Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Looks 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.

The 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.

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!

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...