The Showdown

The Showdown is one unusual western product from Herbert J. Yates's Republic Pictures. It's a vengeance quest tale the kind of thing Randolph Scott would be doing in his westerns. Wild Bill Elliott, hero to many a kid for being Red Ryder plays a mean and vicious former state Texas policeman on the trail of someone who shot his brother in the back. The film also bears a lot of resemblance in the production values to the Dick Powell western, Stagecoach West.

The film opens with Elliott digging up his brother's body at the graveyard, an unusual enough opening for a western. 19th century forensics shows Elliott that his brother was killed, shot in the back with a derringer. It's the only clue he's got to the identity of the perpetrator.

Cattleowner Walter Brennan hires Elliott to drive his herd through to Montana. Elliott was a member of the Texas Police when Texas was under carpetbagger rule. The mostly ex-rebels who are Brennan's hands have a hate on for Elliott on general principles. He hires on because he's got reason to suspect his culprit will be on the cattle drive.

Take a look down the cast list and you'll see that we've got a treasure trove full of suspects, remembering the roles a lot of these people play in films. A few get killed along the way and are eliminated as suspects, some are eliminated by other means. I have to say that I guessed wrong myself as to the identity.

The Showdown teases you every minute of the film as to the identity of the murderer. Elliott schemes and searches his suspects for the owner of La Pistolita. In this great cast I have to say that one who stands out is Harry Morgan. He plays very much against type as a hot tempered young gunslinger, far from Colonel Sherman Potter of MASH as you can get.

When the identity of the killer is revealed the climax is in how it happens, how the individual meets his end and Elliott's reaction to same. The Showdown is a great example of blended genre, a western noir. It's a real crackerjack sleeper of a film and I think people who generally don't like westerns will gravitate to this film.

This movie makes my top-ten list of greatest westerns. Great acting from the usually laughable Wild Bill Elliot, great direction and awesome character development along with a good mystery. The subtle dialog from Elliot brings a new light to his acting ability.

This film begins on a cold, dark night with a former Texas State Policeman by the name of "Shadrach Jones" (Bill Elliott) in the process of digging up the grave of a man who had been killed just a week before. As it so happens, he is spotted by two cowboys named "Cap MacKellar" (Walter Brennan) and "Rod Main" (Harry Morgan) who immediately demand to know what he is doing. In response, Shadrach tells them that he needs to know the identity of the man buried in this grave in order to ascertain if it is his brother or not. However, it's when he tells them that he used to work for the Texas State Police that Rod becomes extremely hostile toward him which results in Cap intervening to prevent a shootout right there and then. That being said, since it is obvious that Shadrach is intent upon finishing up what he started the two cowboys ride off with Cap telling him that he hopes the man buried there is not his brother--so Shadrach can ride off before any trouble starts. Unfortunately, Shadrach soon discovers that the body in the grave is in fact his brother and--like Cap MacKellar feared--trouble soon begins which nobody seems capable of stopping. Now rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good Western thanks in large part to a number of good actors and some good mystery along the way. Admittedly, I would have liked a bit more suspense here and there but, even so, it still turned out pretty well and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Like many of Republic's B Westerns of this period, this was shot on sound stages with back-projection and process-work standing in for the big blue yonder once so much a part of the western.

Nonetheless, like 'Hellfire' (1949), also scripted by the McGowans, this was a fitting end to Elliott's long stay with Republic. The interesting script has Elliott on the trail of the murderer of his brother and joining a wagon train knowing that one of the men is the guilty one. In an attempt to find out which one, he pushes men and cattle beyond their natural endurance. Brennan, cast against type as the quiet and friendly man who is finally gored to death, is the guilty one and Windsor is the saloon keeper who buys an interest in the herd and travels with it.

The direction is as eloquent as the screenplay and elliott plays his forceful role to the hilt.

Phil Hardy

This could have been an excellent western movie had they not tried to be so cheap in production. Instead of filming on location with vaulting mountains and wide open scenes, we are left with filming on a back lot with very little scenery and projected background landscape. And with such gifted actors in most parts it was puzzling on why they put stiff actor Bill Elliott as the lead man. I know he has played the lead in many B-westerns but with the cast of actors in this film, he stood out like a sore thumb.

But passing on Elliott's mannequin performance, the rest of the cast seemed to flow effortless and made the story entertaining to watch. There was a few spots hard to watch but overall this film provided enough interest throughout to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat right to the end of the movie. Was actually expecting very little from this movie but was pleasantly surprised. This is a film that you ask yourself, What could have been?