Day of the Outlaw (1959)

Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.

Director:

André De Toth (as Andre De Toth)

Writers:

Lee E. Wells (novel), Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Ryan	...	Blaise Starrett
Burl Ives	...	Jack Bruhn
Tina Louise	...	Helen Crane
Alan Marshal	...	Hal Crane
Venetia Stevenson	...	Ernine
David Nelson	...	Gene
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Dan
Jack Lambert	...	Tex
Frank DeKova	...	Denver (as Frank deKova)
Lance Fuller	...	Pace
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Larry Teter (as Elisha Cook)
Dabbs Greer	...	Doc Langer
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Mrs. Preston (as Betsey Jones-Moreland)
Helen Westcott	...	Vivian
Donald Elson	...	Vic

Storyline

Cowboys and ranchers have to put their differences aside when a gang of outlaws, led by army captain Jack Bruhn, decide to spend the night in a little Western town.

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Plot Keywords:

rancher | frontier town | wyoming | 19th century | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

Watch What Happens To The Woman...Watch The West Explode!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tag der Gesetzlosen

Filming Locations:

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Security Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andre De Toth had the town built in Oregon several months before filming so that the structures would be naturally weathered by rain and snow, not artificially dressed by crewmen. When De Toth learned that the workers had neglected to follow his compass headings for the layouts of the streets, he had them rebuild it.

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Goofs

In the town there are puddles of water when everything else is frozen.

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Quotes

Helen Crane: [Dancing with Bruhn] Why did you have to do this terrible thing?
Jack Bruhn: There are things worse, ma'am, than dancing with lonely men.
Helen Crane: Please, let us go.
Jack Bruhn: Soon.
Helen Crane: Why did you have to come here?
Jack Bruhn: You should be grateful. Our coming saved the life of your husband.
Helen Crane: I don't believe Blaise would have gone through with it.
Jack Bruhn: Mrs. Crane, when my men and I leave here, there will be a showdown and you will be a widow.

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Connections

Referenced in The Great Silence (1968)

User Reviews

Bleak and Original Western

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the tough cowboy Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) arrives in the snowing village of Bitters with his foreman Dan (Nehemiah Persoff) with the intention of killing the farmer Hal Crane (Alan Marshal) using the pretext of the barbed wire he is running around his farm. However, Blaise really wants his wife Helen (Tina Louise) with whom he had a love affair. During the showdown between the cowboys and ranchers in the saloon, the violent gang of outlaws led by Captain Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) appears out of the blue interrupting their quarrel. Jack Bruhn, who is a notorious captain of the army responsible for the massacre of a village of Mormons, disarms the men and explains that they have robbed the payment of the army and a cavalry is chasing them. He is wounded and wants to spend the night in the village and he gives his word to the locals that his gunners will not touch the women. Further he orders the barman to hide the booze from his men. When the local veterinary removes the bullet from the chest of Jack Bruhn, he realizes that he might have an internal bleeding and not survive. Blaise decides to lure the criminals and lead them in a journey with no return.

"Day of the Outlaw" is a bleak and original Western in a snowing landscape and based on a historical fact of North America: the violent confrontation between farmers and ranchers that ran barbed wire around their own land and public land that they used for grazing without permission and people that cut the barbed wire. The cinematography is magnificent and the sequences in the snow are impressive, with the horses submitted to a great effort to ride through the mountains. The performances are stunning with Robert Ryan and Burl Ives in the role of strong and tough characters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Quadrilha Maldita" ("The Damned Gang")