Burt Mustin Movies
Life literally began at 60 for American actor Burt Mustin, who didn't enter show business until that age and didn't make his film debut until Detective Story (1951), at which time he was 68. After a decade of uncredited movie roles as hillbilly patriarchs and Town's Oldest Citizens, Mustin began getting name recognition for numerous TV appearances in the late '50s and early '60s. The actor was a particular favorite of producer/actor Jack Webb, who cast Mustin several times on Dragnet; in one episode Burt was an octogenarian burglar, and in another was a retired detective who solved a murder case - and chewed out a young cop for not knowing the proper way to take fingerprints! Situation comedy producers made good use of Burt Mustin as well, and he was featured in innumerable cameos on such programs as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Get Smart and The Jack Benny Program, usually stealing most of the laughs from the stars. Mustin had regular TV roles as eccentric neighbor Finley on Date with the Angels, Gus the Fireman on Leave It to Beaver, barber shop patron Jud Crowley on The Andy Griffith Show, the amorous senior-citizen husband of Queenie Smith on The Funny Side, and nursing-home refugee Justin Quigley on All in the Family. Mustin got the biggest press coverage of his career when, in character as Arthur Lanson, he married Mother Dexter - played by 82-year-old Judith Lowry - on the December 13, 1976 episode of Phyllis. It was a hilarious and, in retrospect, poignant moment in TV history: Judith Lowry had died a few days before the program was aired, and Burt Mustin, who was too ill to watch the show, passed away six weeks later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Gerald Mayer proved once more that he had talent above and beyond being the nephew of MGM-head Louis B. Mayer with his direction of The Sellout. The story begins with a bang, as big-city newspaper editor Haven Allridge (Walter Pidgeon) falls victim to the small-town tyranny of corrupt sheriff Kellwin C. Burke (Thomas Gomez). Poised to launch an investigation of Burke's underhanded activities, Allridge is suddenly intimidated into silence. Crusading state's attorney Chick Johnson (John Hodiak) discovers that Burke is keeping Allridge quiet by threatening to reveal the criminal activities of Allridge's son-in-law Randy Stanton (Cameron Mitchell). The final reels illustrate the thesis of Edmund Burke that evil will triumph so long as good men do nothing -- except that this time, they do something. Though hardly a big-budget effort, The Sellout boasts an unusually strong cast, including the aforementioned actors, as well as Karl Malden and Everett Sloane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Pidgeon, Paula Raymond, (more)
Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Detective Story was praised for its realistic view of an event-filled day in a single police precinct station. The film, directed by meticulous taskmaster William Wyler, manages to retain this realism, even allowing for the star-turn performance of Kirk Douglas. A stickler for the letter of the law, Detective James McLeod (Douglas) is not averse to using strong-arm methods on criminals and witnesses alike in bringing lawbreakers to justice. He is particularly rough on a first-time offender (Craig Hill), on whom the rest of the force is willing to go easy because of the anguish of his girlfriend (Cathy O'Donnell). But McLeod's strongest invective is reserved for shady abortion doctor Karl Schneider (George MacReady); McLeod all but ruins the case against Schneider by beating him up in the patrol wagon. When McLeod discovers that his own wife (Eleanor Parker) had many years earlier lost a baby in one of Schneider's operations, and that the baby's father was gangster Tami Giacoppetti (Gerald Mohr), it is too much for the detective to bear. Punctuating the grim proceedings with brief moments of humor is future Oscar winner Lee Grant, reprising her stage role as a timorous shoplifter; it would be her last Hollywood assignment until the early 1960s, thanks to the iniquities of the blacklist. Despite small concessions to Hollywood censorship, Detective Story largely upheld the power of its theatrical original, and it forms a clear precursor to such latter-day urban police dramas as NYPD Blue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, (more)
- 1952
Young Robert Fontaine, Jr. (Billy Gray) lives with his hard-working father (George Murphy) and mother (Nancy Davis), who is soon to give birth to a second child, on their northern California citrus farm. He's lonely on the farm and has been saving to buy a dog. One day, a mysterious stranger (Kurt Kasznar), who gives his name as Matlock, moves into the empty house adjacent to the farm -- he's not only highly strung but downright hostile to any friendly overtures that Robert Sr. or anyone else makes. Meanwhile, young Robert finds a stray dog that he adopts, and his whole life seems to blossom with his new companion -- but one day he finds the dog dead. He becomes fixated on the notion that Matlock poisoned the dog, and insists that his father do something -- but when Matlock angrily denies knowing about it, the boy's frustrations start to build. He tries to report to the poisoning to the police; when they won't help, he tries to get Mr. Wardlaw (Lewis Stone), the owner of the newspaper that he delivers, to run a news story about it, and when Wardlaw tries to reason with the boy, his rage finally boils over and he goes out-of-control. The boy decides to try and gather evidence against Matlock and follows a trail that takes him across the state hitchhiking, to the home of the former owner of the house Matlock is living in, and there he confronts a rumor that the other man was murdered. Stories and whispers begin to spread through the town about Matlock that make him seem even more sinister. The populace are getting stirred up, and Robert Jr., in his rage, commits an act of vandalism that threatens the entire community. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Murphy, Nancy Davis, (more)
- 1952
Blue-collar gal Henrietta Smith (Anne Sheridan) is mistaken for a woman of wealth by plumber Fred Newcombe (John Lund). Henrietta goes along with Fred's error when the opportunity presents itself to bring in much-needed revenue for herself and her inebriate father (Cecil Kellaway). The comic situations pile up thick and fast, culminating in an imagined romantic quadrangle involving Henrietta, Fred, banker Walter Medford (Robert Keith) and Medford's dizzy wife Gertrude (Natalie Schafer). One would have thought that Anne Sheridan had outgrown this sort of nonsense back in the 1940s, but she gamely attacks the material as though everything in the storyline is happening for the first time. The expert lineup of supporting laughmakers includes Harvey Lembeck, Alan Mowbray and Burt Mustin (playing old men even back then!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, John Lund, (more)
- 1952
- NR
The titular Lusty Men are rodeo riders in this modern-day western, assembled with a touch of the offbeat by director Nicholas Ray. Former rodeo star Robert Mitchum, disabled by a series of accidents, hobbles back to his Oklahoma hometown in hopes of replenishing his bank account. Aspiring bronco-buster Arthur Kennedy hires Mitchum to train him for an upcoming rodeo, promising that they'll split the winnings. It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that Mitchum will soon fall hard for Kennedy's wife Susan Hayward; she can take Mitchum or leave him, but decides to take him so that he'll continue to train Kennedy. After a falling out, Mitchum quits his job and enters the rodeo himself, hoping to win the prize from the arrogant Kennedy. He proves he still has what it takes, but does so at the price of his life. The Lusty Men was co-adapted by one-time cowboy David Dotort from a Life magazine story by Claude Stannish. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1952
Lloyd Bacon wrapped up his lengthy directorial career with the innocuous comedy She Couldn't Say No. "She" is a young heiress named Corby (Jean Simmons), who visits the small town of Progress, Arkansas, hoping to repay a good deed. It seems that, when Corby was a child, the villagers had all donated money to pay for her life-saving operation. Now she intends to reward the villagers by anonymously donating all sorts of financial boons and civic improvements. This serves only to stir up resentment against our well-intentioned heroine. Particularly offended is local doctor Robert Mitchum, who rightly sees Corby's beneficence as an invitation for every hustler and con-artist on earth to descend upon Progress. What Doc Mitchum can't foresee (though the audience can) is that he'll fall head over heels in love with Corby before fadeout time. With She Couldn't Say No, Jean Simmons fulfilled her contractual obligations to RKO, freeing her for more prestigious assignments like Desiree and Guys and Dolls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, (more)
Although a few character names and minor details are different, Vicki is a fairly faithful remake of the 1941 murder melodrama I Wake Up Screaming. The title character, Vicki Lynn, played by Jean Peters, is a waitress who is transformed into a top fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid). When Vicki is murdered, psychotic detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to pin the blame on Christopher. In fact, Cornell knows who the real killer is, but he was so desperately (and hopelessly) in love with the dead girl that he intends to railroad Christopher into the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the genuine culprit and exposes Cornell for the nutcase that he is. Featured in the cast is future TV producer Aaron Spelling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters, (more)
- 1953
Filmmaker Hugo Haas unfolds his usual cautionary "old man-young woman" story in One Girl's Confession. Perennial Haas leading lady Cleo Moore stars as Mary Adams, whose first step on the road to ruin is a $25,000 robbery. Mary hides the money, then confesses to the crime, secure in the belief that she can dig up the loot upon her release from prison. A few years later, Mary is placed on probation, whereupon she takes a waitressing job at the seaside eatery run by Dragomie Damitrof (Haas). A chronic gambler, Damitrof is on the verge of losing his café when Mary offers to loan him money. When Damitrof begins spending cash like a sailor, Mary is convinced that he's located her hidden loot, whereupon she hits him on the noggin and leaves him for dead. Deciding that the money is too much trouble, Mary donates the rest of the loot to an orphanage and confesses to Damitrof's murder. But that's not the end of the story .... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, (more)
- 1953
Disreputable wanderer Wes Anderson (Fred MacMurray) has been thrown in a frontier town calaboose, accused of being a "moonlighter" -- a cowpuncher who herds cattle by day and steals them by night. When Anderson escapes from jail, another man is falsely accused of Wes' crimes and is promptly lynched. Driven by guilt and revenge, Wes is determined to punish those responsible for the hanging, and to pay for a decent funeral for the innocent victim. In doing this, however, Wes turns from moonlighting to bank robbing, and it is up to his erstwhile sweetheart, Rela (Barbara Stanwyck) to bring him to justice. Along the way, Wes' criminal tendencies have tragic consequences for his hero-worshipping brother, Tom (William Ching). Originally released in 3-D, The Moonlighter is currently available only in 2-D, its only novelty value being the re-teaming of Double Indemnity stars Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (who would again work together three years later in the low-key domestic drama There's Always Tomorrow). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1953
In 1945, James Cagney, through his independent production company, bought the rights to a lurid novel by Adria Locke Langley, concerning the rise of a Southern demagogue, loosely based on the political career of Huey Long. By the time the film finally went into production and was released in 1953, the film became an also-ran, trailing behind Robert Rossen's Oscar-winning production All the King's Men, which concerned the same subject. The film, directed by Raoul Walsh, never escapes from the towering shadows of the Rossen film, so it becomes, in the end, a matter of preference for the lead character -- whether one prefers the looming intimidation of Broderick Crawford or the brisk pugnacity of James Cagney. Cagney plays swamp peddler Hank Martin, who tries to ride into the governor's mansion in a backroad Southern state by making a crusade out of the plight of the poor and impoverished majority of the state. He begins his political assent by leading a sharecropper's revolt against the rip-offs the sharecroppers are receiving at the local cotton mill. But things become more intense and Hank Martin sows the seeds of his own destruction when he makes a deal with a local, crooked political boss in order to get ahead in his political career. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1953
The Silver Whip stars Dale Robertson as Race Crim, the guard on a stage coach driven by his best friend, young Jess Harker (Robert Wagner). Wounded during a holdup, Crim vows to get even with bandit Slater (John Kellogg). Meanwhile, Harker, fired from his job as driver, manages to become the deputy for Sheriff Tom Davisson (Rory Calhoun). When the sheriff captures Slater and throws him in jail, a lynch mob, headed by Crim, converges upon the jailhouse. Harker is placed in a delicate dilemma: should he protect Slater and uphold justice, or should he allow his old friend Crim to satisfy his thirst for vengeance? The Silver Whip was based on a novel by Jack Schaefer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Rory Calhoun, (more)
Filmed on location at Montana's Glacier National Park, Cattle Queen of Montana makes excellent use of the diverse talents of Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan. Stanwyck is cast as Sierra Nevada Jones, who hopes to stake her claim in the cattle business despite opposition from hostile land barons. She is helped along by government agent Farrell, even though he's officially on hand to find out who's been inciting the local Indian tribes into attacking the whites. Lance Fuller delivers a well-balanced performance as Colorados, a college-educated Indian chief who hopes to bring peace to the land. Long a fixture of TV's Late Late Shows, Cattle Queen of Montana was briefly reissued theatrically when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, (more)
Next to Slightly Scarlet, Silver Lode is the best of the many 1950s collaborations between producer Benedict Bogaeus and director Allan Dwan. Clearly inspired by High Noon, the story covers three hours in the lives of a group of westerners. As the townsfolk prepare for the Fourth of July celebration, stranger Dan Duryea rides into view, followed by three tough-looking hombres. Duryea claims to be as US marshal, and further claims that he has a warrant for the arrest of the town popular sheriff, John Payne. A few hours away from his marriage to Lizabeth Scott, Payne assumes that no one will believe the troublemaking Duryea, and that his spotless record will speak for itself. But since it is impossible to confirm or deny Duryea's allegations, the seeds of doubt are planted in the minds of the townspeople, and before long virtually all of Payne's "friends" have turned against him. It soon becomes clear to the movie audience that Duryea is lying, especially after he guns down one of his own men. But Duryea is able to pin the blame of the killing on Payne, and in a twinkling the sheriff is a hunted man. The only person willing to give Payne the benefit of the doubt is town trollop Dolores Moran (Mrs. Benedict Bogeaus), who hides the sheriff while telegrapher Frank Sully tries to find out if Duryea is telling the truth. Building slowly and methodically to a slam-bang climax, Silver Lode is an above-average psychological western--and, like many "guilt by supsicion" films of the 1950s, a thinly veiled attack on McCarthyism. Best line: when Duryea bursts into Dolores' boudoir to see if Payne is hiding under the bed, she moans "Oh, what is this? A French farce?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, (more)
Cameron Hawley's novel Executive Suite appeared around the same time as two other tales of big-business intrigue, the 1954 film A Woman's World and the 1955 Rod Serling teleplay Patterns. Elements of all three properties inevitably overlap. In Executive Suite, a furniture-store executive dies suddenly, resulting in a power play between five of his vice presidents. Julia O. Tredway (Barbara Stanwyck), daughter of the company founder and mistress of the president, must choose between solid family man McDonald Walling (William Holden), blackmail-prone Josiah Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas), ruthless Loren Phineas Shaw (Fredric March), duplicitous George Nyle Caswell (Louis Calhern), and eternal corporate bridesmaid Frederick Y. Alderson (Walter Pidgeon). Only Walling, the most honest of the bunch, refuses to campaign for the presidential chair. Despite the presence of the A-list leads and of supporting actors Shelley Winters, Dean Jagger, and Nina Foch, Executive Suite is a true ensemble effort, with everyone carrying like weight onscreen. The property was later adapted into a TV series, which owed more to Dallas than it did to the Hawley novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, June Allyson, (more)
- 1954
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) rush to the small sanitarium where hoodlum Gus Valentine, recuperating from two previous attempts on his life, has been shot and killed. Normally, this would be a case of "good riddance to bad rubbish"--except that an innocent nurse has also been killed in the crossfire. The trail of clues leads the detectives to the girlfriend (Virginia Gregg) of one of the triggermen. In the episode's highlight, important evidence is provided by an elderly witness to Valentine's murder, played by the ever-venerable Burt Mustin. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of March 30, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Included are four Christmas episodes from '50s television shows: A Date with the Angels, Racket Squad, The Ruggles and Dragnet. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel and play by Joseph Hayes, which in turn was inspired by an actual event, The Desperate Hours is the prototypical "family-trapped-by-criminals" drama. Escaped convicts Humphrey Bogart, Robert Middleton and Dewey Martin, seeking an appropriate hideout until they can make contact with their money supply, deliberately choose the suburban home of Fredric March and his family. The cold-blooded Bogart wants no trouble with the police, and he knows he can cower a family with children into cooperating with him. The convict orders March, his wife Martha Scott, and their children Richard Eyer and Mary Murphy, to go about their normal activities so as not to arouse suspicion. Young Eyer, upset that March won't lift a hand against Bogart, assumes that his father is a coward. The authorities are alerted when March, at Bogart's behest, draws money for the convict's getaway from the bank. Pushed to the breaking point, March begins subtly turning the tables on the convicts. Bogart's character in Desperate Hours was originally written for a much younger man, which explains why Paul Newman was able to play the part in the original Broadway production. The film was slated to co-star Bogart with his old pal Spencer Tracy, but this plan fell through when the two actors couldn't agree on who would get top billing. Desperate Hours was remade in 1991 with Mickey Rourke in the Bogart role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, (more)
- 1956
The MGM melodrama These Wilder Years marked the first onscreen pairing of Hollywood stars James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck. Lonely middle-aged businessman Steve Bradford (Cagney) returns to his old town in hopes of finding the son he fathered 20 years earlier. Choosing his career over marriage and family, he got a girl pregnant and she gave the baby up for adoption. He goes to an orphanage ran by Ann Dempster (Barbara Stanwyck) to find out information about his son. They are attracted to each other, but she refuses to release the confidential files that could help him. He hires a lawyer, James Rayburn (Walter Pigeon), and proceeds to sue the adoption agency. Though he loses the case in the climactic courtroom scene, Steve ends up finding his son on his own, but he decides it's too late to forge a relationship. Instead, Ann introduces him to pregnant teenager Suzie (Betty Lou Keim), who needs his help. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, (more)
- 1956
Trouble brews when a widowed, small town librarian takes a stand against censorship. The trouble begins when the town fathers ask that she remove a book from the shelf because they deem it a pro-communist tract and fear it will taint susceptible young minds. She sees the idiocy of their request and defies them. They in turn fire her and replace her with her old friend and assistant. The town judge considers the whole mess a gross miscarriage of justice and demands a trial. This gives an ambitious young lawyer, the boyfriend of the new librarian the opportunity to do a little grandstanding by publicly proclaiming the highly-principled widow a communist. The poor woman suddenly finds herself the town pariah; her only remaining friend is a small boy she used to talk to in the library. He plays a key role in restoring her good name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Kim Hunter, (more)
- 1957
It sure doesn't take Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) very long to get into trouble as Leave It to Beaver launches its first season on the air (and its only season on CBS). Matter of fact, Beav's in the doghouse in the very first episode -- or at least he thinks he is. When his teacher Miss Canfield (Diane Brewster) hands Beaver a sealed note to give to his mom and dad, his classmates Whitey (Stanley Fafara) and Judy (Jeri Weil) convince him that he's going to get expelled -- or, as he puts it, "spelled." Thus it is that Beav and big brother Wally go to great and inordinate lengths to hide the note from parents Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley). Like many other first-season episodes, this one opens with a "preview," narrated by Hugh Beaumont. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Brewster, Burt Mustin, (more)
- 1957
Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, (more)
Director Leo McCarey was clearly past his prime when he made this screen version of Max Shulman's comic novel Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys; still, the film was a success, no small thanks to the star power of real-life husband and wife Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The scene is Putnam's Landing, Connecticut, where commuter Harry Bannerman (Paul Newman) is driven crazy by his wife Grace's (Joanne Woodward) insistence upon joining every civic committee known to man. When the government chooses Putnam's Landing as the location for their new missile base, Grace immediately joins a committee to halt this project-which causes no end of trouble for Air Force reservist Harry, who is expected to be the government's liason man for the new base. Adding to the dilemma is local vamp Angela Hoffa (Joan Collins), whose efforts to get her lunchhooks into Harry lead to a dizzying series of recriminations and misunderstandings. Satirical barbs are aimed at military stupidity (as personified by thick-eared Captain Hoxie, played by Jack Carson), small-town hypocrisy, and the teenaged "beat" craze. Among the supporting players are Dwayne Hickman and Tuesday Weld, cast respectively as Marlon Brando wannabe Grady Metcalf and nubile high-schooler Comfort Goodpasture (!); within a year of this film, Hickman and Weld would be reunited on the TV series Dobie Gillis, likewise based on a Max Shulman novel. Also appearing are reliable comedy foil Gale Gordon and an uncredited Murvyn Vye as Angela Hoffa's neglectful husband. Considered fairly racy in 1958, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys seems slightly childish and draggy today; one wonders how it would have fared had Leo McCarey been at the height of his powers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, (more)
In The Big Country Gregory Peck plays a seafaring man who heads west to marry Carroll Baker, the daughter of rancher Charles Bickford. Bickford is currently embroiled in a water-rights feud with covetous Burl Ives, so both he and his daughter are hoping that Peck can take care of himself. But Peck, who doesn't belief in fisticuffs, appears to be a coward, especially when challenged by Bickford's cocksure foreman Charlton Heston. The far-from-cowardly Peck decides to distance himself from the machismo overload at the Bickford spread, settling for a romance with headstrong schoolmarm Jean Simmons, whose water-rich lands are being fought over by the two warring ranchers. When Jean is kidnapped by Ives' no-good son Chuck Connors, Peck decides to take action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, (more)
- 1958
The first episode of Maverick's second season may be the last appearance of Bret Maverick (James Garner) unless he does some quick thinking. When the town of Hallelujah is robbed of $40,000, the bandit plants incriminating evidence on poor Bret--who as a result is sentenced to hang. In order to avoid having his neck stretched, Bret cuts a deal with Sheriff Tucker (Ray Teal), offering to locate the stolen money and provide the sheriff with a percentage of the loot. Of course, the fact that Bret has no idea where the money is might prove problematic as the hour of his execution approaches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
