I've seen a handful of Hopalong Cassidy Westerns in which Robert Mitchum appeared as a heavy (he went by Bob back then), so it was cool to see him in a villainous role at the top of the bill here with Dean Martin. He doesn't come on the scene until a good while into the story but he makes his presence felt forcefully as the newly arrived preacher in Rincon. If you think about it, it didn't take much to establish his character as the killer of the poker game participants that hung a player for cheating. How that all came about is what makes the story interesting.
I had to question Mama Malone's (Ruth Springford) response to the new saloon competitor in town when she described her marketing plan as 'good liquor, a few card games and no girls'. Two out of three ain't bad, but Van Morgan (Dean Martin) would have had a problem with that last one even if he was a long time friend of Mama. Maybe if Lily Langford (Inger Stevens) offered the first two she could have owned the whole town. Speaking of which, her prices for a shave ($1.00), a haircut ($2.50) and a shampoo ($3.00) seemed kind of steep for the 1880's compared to other era Westerns I've seen. The $20.00 Miscellaneous fee sounded about right.
I guess I'd have to question the casting of Roddy McDowall in the picture as the guy pulling strings with Preacher Rudd (Mitchum). Setting aside his British background, he just didn't seem to be the right choice to portray a Western bad guy. Be that as it may, I thought it was rather generous of Van Morgan to cover for Nick Evers' (McDowall) complicity in the murders by chalking up his death to getting 'on to the Preacher'. Heading on to Denver, he'd be the only one to know better.
I had to question Mama Malone's (Ruth Springford) response to the new saloon competitor in town when she described her marketing plan as 'good liquor, a few card games and no girls'. Two out of three ain't bad, but Van Morgan (Dean Martin) would have had a problem with that last one even if he was a long time friend of Mama. Maybe if Lily Langford (Inger Stevens) offered the first two she could have owned the whole town. Speaking of which, her prices for a shave ($1.00), a haircut ($2.50) and a shampoo ($3.00) seemed kind of steep for the 1880's compared to other era Westerns I've seen. The $20.00 Miscellaneous fee sounded about right.
I guess I'd have to question the casting of Roddy McDowall in the picture as the guy pulling strings with Preacher Rudd (Mitchum). Setting aside his British background, he just didn't seem to be the right choice to portray a Western bad guy. Be that as it may, I thought it was rather generous of Van Morgan to cover for Nick Evers' (McDowall) complicity in the murders by chalking up his death to getting 'on to the Preacher'. Heading on to Denver, he'd be the only one to know better.