Western

Star in the Dust

- THE STORY OF THE MOST DESPERATE GAMBLE THE WEST HAS EVER KNOWN!

The sheriff of Gunlock is planning to hang Sam Hall, who shot three farmers found on cattle land, at sundown. At the casino, betting is 8 to 3 he won't make it. The cattlemen are set to rescue Sam; the farmers hope to lynch him before he can be rescued; and Hall schemes for escape with his girl Nellie. But Sheriff Jorden is most concerned with finding out who hired Hall: a leading suspect is the sheriff's future brother-in-law.

Release Date : 1956-06-13

Language :EnglishItalian

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Universal International Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Sheriff Bill Jorden

Original Name : John Agar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ellen Ballard

Original Name : Mamie Van Doren

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sam Hall

Original Name : Richard Boone

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nellie Mason

Original Name : Coleen Gray

Gender : Female

Character Name : George Ballard

Original Name : Leif Erickson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Orval Jones

Original Name : James Gleason

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nan Hogan

Original Name : Randy Stuart

Gender : Female

Character Name : The Music Man

Original Name : Terry Gilkyson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mike MacNamara

Original Name : Paul Fix

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lew Hogan

Original Name : Harry Morgan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jess Ryman

Original Name : Stuart Randall

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rigdon

Original Name : Robert Osterloh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ben Smith

Original Name : Stanley Andrews

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jiggs Larribee

Original Name : John Daheim

Gender : Male

Character Name : Leo Roos

Original Name : Stafford Repp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pastor Harris

Original Name : Lewis Martin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Timothy Brown

Original Name : Renny McEvoy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ed Pardee

Original Name : Jess Kirkpatrick

Gender : Male

Character Name : Marv Tremain

Original Name : James Parnell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doc Quinn

Original Name : Anthony Jochim

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tom - Ranch Hand (uncredited)

Original Name : Clint Eastwood

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Welcome To Gunlock Star in the Dust is directed by Charles Haas and adapted to screenplay by Oscar Brodney from the novel "Law Man" written by Lee Leighton. It stars John Agar, Mamie Van Doren, Coleen Gray, Richard Boone, Leif Erickson, Harry Morgan, Randy Stuart and James Gleason. Music is by Frank Skinner (Joseph Gershenson supervising) and Technicolor cinematography is by John L. Russell Jr. We are in the town of Gunlock and Sheriff Bill Jorden (Agar) is set to hang hired killer Sam Hall (Boone) at sunset. Only he finds himself in the middle of the Ranchers and Farmers because one lot want to help Hall escape, and the other want to lynch him post haste. With the exception of his two trusty deputies, Sheriff Jorden - already having to carry around the weight of not being as good as his dad was at the job - can't trust anyone and has it all to do to ensure things are done legal like. It begins with a shot of a Sheriff's badge in the dust, and sure enough from that moment on the feeling of watching a poor High Noon/Rio Bravo knock off is hard to shake. Pic is erring towards psychological smarts with a half decent screenplay put forward by Brodney, and the cast can't be called for being poor since most are good enough when given enough screen time to work with. Though it has to be said that Agar is just a touch too wooden, overplaying his weary lawman act and it grows tiresome entering the last third of film. Pacing is deadly slow, and as a number of characters are introduced along the way, there's barely any action to cling onto as a point of dramatic worth. There's a decent fist fight on show, and a wickedly enjoyable girl scrap, which even involves any weapons that are handy! A brilliant piece of stunt work in the finale is to be highly applauded, but other than that we are sort of plodding through to the end. Biggest crime comes in under using Boone as the villain, he's on in it for short moments at a time, and he's hardly given a biting script to spout. The guitar based musical score is quite dreadful and irritatingly it's practically non stop when the story moves out of the jailhouse. I understand why the usually reliable Skinner was going for sombre tones in the play, but it's a dirge, and when the narrative perks up a notch, the guitar shifts into something that sounds like it belongs in animation Batman instead of a psychological Western. Bonus is the colour photography, lovely lenses from Russell and the TCM print is gorgeous. But again there's an irk, for the story rarely ventures out of the town so we are denied and sparkling Technicolor landscapes. It does have fans, and it really isn't a bad Western as such, it's just not a good one either. It goes through the motions and wastes a good cast and potential for character dynamism. 5/10 Footnote: Clint Eastwood is in the mix for a walk on part, keep a look out for him.

r96sk

@r96sk

2022-01-07

After an awfully slow opening 30 minutes, 'Star in the Dust' does eventually turn into a decent western flick from 1956. I really didn't enjoy that beginning chunk, which is severely meandering as it's filled with set-up and uninteresting characters. Thankfully things gradually improve, how much I'm not fully sure, to lead into an eventful, at least, finale. I don't have much to note with the cast. John Agar stands out as you'd expect, while future Disney mainstay Harry Morgan is also involved. Clint Eastwood has a minor showing, a few words but nothing more.