Rebel City (1953) User Reviews (3)

Rebel city

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 23 April 2023]

Elliott plays Frank Graham, a gambler who returns home to Kansas when he gets word from an old friend (Bill Walker) that his father has been killed.

It turns out that there's a gang of Southern sympathizers ("Copperheads") in the area running guns, passing counterfeit bills, and generally wreaking havoc, including murdering Frank's father. Frank takes a job as a teamster working for Jane Dudley (Lord) while he untangles the mystery.

Bill Elliott is suitably stoic as the man seeking his father killer. He had been stabbed in the back, and Elliott almost gets the same treatment during his investigation- other two men get killed via a knife. It's fairly neat b-western which is more like a detective drama. There's some tense moments, and it doesn't fail to keep your attention.

Who Are the Copperheads?

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 11 September 2016]

"Rebel City" is a Civil War drama taking place in 1864 Kansas about a bunch of northerners banding together to form "The Copperheads" with the aim of foiling the Union's war effort.

Gambler Frank Graham ("Wild Bill" Elliott) arrives in Junction City seeking his father's murderer. It seems that his father a freighter, was found in possession of $2,000 in counterfeit money paid him for the sale of his wagons, when he was killed. Graham goes to his father's former place of business and encounter Joe Spencer (John Crawford). Spencer refers Graham to army officers Col. Barnes (Ray Walker) and Capt. Ramsay (Robert Kent) for clarification of the situation. They are of little help.

Graham in trying to trace the counterfeit cash, discovers fellow gambler Greeley (Denver Pyle) trying to pass a bill in a poker game. Graham gives chase to Greeley who vanishes into Hardy's (Henry Rowland) print shop. Graham becomes suspicious of Hardy when no trace of Greeley can be found. Graham also speaks with Temple (Keith Richards) a store owner, Perry (I. Stanford Jolley) a peddler and jeweler Spain (Otto Waldis. An attempt is made on Graham's life but he wounds his assailant.

Strapping on his six guns (now we know that Graham means business), Graham goes to work for rival freighter Jane Dudley (Marjorie Lord). On his first run he is mugged and his evidence stolen. Later Greeley turns up dead in his wagon. Spain confesses to Graham that he was a member of the Copperheads and plans to reveal their identities but is killed before he can act. With his suspicions in mind, Graham forms a plan to trap the leader of the Copperheads into revealing himself and.............................................................

For a Civil War drama, there is little in the way of combat. There are no gray coats to be seen any where. Also, unless I missed it, the actual killer of Graham's father is never revealed. Furthermore the assailant whom Graham wounded is never identified through his wound or otherwise.

As his series wore on, Elliot's budgets, production values and supporting casts seemed to be lessening. And he still didn't get to kiss the girl but did get to light up a couple of cigarettes though.

Wild Bill vs. the rebels !

[revdrcac · 5/10 · 26 August 2006]

Wild Bill Elliott was one of the best of the B-western stars. This 1953 film, one of his last, is solid entertainment with an interesting plot. Bill Elliott comes hunting for the killers of his Dad, finding that Southern sympathizers known as "Copperheads" are the likely culprits.

While this later film in Elliott's career is not his best, it does offer the same well-paced entertainment that he was famous for. This film came along during the final days of the B-westerns and suffers from so-so casting and lower production values. Even so, it is better than 75% of the contemporary films of the genre. Enjoy, but check out his earlier films as well !