I've always liked Sterling Hayden, especially since I read of his wartime heroics. I know he despised himself for naming Communists to HUAC, but having experienced life under Communism I don't blame him for testifying. I watched this film on YouTube even though it's a Western, a genre I loved as a kid but whose simple-minded Good Guys shoot Bad Guys format could be partly to blame for the USA's constant mass shootings, and its immaturity.
Fortunately this isn't a standard Western. The only shot fired comes right at the beginning, when the stagecoach driver is shot (a common fate in that job) and the bullion stolen. After that it becomes a mixture of detective story and courtroom drama: hardly surprising as scriptwriter Seeleg Lester wrote 20 episodes of "Perry Mason." The title refers to Sheriff Hayden's strong sense of duty, which sees him arrest his son for the crime. This being a Hollywood film we know the fresh-faced kid is innocent, but the way Hayden follows the trail of a freshly-minted silver dollar from the bullion is quite intriguing. The courtroom scenes are strongly cast, with Will Wright as the judge, Frank Ferguson as prosecutor, Paul Brinegar (the cook from "Rawhide") as a witness, and above all John Dehner as the defence attorney the sheriff hires. There are other welcome faces in Mort Mills, Walter Sande and King Donovan (the latter belies his name, as he's less than regal and reminds me of another weak-chinned character actor, Henry Jones.) Sidney Salkow directs competently, and my only reservation is that the killer is unmasked because he's the only person in town who knew when the stagecoach was due. Really? Surely the line would have a schedule, which would be available to anyone. How else would passengers know when to catch it?
I must admit that Sterling Hayden at the time was rather inexpressive and had a limited range (later he let rip, particularly in "Dr. Strangelove.") Still, "The Wooden Sheriff" doesn't have quite the same ring.
Fortunately this isn't a standard Western. The only shot fired comes right at the beginning, when the stagecoach driver is shot (a common fate in that job) and the bullion stolen. After that it becomes a mixture of detective story and courtroom drama: hardly surprising as scriptwriter Seeleg Lester wrote 20 episodes of "Perry Mason." The title refers to Sheriff Hayden's strong sense of duty, which sees him arrest his son for the crime. This being a Hollywood film we know the fresh-faced kid is innocent, but the way Hayden follows the trail of a freshly-minted silver dollar from the bullion is quite intriguing. The courtroom scenes are strongly cast, with Will Wright as the judge, Frank Ferguson as prosecutor, Paul Brinegar (the cook from "Rawhide") as a witness, and above all John Dehner as the defence attorney the sheriff hires. There are other welcome faces in Mort Mills, Walter Sande and King Donovan (the latter belies his name, as he's less than regal and reminds me of another weak-chinned character actor, Henry Jones.) Sidney Salkow directs competently, and my only reservation is that the killer is unmasked because he's the only person in town who knew when the stagecoach was due. Really? Surely the line would have a schedule, which would be available to anyone. How else would passengers know when to catch it?
I must admit that Sterling Hayden at the time was rather inexpressive and had a limited range (later he let rip, particularly in "Dr. Strangelove.") Still, "The Wooden Sheriff" doesn't have quite the same ring.