Excellent collaboration between Oscar-winning cinematographer Joseph LaShelle and competent director Gerd Oswald tip the scales on the plus side for this B+ western. The big old Columbia western town set never looked more authentic. Dig the dogs harassing the stagecoach horses. The tracking shots and camera set-ups are all A picture quality. Note the use of the extras. Not the usual aimless wandering, but natural and with attitude. We often see the action from their point of view. Good stuff. The story needs it because their ostracizing of the young hero strains credulity. John Derek is a misunderstood hothead who wants to cool off but they won't let him. Very 50s. He and Nick Adams are very good and quite believable as brothers. The action (aka violence) is unpredictable, well-staged and bloody. The good musical score, played mainly by a lonesome harmonica and guitar, is by another Oscar winner, Harry Sukman. Was the last shot a happy accident or planned? It works.
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mmtoucan8 August 2007
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It would be easy to characterize the film as a brother out for revenge Western but it's more complex than that. In fact the movie surprises with a whole lot more attention to detail than you'd expect from a 1950's effort, from Brock's extended barroom brawl to the place names depicted on the businesses of Showdown Creek. I was particularly intrigued by the presence of the Lin Yee Chinese Dining Room, even if the Mitchell brothers never made it there. They thought about it though.
What IS standard is the set up between town lawyer Deasey (Gage Clark) and Brock Mitchell (John Derek), recently released from the Buckhorn County Jail for killing Deasey's brother in a forced gunfight that occurred before the picture opens. Derek portrays the same kind of hot head he played in 1949's "Knock On Any Door", his first lead role in company with Humphrey Bogart. Deasey is clever enough to use just about any mis-step by Brock to turn town sentiment against him, beginning with the Tom Williams incident. Brock simmers in a slow boil for most of the story, as more rational younger brother Tracy (Nick Adams) tries to steer him to make the right decisions along the way. The pairing of Adams and Derek as brothers was really quite a neat casting decision; they complemented each other nicely and appeared believable as siblings.
More on that barroom brawl - it's probably one of the longest one on one fight scenes you'll ever see in a Western, and it looked authentic from start to finish. You wondered how the smaller Brock Mitchell would come out against Deasey's hired henchman Miley Sutton (John Smith), but there was enough furniture on hand to provide the equalizer. The spill out into the street leading to the buckboard drag is probably the most creative finale you'll see, but then they still kept going at it. You know, I had to chuckle when the fight got started, the first thing to go was the large mirror behind the bar. Watching the picture on the Encore Western Channel, one of the True Western Moments iterated by Bob Boze Bell in between movies talks about how scenes just like that were more the stuff of Hollywood invention than the real thing.
As the story progresses, the viewer learns just how greasy a character Chad Deasey is; say now, greasy Deasey, that works. Not only was he constantly undermining Brock, but he detained railroad man Phelps with a phony letter and indirectly caused the death of Tracy. It was fitting that he didn't die in the movie's finale, but would have to face the music after all the facts became known. Good ending, but did you notice? - Miley Sutton's small bag of payoff money turned into enough coins on the street to fill a small strong box! -
hitchcockthelegend17 November 2018Fury at Showdown is directed by Gerd Oswald and adapted to screenplay by Jason James from the novel Showdown Creek written by Lucas Todd. It stars John Derek, John Smith, Carolyn Craig, Nick Adams, Gage Clarke and Robert Griffin. Music is by Harry Sukman and cinematography by Joseph LaShelle.
After killing a man in self defence, reformed gunfighter Brock Mitchell (Derek) finds that the brother of the man he killed is intent on evening the score.
It's a tried and tested formula here, that of a one time gunman trying to reform but finds others simply will not let him. There's a love interest tantalisingly in the balance, some brotherly love playing a key part in the story, a bit of angst, fisticuffs (including a superb saloon brawl) and machismo, and a well constructed finale. Oswald has skills with the camera, nice shots and an ability to ensure each frame has something to offer, his work really belying the quickfire turnaround for release he was tasked with.
Elsewhere, Lashelle's monochrome photography is lush, seen at its best with the TCM-HD print doing the rounds on cable networks. Also appealing is Sukman's musical score, very subtle and stripped back to be a nice tonal accompaniment. Acting is in the main decent, with Derek a likeable presence in the lead, to leave us with a good sturdy Oater where Fury at Showdown manages to overcome its small budget and isolated location setting to hold its head up high. 7/10 -
dougdoepke8 May 2022Looks like much of the movie was turned over to a John Derek uplift, his once promising career then in decline. He may get the screentime, but an unusually meek and mild Nick Adams almost steals the flick with his sympathetic portrayal as Derek's loving brother. I gather (Trivia) the western was shot in just five days, and frankly, the congested narrative and crowded cast show a hurry-up schedule. The various storyline threads are hard to figure out, while the number of supporting cast members drift in and out in hard-to-follow fashion.
Nonetheless, the rivalry thread between Derek and gunslinger Adams is well-done, especially Adams' unusual verbal abuse of the oddly silent Derek. How this will resolve amounts to the flick's main suspense. There're also good touches from director Ulmer, such as realistically keeping the brawlers' bruises for the narrative's remainder, or dragging the brawlers away beneath a galloping stagecoach, et al.
All in all, I get the feeling that a much better Western could emerge from the clotted ingredients if more time were afforded to preparation, especially in better organizing the screenplay''s unusual elements - for example, heightening the critical business papers suspense, or what will happen to Adams's vulnerable character. What survives is a promising flick that needs a more accommodating remake. So anyway, here's hoping. -
chipe8 January 2011Looks like I stand alone in my review of this western. Whatever great cinematography or acting the movie might have was --for me-- not noticed or drowned out by the boring, trite story. I can't believe this movie got a 6.8 user rating. One of the most boring, talkative (and repetitive) westerns I have ever seen. Little action, and the most ridiculous, abrupt, meaningless fade-out to a movie I have ever seen. I had to strain myself to see it to the end. Even the title is trite. The only thing going for it was John Derek's handsome countenance.
To make ten lines for an acceptable review here, let me add this silly scene which typifies the movie for me. Derek rides out of town to talk to his estranged girlfriend, who he hasn't seen while in prison for a year, and immediately encounters her taking a nude swim. So they talk -- he on his horse and she completely covered by the dark water (save her head and shoulder tops). That's it; no comment by the characters on this awkward scene. ... ... ... Another situation that irked me is that time is running out, and three partners expect a businessman to arrive by stage to complete their crucial deal, but he doesn't show, and two of the partners won't let the third one ride to the town where the businessman is to learn the reason for the delay. It was so important that you'd think they would have thought of the obvious: send a neutral trusted person to make the trip to find out. -
Well, I appear to be out of the mainstream of the limited number of reviewers for this movie, but it was a bit tedious (even though less than 90 minutes) and the story was not compelling. The standard western movie town was in full effect, convincingly dusty, and with the right buildings in the right places. But it was also from scene to scene randomly full of people hanging around in the middle of the day, and then completely deserted other than the main actors.
John Derek was his usual hammy self, wide-eyed glowering substituting for any sense of genuine internal emotion. The actors who played Derek's brother and the sheriff were decent, but the lawyer was badly played as a simpering whiner who simply would not have come out west to practice. The love interest was dull and kind of homely.
As for the story--the consequence of a negative outcome for the hero was basically that his life would go on as before, and he was such a martyr that I didn't really care one way or the other.
Scenery was a solid B, although the cinematographer could have done more with the raw materials. Acting a C-, some better than others. Story, also a C-. Hence the four star review for this somewhat below average movie. -
This western has a very small budget.
But the story and the actors are as powerful and motivated as it were a blockbuster.
John Derek delivers a convincing portrait of a young man full of goodwill and also full of wrath. He is perfect for the leading part. His supporting cast - although not so well known - is a good one. Especially Nick Adams and the actor who plays the sheriff.
Gerd Oswald directed a couple of movies with stories of high morality. This one is his best.
The story is about a man who was in prison for manslaughter. He tries to come back to society and to his profession as a farmer but there is a man who wants revenge for the death of his brother...Village people are not very happy too... -
zardoz-1331 August 2007The United Artists' release "Fury at Showdown" ranks as one of the great unsung westerns of the 1950s. John Derek stars as Brock Mitchell, a combustible young gunslinger who matures over the course of the 75 taut minutes that constitute this well-done tale of revenge. Like most westerns during the 1950s, "Fury at Showdown" emphasizes the message that being a gunslinger is not an appropriate way of living. A young Nick Adams provides solid support as Derek's brother and a pre-"Laramie" John Smith delivers a finely-tuned performance as a slimy gunman. The real scene stealer in this interesting western is naturally the city slicker villain, a well-tailored but older lawyer, Cage Clarke of "The Bad Seed" as conniving Chad Deseasy. Filmed in only five days by "A Kiss Before Dying" director Gerd Oswald, "Fury at Showdown" is a lean, mean western that squanders nary a second. Thoroughly minor in every respect, this movie is nevertheless a very good example of low-budget film-making with spartan black & white lensing by eight-time Oscar nominated cinematographer Joseph LaShelle, who won an Oscar for shooting the 1944 noir masterpiece "Laura" with Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney. LaShelle's cameras are always in the right place at the right time so that you get a physical feel for Oswald's intricate staging of the action. Get out the way Oswald stages the scene in the doctor's office for Nick Adams death scene. Although "Fury at Showdown" was not a big, star-studded oater, the film emerges as a pressure-cooker of attention with its plot a variation on "High Noon."
This frontier saga unfolds in the small town of Buckhorn as the sheriff (Tom McKee of "The Steel Jungle") releases fiery young Brock Mitchell (John Derek of "The Outcast") from his jail after the latter has completed a year's sentence for manslaughter. Friends of the man that Mitchell killed in a gunfight await him outside of the jail along with his unarmed younger brother Trace (Nick Adams of "King Creole") who has come to take his big brother home to the family ranch near Showdown Creek. After they reach the ranch, Trace explains how he was able to run the spread after his father died. He took out a $5-thousand dollar loan from the local bank. It seems that beef prices are up and Trace along with two other local ranchers have convinced a representative of the railroad, Mr. Phelps (Ken Christy of "Utah Blaine") to launch a spur line onto their property so that they can get their livestock to market. Not only with this spur railway help Trace pay off the note, but also they will have money left over from the deal.
The villainous Chad Deseasy resolves to destroy the Mitchells. As the director and a stock holder of the Cattleman's Trust Bank, Deseasy doesn't want to renew Trace's note and the deadline to pay off the note is rapidly approaching. In fact, they have three days. Initially, Trace and the others think that Phelps will show up in Showdown Creek and ink the deal, but day after day passes with no sign of Phelps. Our protagonists know that Phelps is in nearby Gunstock, but Trace's partners in the deal are leery of his hot-headed older brother. Bluntly, they don't trust Brock. Simultaneously, Deseasy has hired a bodyguard, gunslinger Milly Sutton, who is already looking forward to his next job in Durango. Craftily, Deasey sets about to turn the entire town against Brock. Brock turns out to be his own worst enemy because he plays into Deasey's hands for easily, arousing the wrath of the local lawman, Sheriff Clay (Robert Griffin of "Gunsight Ridge"), who happens to be the father of the girl that Brock once dated. In fact, Brock got into a gunfight over Chad's nasty younger brother and gunned him down. Now, Deasey wants to exact retribution from Brock and he orchestrates his campaign with shrewd touches. About half way through the tightly drawn action, trigger-happy Brock shed his gun belt and begins to show maturity. He resists the urge to turn to violence unless it is thrust upon him as when Sutton goads him into a furniture destroying fisticuffs in the saloon. The saloon in "Fury at Showdown" is unlike most in that its bar is curbed like the letter W. Brock and Sutton virtually tear the place down. They smash the mirror behind the bar, wreck furniture, and crash through a window. They get tangled up in a horse drawn buckboard and as the vehicle is careening away from the scene we see Brock disengage himself. It looks like Derek and Smith performed their own stunts in the saloon brawl. The saloon brawl is about as far out as Oswald lets this western roam; the remainder of the time he keeps things tightly-knit. The suspense about the arrival of Phelps and the way that the two other partners mistrust Brock fuel the suspense and tension in this nifty little western drama.
Derek is in fine shape as the hero who grows over the length of the film, while Nick Adams is the innocent young sacrificial goat. Actually, there isn't a bad performance in this taut western. Gerd Oswald's direction, a sturdy credible cast, LaShelle's exceptional black & white photography, and scenarist Lucas Todd's quotable script make "Fury at Showdown" a first-rate, suspenseful sagebrusher. -
jozefkafka27 June 2008The only reason I watched this super-obscure 1957 oater (allegedly shot in seven days) is because Philip Hardy, in his 1980s encyclopedia of westerns, called it a "masterpiece" (his word).
I certainly wouldn't go that far, but the direction (Gerd Oswald) and camera-work (Joseph LaShelle, who IIRC shot Laura) are definitely eye- catching. Many angles include ceilings, and there are a number of striking shots of actor(s) in extreme FG with other(s) in extreme BG. Oswald and LaShelle even use the film noir technique of lining up actors in dialogue scenes at various depths so they can all be in the shot without cutting (or having to re-set up the camera).
This second feature programmer is in fact far more interestingly made than A Kiss Before Dying, Oswald's A picture of the year before. Why Oswald went from that well-publicized production of a bestseller to this B- drive-in special is unknown to me. Too bad he didn't show the same level of creativity on that clever Ira Levin mystery that he does on this horse opera, which is quite routinely scripted aside from a few minor curiosities, such as Nick Adams homoerotically caressing the unconscious face of his big brother John Derek. -
I've seen this movie rated as 1 1/2 stars on the 5-scale in some places but it's much, much better than that. True, it's a low budget film, but it doesn't take a big budget to come up with a good script and people who know how to play their roles with conviction. This movie has one of the best fistfight scenes I've seen in a long time, with the big mirror behind the bar as the first casualty - followed by chairs, the front window of the saloon, and a lot of wear and tear on Brock Mitchell and Miley Sutton (played by John Derek and John Smith respectively) who end up being dragged down the street beneath a wagon. This is a movie with good guys you like and bad guys you like to hate. It may be a low budget film, but I've seen some with much bigger budgets that I didn't like anywhere near as much. This one is well worth your time - get out the popcorn and enjoy a good Western.
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redwhiteandblue17768 April 2017This Western had one particular thing going for it that really stood out. Every time there was a wide shot of the town, there were not large numbers of people walking around the streets. Perfect! In most Westerns, there are way too many people all over town. At this time in history, when 95% of the population worked on farms, it is just totally unrealistic the way directors put so many people in town. This movie was right on the mark. Well done. Some reviews say it was too slow. Well, it wasn't a time of the internet and instant everything. Things moved slower as did the pace of the movie, which seemed appropriate. As I have mentioned in my reviews of other Westerns, I still have a problem the way actors are dressed. Costumes seem to be "cowboy" attire taken from the 1930's and put in stories from late 1800s. This includes saddles and bridles. Having it in black and white gave it a nice "old time" feel.
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LeonLouisRicci9 February 2022Absent the Budget of Big-Studio, the Western Genre was so Popular that the B-Film-Makers got a Lot of Mileage out of the Road that was Well Traveled and Occasionally Everything Clicked.
Sometimes Guided by a Serious Talented Director Riding the Gene for All its Worth.
Gerard Oswald, using the 8-Time Oscar Nominated Director of Cinematography Joseph Lashelle to Ultra-Craft the Shots with Emphasis of Subtle Arrangements, Keeping Within Budget,and Provides the "Ambience" and Look of Sleek Understatement.
This One has Disappeared Under the Radar of the Main Streams Western Entertainment Extravaganza of the Decade.
The Only Competition of the Western-Genre in the 1950's, to Dominate the Pop-Culture was it's Cousin-Genre "Science-Fiction ''.
Dominate it Certainly Did.
Relying of the Fact that the "Western-Movies" and TV were usually Cheaper by Nature than Sci-Fi.
This is a Movie Lost in Time and is in the Periphery just Waiting to be Discovered by Eager and Insatiable Purveyors of Pictures always on the Lookout for Another Discovery.
Here is a Film that Can Compete with Others for Attention that it Deserves.
Also the Tragic and Odd Nick Adams with a Co-Star, the Impossibly Handsome John Derick Struggling to Enter the Leading Man Hierarchy is Competent as Always.
The High-Light is a Bar-Room-Fight that is just Sublime, that Ends with a the Villain "Dragged Across Dirt",
That Scene is a Wow.