Anyway, American Movie Classics cable channel recently
broadcast a
western that has noirish/hard-boiled elements. It stars Fred
MacMurray
(who starred as the protagonist of noir classic _Double
Indemnity_).
Like _3:10 to Yuma_ and _High Noon_, the action of this film
takes place
in a single day. Fred is a judge who's scheduled to sentence
a felon at
court in the early afternoon. The bad guy's a murderer, and
everyone
expects Fred to sentence him to hang.
Complicating the procedures is the arrival of the bad guy's
brothers and
cousins, the Hayes family, who threaten the judge with death
if he
doesn't simply banish the bad guy to the territories. The bad
guy's
girlfriend also tries to play up to Fred's sympathy.
Other tangles: Fred has been courting a girl for years and,
after court
adjourns, plans to finally ask her to marry him. However,
she's gotten
tired of waiting for him, and -- unknown to Fred -- has been
fooling
around with the sheriff. The Hayes boys find out about the
affair, tell
Fred, and further promise to kill the sheriff if Fred lets
their cousin
the bad guy go free.
It's relatively complicated for a western of that time--much
more
rivieting than the usual Audie Murphy vehicles that AMC
offers-- and
worth watching.
--Duane
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