André De Toth's odd western stars Robert Ryan as an angry gunslinger feuding with a local farmer and coveting the farmer's sexy wife. Before Ryan can have it out with the farmer, a band of outlaws hit town and a tense psychodrama ensues. While the acting is uniformly excellent, this film is so devoid of any style it's hard to imagine what De Toth was after. Ryan and Burl Ives (as the lead bad guy) are excellent and the snowy imagery (it's set in the mountains of Wyoming) is different, but the plot is anemic. With zero close-ups of any of the actors, it's tough to get too deeply invested in what happens to any of these characters. Tina Louise and David Nelson are in it too. The rousing music is by Alexander Courage.
Review of Day of the Outlaw
