolph Scott in this film is a man obsessed with revenge. He is the ugly hero and even his loyal sidekick Noah Beery Jr. gets fed up with his obsession. At the same time his unjust cause will make him free the town from a bully (John Carrol)and his gang. It will also prevent a woman (Karen Steele) from making a mistake. For the town he will become a hero but he will hate himself for what he has done. We can compare him with James Stewart in Anthony Mann's "The Naked Spur", which was also an ugly hero. Boetticher knew how to bring out the best of Randolph Scott.He was also great in staging very well the shootouts, as he does here. Even though he was more known for working with Burt Kennedy, he thought Charles Lang, who wrote the screenplay was just as good, as mentioned in his book "When in Disgrace".