Troubled bounty hunter Charles Bronson watches barber John Carradine practicing his craft in SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL.


destroyed, Welsh is treated with open disdain by everyone aside from lonely, alienated waitress Sally (Irish actress Fintan Meyler) and Weber (John Carradine), the crippled barber/doctor/minister/ undertaker. Determined to get his money, Welsh stubbornly re- mains in Mound City, finally prompting some of the townsfolk to call on Maynor’s bitter brother (George Douglas) to help them get revenge.


A step above the economical double bill fare that producer Robert L. Lippert was cranking out for Fox during this era, the film served as Bronson’s first starring role, and he is persua- sive as a brand of hero different to the sort of near-invulnerable tough guys who mostly played in later years. Despite being a capable man of average height, Welsh carries a chip on his shoul- der, especially towards taller men, and it is that nagging sense of inferiority that drives him to stand up to cattleman Sloane (THE SLIME PEOPLE’s Robert Hutton) and his cohorts. It is an intriguing and unusual psycho- logical flaw for a bounty hunter in this sort of picture, but does not entirely come off because of the casting. Although Welsh


feels he is a little man compared to the rest of the town, Hutton is the only antagonist that actu- ally towers over the 5’ 9" Bronson (In JOHN CARRADINE: THE FILMS, Fowler revealed to author Tom Weaver that, aside from Bronson, he was allowed no input in the selection of actors, blaming pro- duction people for filling the vari- ous parts with their ill-suited relatives.) It was common in these pictures to have a love in- terest for the hero, but the rela- tionship that develops between Welsh and Sally is born out of a more genuine seeming connection (the daughter of an aging saloon hostess she cannot abide, Sally feels just as lost as the rootless Welsh). In fact, the film does a better job of drawing its charac- ters and the building their dra- matic conflicts than presenting its genre components (there is almost no action beyond the two scenes where Welsh is goaded into draw- ing his gun and both of those have been sped up in post-production). While this is clearly a modestly budgeted effort, the cinematogra- phy by John M. Nickolaus, Jr. (THE TERROR) is refreshingly am- bitious, incorporating some effec- tive crane shots during the opening credits to emphasize


how insignificant Welsh feels compared to the town and more artistic use of light and shadow than one would expect from such a short shooting schedule. How- ever, there are occasional


in-


stances where the studio dictated widescreen photography works against the drama, particularly a third act revelation by Weber to Welsh that would have benefitted from a more intimate framing. Carradine shines in his colorfully written supporting role, but as the character possesses his own sense of loss, the veteran actor avoids overplaying it in the manner com- mon for eccentric western movie sidekicks. Fowler, Nickolaus and Bronson went right from this pro- duction into Regal’s GANG WAR (1958), a passable underworld thriller that appeared in theaters two months later.


Presented in its original Regal- scope 2.35:1 dimensions for the first time since the picture’s the- atrical release, SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL has been given a de- cent barebones release on both disc formats. The B&W image is generally sharp and attractive, with bits of damage and minor soundtrack flaws occasionally in evidence, but causing no more than a fleeting distraction.


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