Bereamic Awesome Movie

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Mark Edenburn OK, this is a good late 50's western with many familiar faces and stars to be. Fred MacMurray in a serious role is in fine form. Young Robert Vaughan and James Drury both went on to bigger things. And as was noted before, director Nathan Juran had several excellent films to his credit. So, the film has a good pedigree.However, what is George Duning's haunting theme from "3:10 to Yuma" doing in this film? Uncredited "stock" music was commonplace in films and TV, and occasionally it rose above the mundane. But Duning's music was integral to the story in "3:10 to Yuma" in both the Frankie Laine vocal version and the more subdued guitar renditions. Lovely, familiar music was jarringly out of place, to me, in this film.Again, very worthwhile B+ western overall.

benfourtwoday There is some reason why I like this movie. Why I don't know but it sure wasn't for the writing or Robert Vaughn's acting. It's easy to see why they never gave him much as far as big parts or too many lines to speak in scenes in a movies when you watch this. Why they even kept him around in Hollywood is beyond me; this was terrible acting. The writers also must of forgot what they had wrote as well being the man in the beginning who tells Ben the new marshal to be(Fred McMurray) that they should hang the kid, while Ben is trying to tell him how important justice is then a little further into the movie this guy all of a sudden gets oldstimers disease or something because he is now going around saying what a awful guy Ben is for basically telling the truth. It's like they forgot what they wrote in the beginning of the movie. Plus the towns people goes Stepford Wives on us and forgets that their beloved marshal is killed and the poor old sweet lady now widow everyone just seems to forget about and they take up signatures to make sure the guy Robert Vaughn's character the killer doesn't hang, who cares about the poor old lady widow right? Come on now. This would definitely not happen in old west. What really makes me mad is Ben never once defends himself when Vaughn's character basically calls Ben a liar through the whole movie accept for in court of course.Plus he chickens out when they find a gun in the food container his daughter takes in to the jail and doesn't say a thing to the killer of what he's done to his daughter. You disappoint me Fred. The girl all i can say is had it bad. To dis her dad though for a whimpy let me die from these little scratches I want attention chew on the jail bars baby i don't get it but i see that in the real world to so when in Rome i guess. The part where Ben talks to his son to be is touching and i wonder if the guys from My Three Sons picked him because of that scene. With all this inconsistencies in this movie and Robert Vaughns terrible acting there is still something about this movie i like. Maybe because other than Robert there was some good acting going on. Ben the critic

Panamint Basic flaw of the townsfolk: that "just a boy" is incapable of being a hardened criminal. Since when? There are a lot of hardened young criminals. Maybe the producers were trying to distort the Billy the Kid legend?And if you listen carefully you will hear this "just a boy" repeated over and over. As late as minute number 59 on the DVD it is said again by the Marshal's fiancé. Even later almost at the end a group of citizens take up a petition to the governor for clemency (based ultimately back to the "he's just a boy so he..." idea). This simple theme dominates the movie. Was the scriptwriter on a hard focused crusade or something?Nevertheless, MacMurray is great and demonstrates why he kept coming back decade after decade in excellent dramatic roles. Joan Blackman had beauty, charisma, fine acting, was in some quality movies; why did she have such a short starring career? Young method actor Robert Vaughn demonstrates a lot of technique and you can tell how serious he was in those days.The paint of the trim INSIDE the courtroom is literally black, obviously a clumsy attempt to convey injustice. Once again, we are hit with a sledgehammer to drive home the single-minded crusade theme of this movie.But overall the very good acting by all participants keeps this movie interesting and overcomes the deeply flawed concept.

silverscreen888 It's hard to say enough good things about this script. "Good Day For a Hanging" as about a man who tries to warn a town that makes him sheriff when their sheriff is killed during a robbery that if he starts to do his job he will see it through. He was once a robber with the same gang years since, and the sheriff helped him to go straight. They do not believe him; even his daughter turns against him to side with her ex-boy friend, who swears he innocent but was identified by the man as a murderer whose deed was seen with his own eyes. The young man is ordered hanged, and the sheriff stands his grounds, and is vindicated. To this very strong storyline are added many townspeople on both sides of the argument, mostly against the sheriff, played with honesty by Fred MacMurray. The leader of his opponents is played by Edmon Ryan, the sheriff's wife played by fine actress Maggie Hayes and the boy played by Robert Vaughn. The production values are the best of MacMarray's three major westerns, with script by Daniel Ullman, John Reese and Maurice Zimm, taut direction by the great Nathan Juran and cinematography b y Henry Freulich which looks very well. Among the others in the large cast are many familiar actors of quality, including Denver Pyle, Joan Blackman, Kathryn Card, Wendell Homes, Stacey Harris, James Drury, Bing Russell, Russell Thorsen and Howard McNear. There is one good scene after another in this remarkably dramatic and entertaining script; MacMurray is all right but the part could have benefited from a performance by someone with a stronger theatrically-trained voice. The slow build of resentment against the sheriff whose stubbornness may bring the gang down on the town again sets up a grand climactic confrontation and a satisfying ending, vindicating the Sheriff's judgment. A nearly-great western.