"One Foot in Hell" gave Alan Ladd an opportunity to play a nasty character for a change. And nasty he is.
Ladd plays Mitch Garrett whose wife dies tragically while he is out trying to obtain the medicine that she needs. There are three incidents which change the course of Garrett's life. First, the hotel clerk demands payment for a room that Garrett doesn't have causing an unnecessary delay, second the doctor (Larry Gates) prescribes medicine for Garrett's wife which attempts to get, third, the storekeeper (John Alexander) refuses to let him have the medicine over a paltry $1.87 and fourth, Garrett is further delayed by the Sheriff (Karl Swenson). When Garrett finally reaches his wife with the medicine he finds that she has died in the interval.
Garrett is devastated over his loss and secretly vows to exact his revenge on the town. He concocts an elaborate plan to rob the town of $100K which is in the bank to buy cattle. First though, he gains the town's confidence to the point where he is appointed town Sheriff.
Then, to set his ultimate plan in motion, he recruits a ream consisting of Dan Keats (Don Murray) a boozy bitter Confederate veteran and artist, a supposed aristocrat Sir Harry Ivers (Dan O'Herlihy), a saloon girl Julie Reynolds (Dolores Michaels) and a gunfighter Stu Christian (Barry Coe) to assist him. Then Garrett begins to exact his revenge but then....................................................
The part of Mitch Garrett gave Alan Ladd an rare chance to display his under appreciated acting talents. In the scenes at the beginning when he is trying to save his wife, he displays fear, anxiety and frustration over the unnecessary delays he encounters. When he learns of his wife's death, Ladd moves from a look of panic to a look of hate against those who had delayed him and finally at the cemetery, you can see from the expressions on Ladd's fate that he is planning his revenge.
It was unusual to see Ladd play a totally unsavory character. He even gets to murder a couple of people in cold blood as well as orchestrating the murder of others. He does so quite convincingly.
The film was made in CinemaScope and we are given the usual array of wide screen shots of the surrounding plains and mountains albeit beautifully photographed. We also see several scenes of cattle drives (which appear to be stock footage).
Ladd takes the acting kudos in this film. Murray with his Actor's School delivery, tries very hard to be a convincing drunken artist. Michaels is good, particularly in the scene where she discusses her past. O'Herlihy has little to do after his introduction and Coe is good as the gunman.
One of Alan Ladd's better late career films.
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