"The Town Tamer" was another of those nostalgic westerns produced by A.C. Lyles featuring a cast of recognizable performers from the past. Modestly budgeted and filmed in color and wide screen they gave many of the performers their last hurrahs.
This one was directed by veteran "B" western director Lesley Selander and is the story of a veteran town tamer marshal Tom Rosser (Dana Andrews) who is hired by the railroad boss James Fell (Barton MacLane) to clean up a town that soon will have the railroad coming in.
The town is under the control of gambler Riley Condor (Bruce Cabot) with whom Rosser has an axe to grind. The town marshal (Lyle Bettger) also has a past he wishes to hide. Rosser meets Susan Tavenner (Terry Moore) on the stagecoach into town and takes a liking to her. Unfortunately, she is married to a tin horn gambler (Deforest Kelley) who is also a wife beater in the employ of Condor.
The town mayor/livery stable owner Charlie Leach (Lon Chaney Jr.) and doctor (Richard Arlen) are trying to raise a vigilante group to take back their town. Condor on the other hand has Deputy Johnny Honsinger (Richard Jaekel)and gunfighter Atkins (Phil Carey) and several allies lined up against them. Rosser not now being a lawman, wants to kill Condor "in his own way".
In addition to those mentioned above, several other veteran performers are in the cast. Pat O'Brien, in an all too brief appearance, plays a dishonest judge, Sonny Tufts and Bob Steele as Condor's vigilantes, Jeanne Cagney as café owner Mary Donley, Donald Barry and Robert Ivers as Texas cowboys and James Brown and Richard Webb as railway workers. Veteran stuntman Dale Van Sickel, who plays a bartender, can clearly be seen doubling for Dana Andrews in the fight scenes.
There's plenty of action including fights, bushwhacking and gun play to satisfy the viewer. It's better than most of the similar films of the period due in large part to the veteran director and the large cast of seasoned veterans.
This one was directed by veteran "B" western director Lesley Selander and is the story of a veteran town tamer marshal Tom Rosser (Dana Andrews) who is hired by the railroad boss James Fell (Barton MacLane) to clean up a town that soon will have the railroad coming in.
The town is under the control of gambler Riley Condor (Bruce Cabot) with whom Rosser has an axe to grind. The town marshal (Lyle Bettger) also has a past he wishes to hide. Rosser meets Susan Tavenner (Terry Moore) on the stagecoach into town and takes a liking to her. Unfortunately, she is married to a tin horn gambler (Deforest Kelley) who is also a wife beater in the employ of Condor.
The town mayor/livery stable owner Charlie Leach (Lon Chaney Jr.) and doctor (Richard Arlen) are trying to raise a vigilante group to take back their town. Condor on the other hand has Deputy Johnny Honsinger (Richard Jaekel)and gunfighter Atkins (Phil Carey) and several allies lined up against them. Rosser not now being a lawman, wants to kill Condor "in his own way".
In addition to those mentioned above, several other veteran performers are in the cast. Pat O'Brien, in an all too brief appearance, plays a dishonest judge, Sonny Tufts and Bob Steele as Condor's vigilantes, Jeanne Cagney as café owner Mary Donley, Donald Barry and Robert Ivers as Texas cowboys and James Brown and Richard Webb as railway workers. Veteran stuntman Dale Van Sickel, who plays a bartender, can clearly be seen doubling for Dana Andrews in the fight scenes.
There's plenty of action including fights, bushwhacking and gun play to satisfy the viewer. It's better than most of the similar films of the period due in large part to the veteran director and the large cast of seasoned veterans.