User Reviews

During the first fast moving 20 minutes of "One Foot in Hell," I was treated to a terrific performance by Alan Ladd. Ladd, one of the most underrated leading men of the 40s and 50s could easily carry a movie. Like the underrated Glenn Ford, it's uncanny how Ladd does it. Ladd's a better lead than ensemble player; his performances in "Shane" and "The Carpetbaggers" are practically colorless. However, in "One Foot in Hell," Ladd's performance hearkens back to his pre-alcoholic days of "This Gun For Hire" and "Chicago Deadline". Too bad the movie shifts gears till, by two-thirds of the way through, Ladd has become a supporting player in his own movie. Instead of Ladd, we are now subjected to the hammy dominance of Don Murray, one of the worst over-actors of the 50s. This decision seems to have been made mid-production, as the story could have certainly gone another way.

Ladd plays a husband whose life is irrevocably changed by the cynicism, suspicion and downright stupid actions of four prominent citizens of a small town over a 20 minute period. These actions collectively result in the death of Ladd's wife. While appearing to stoically accept this tragic situation, Ladd plots revenge against the citizens and the town.

WARNING: SPOILERS Instead of opting for the relatively predictable "good man turns bad" plot device, and making Ladd thoroughly reprehensible, a far better decision would have been for Ladd to have discovered at a late date from the doctor that the medicine denied his would wife would have only relieved her suffering, rather than saving her. This would have been more realistic, even given today's technology, and it would have left Ladd with a moral dilemma: should he go through with the gang's plans or save the town which had tried so hard to gain his forgiveness. Had the producers allowed such a storyline, "One Foot in Hell" would be remembered right up there with "Red River," "The Searchers," "High Noon" and "3:10 to Yuma," rather than dismissed as a run-of-the-mill western."

END OF SPOILERS

Dan O'Herlihy, another great 50s actor is wasted in what should have been a much more interesting role. The last third of "One Foot in Hell" appears rushed, again leading to suspicions the ending was not the one originally intended. Who knows? Maybe Ladd's alcohol demons were becoming too much of a problem.

Even as presented, "One Foot in Hell" has too many good elements to be casually dismissed. Rather than remaking "3:10 to Yuma" I'd much prefer they do this one with the ending I have suggested. Russell Crowe would be perfect in the Ladd role.

I give "One Foot in Hell" a strong "6".

I first discovered it when I was a kid. 13 years old. I suddenly knew what an offbeat film was. It's a cult movie for me. I will not say better than the other users, but just tell my personal feelings, if you don't mind.

It begins with the usual hero scheme. Poor one. Alone against all, against injustice. You expect him to get repair for what he lives. You suffer for him.

And during the movie, you discover that he is in fact the heavy, the bad guy of the feature. With palliating circumstances, OK, but notwithstanding the bad guy. You understand that when he seems to point Dolores Michaels with his gun, in the hotel room, during the recruiting moment. Recruiting crew for robbing the bank of the city which killed his wife. And then you are astonished. You don't expect that at all. It's a wonderful moment for me. Surprising.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

And, at the end, just before he dies after his struggle against Don Murray, killed by the girl - Dolores Michaels, Don Murray's girlfriend - you can see him watching, and for the last time, the little locket with his wife's picture in it. The genesis of his tragedy. And you remember why he came such a monster.

In Joseph newman's FORT MASSACRE, Joel McCrea's character had also his family killed - by Indians - which pushed McCrea's character to become a vicious revengeful Indian killer, and also by the end of this western, it was shown a locket with inside the pictures of his dead family, that explained why he became such a bloodthirsty Indian hunter.

I always compare FORT MASSACRE and ONE FOOT IN HELL because of both characters of Alan Ladd and Joel Mc Crea, good guys becoming nearly evil characters. Dan Durya was also like this in Spencer Gordon Bennet's BOUNTY KILLER. Interesting scheme.

It's absolutely poignant. I LOVED THAT. UNFORGETTABLE.

This film is perhaps not a masterpiece, but probably my favourite one above thousands of others.

Period.

"One Foot in Hell" gave Alan Ladd an opportunity to play a nasty character for a change. And nasty he is.

Ladd plays Mitch Garrett whose wife dies tragically while he is out trying to obtain the medicine that she needs. There are three incidents which change the course of Garrett's life. First, the hotel clerk demands payment for a room that Garrett doesn't have causing an unnecessary delay, second the doctor (Larry Gates) prescribes medicine for Garrett's wife which attempts to get, third, the storekeeper (John Alexander) refuses to let him have the medicine over a paltry $1.87 and fourth, Garrett is further delayed by the Sheriff (Karl Swenson). When Garrett finally reaches his wife with the medicine he finds that she has died in the interval.

Garrett is devastated over his loss and secretly vows to exact his revenge on the town. He concocts an elaborate plan to rob the town of $100K which is in the bank to buy cattle. First though, he gains the town's confidence to the point where he is appointed town Sheriff.

Then, to set his ultimate plan in motion, he recruits a ream consisting of Dan Keats (Don Murray) a boozy bitter Confederate veteran and artist, a supposed aristocrat Sir Harry Ivers (Dan O'Herlihy), a saloon girl Julie Reynolds (Dolores Michaels) and a gunfighter Stu Christian (Barry Coe) to assist him. Then Garrett begins to exact his revenge but then....................................................

The part of Mitch Garrett gave Alan Ladd an rare chance to display his under appreciated acting talents. In the scenes at the beginning when he is trying to save his wife, he displays fear, anxiety and frustration over the unnecessary delays he encounters. When he learns of his wife's death, Ladd moves from a look of panic to a look of hate against those who had delayed him and finally at the cemetery, you can see from the expressions on Ladd's fate that he is planning his revenge.

It was unusual to see Ladd play a totally unsavory character. He even gets to murder a couple of people in cold blood as well as orchestrating the murder of others. He does so quite convincingly.

The film was made in CinemaScope and we are given the usual array of wide screen shots of the surrounding plains and mountains albeit beautifully photographed. We also see several scenes of cattle drives (which appear to be stock footage).

Ladd takes the acting kudos in this film. Murray with his Actor's School delivery, tries very hard to be a convincing drunken artist. Michaels is good, particularly in the scene where she discusses her past. O'Herlihy has little to do after his introduction and Coe is good as the gunman.

One of Alan Ladd's better late career films.

I absolutely loved this movie.I saw it on Encore for the first time a few nights ago.I've never seen Alan Ladd in a sinister type role.This movie reminded me of a more romantic earlier version of High Plains Drifter.Revenge is sweet!Maybe I'm just an Alan Ladd fan at heart but I thought this movie was great and I'm looking for a copy of it.I can't understand why he is referred to as "psychotic".I could almost feel his pain when he finally got to his wife with the medicine 2 minutes too late because of compassion-lacking townspeople.I didn't fall in love with the ending;I thought of his character as the good guy in the entire movie.Wish he had've gotten revenge without killing yet making those responsible pay for what they helped cause.Overall,great "western"!

...but not by much.

First off, you have to be willing to accept Alan Ladd as the "bad guy". Certainly against type. And, you have to accept the idea that revenge is always worth it; there's plenty of revenge in this flick. And, to be honest, Ladd looks old and worn out here.

Second, it's one of those films where there isn't a single "good guy" to root for. Some might say, "Well, what about the townspeople?" Well, they're the ones that caused Ladd to want revenge.

The main supporting cast -- Don Murray as the drunk Confederate, Dan O'Herlihy as a cohort, Dolores Michaels as a bar girl who joins in on the revenge, and Barry Coe who plays a sharp shooter -- all do their jobs. But they're pretty unlikable. Murray's character is a hopeless drunk, who suddenly sobers up as a way to end the movie, and frankly that part of the plot is pretty ludicrous.

I can't recommend this.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I went to see this movie in 1961, when I was fourteen, and I thought it was an excellent psychological Western with an offbeat theme. Alan Ladd plays a hate-crazed ex-Confederate who takes a violent revenge on the townsfolk of Blue Springs, Arizona, whose initial indifferance led to his wife dying in childbirth when they first arrived in the town. The townspeople are contrite, doing all they can to make amends...even giving Ladd the job of Deputy Sheriff. But secretly, Ladd is full of hatred for them and, while out hunting rustlers with the Sheriff, he murders him in cold blood and, bringing his body back to town, blames the outlaws for the killing. Now, the townsfolk make him Sheriff and he sets about forming a gang in nearby Royce City to help him rob the Blue Springs bank of $100,000, kill all those he blames for his wife's death, and burn the town to the ground. Two of the gang (Don Murray and Dolores Michaels), left to look after the gang's log cabin hideout, fall in love and want no part in the plans. After the raid is over, Ladd guns down the other gang members (Dan O'Herlihy and Barry Coe) and goes after the lovers, intent on killing them, too. A terrific fight ensues between Ladd and Murray and Ladd is killed. Hoping the town will forgive them, Murray and Michaels take the stolen money back to Blue Springs. Although Ladd is unusually convincing as a baddie, the film really belongs to Murray and Michaels. Their romantic scenes together on the banks of a sunlit woodland stream are beautifully played against a haunting score by Dominic Frontiere. If the film has a message, it must be that hatred is like an acid. It will eat into your soul and kill you before you die.

This is one of the last performances in Alan Ladd's career and it shows. The effects of alcoholism have left him puffy and only a shadow of his former self. In a few scenes, his acting was lethargic and poor (particularly in the beginning when Ladd should have played it much more emotionally charged), though at others he did look like the old Alan Ladd. However, despite this less than stellar performance, the film still is well worth viewing because the story idea is so unique. While NOT always executed well and having a few lulls here and there, there are enough twists and turns and surprises to make it rise above the glutted Western genre. In fact, in general I don't like Westerns because so many seem formulaic and routine--but this one has a few nice and unique twists.

The film begins with Ladd and his pregnant wife arriving late at night in a small town in the old West. Despite the woman being in obvious pain and being on the verge of dying, Ladd is amazed to see how indifferent most of the men are who he appeals to for help. The motel clerk, the druggist and the sheriff all expend no effort to help and in fact hinder Ladd getting needed medicine to his wife, who subsequently dies. Ladd appears grief-stricken but accepting of this as an accident and agrees to stay on as the town's deputy sheriff--though beneath it all he has a plan for exacting his revenge upon the townsfolk.

While covertly assembling a motley group to rob the town, it becomes clear that Ladd is indeed crazed--sort of like a land-bound Captain Ahab. And, it also becomes clear that the town isn't that bad--just a few jerks who initially tainted Ladd's view of the place. How all this is resolved actually surprised me, as by this point in his career, Ladd always seemed to play a good guy--here he was rather terrible and conniving.

As I said above, Ladd's performance is the biggest weakness in the film. However, if you get past this and a couple lulls here and there, there are enough good moments and plot ideas to make this a keeper.

Copyright 1960 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at neighborhood theaters: 19 October 1960. U.S. release: July 1960. U.K. release: 11 September 1960. Australian release: 29 December 1960. 8,076 feet. 90 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: It is a tattered and exhausted, but grimly determined, Mitch Barrett (Alan Ladd) who whips his staggering mules into the small town of Blue Springs, Arizona, in the middle of the night in search of an hotel room and a doctor for his wife, Ellie (Rachel Stephens), long overdue in her pregnancy. Carrying his moaning wife in his arms, Mitch lurches into the lobby of the town's one hotel and kicks at the desk until the grumbling proprietor, George Caldwell (Henry Norell), emerges. Mitch explains their dire need for a room, but Caldwell will not let them one step past the desk until Mitch has surrendered his last two dollars in advance payment. With Ellie safely in bed, Mitch pleads with Caldwell to get a doctor, but he stubbornly refuses to leave the premises, forcing Mitch to leave his wife to search out the town's doctor. Frantic, he finally locates Doc Seltzer (Larry Gates) and rushes him back to the hotel. After a quick examination, the doctor explains that Ellie is very low and sends Mitch to the general store for a vitally needed medicine. At the general store, the awakened proprietor, Sam Giller (John Alexander), proceeds to mix the preparation at a maddeningly slow pace. When it is finally finished, he turns to Mitch and tells him the charge will be one dollar and eighty-seven cents. Mitch reaches into his pocket, then remembers, the hotel took his last cent. Explaining to Giller the monumental urgency involved, he offers to pay the following day. He even offers his team and wagon in payment; but Giller refuses. Out of his mind with worry, Mitch pulls his gun, leveling it at Giller, and takes the medicine. As Mitch runs from the store with the medicine, Giller follows him into the street, shouting for the sheriff. Racing to the hotel, Mitch is just passing the sheriff's office when the door bursts open and Sheriff Olson (Karl Swenson) steps into his path. In a moment, Mitch is disarmed and taken into the jail. Mitch pleads with the sheriff to take the medicine to his wife, but the lawman continues to check his wanted posters while Giller describes how he was robbed. Finally, the sheriff agrees to check Mitch's story. Together, they go to the hotel. When the sheriff finally confronts the doctor, it is too late. Ellie is dead.

NOTES: Originally titled "The Last Man", Aaron Spelling's teleplay was aired on Playhouse 90 around March 1958. John Frankenheimer directed the playwright's wife (Carolyn Jones) and Sterling Hayden.

COMMENT: A forceful script is let down by weak direction which allows much of the power and impact of an essentially gripping situation to be dissipated by ragged acting, slow pacing and inept compositions.

Fortunately, enough of the story's strength survives James B. Clark's clumsy handling to hold an audience's attention throughout. Ladd does well by an uncharacteristic role. Clark's background was in film editing (53 credits) and television (at least 60 episodes). Interspersed with his TV assignments, he made around 14 theatrical movies, including this one.

Is this a flawless film? Not at all. However, it is much better than most people give it credit for. It is very obvious that Alan Ladd was in bad shape (Much sicker then he was in "Shane" (Let alone "The Glass Key")). But Ladd in a Western is always worth watching. In fact, he was one of our greatest Western Stars (And not just for "Shane"). It is unusual to see him as a villain ("This Gun For Hire" was the only other one that comes to mind), and his Mitch Garrett is a real evil character. Spoilers Ahead: People overlook the fact, he is not a sympathetic character (Wanting revenge for his wife's death), he is someone who believes he is superior to others, which is why he selected four people who in his opinion, 'Had no right to live' to help him with his plan to kill the people responsible for his wife's death, and rob the town. If he would have done it on his own it would not be as bad, as using people like Dan Keats (Don Murray), who was a drunken former Confederate Soldier (Not a criminal), and Julie Reynolds (Dolores Michaels), who was a prostitute, not an evil character. Neither of them deserved to die for their various mistakes. A big mistake that people have made in reviewing the film is saying there are no heroes...There is one that is Keats. Keats gives up drinking, and thus is able to save himself and probably Julie (Mitch said he was not going to kill Julie, but I doubt it), from their fate, and spoilers ahead: After Julie kills Mitch (Saving Dan), It is Dan's idea to return the stolen money, and bring her back to his farm in Tennessee, after facing justice for their part in Mitch's plan. I give it 9/10 stars.

This mean little film, written by Spelling of all people, could almost have made due as an installment of a one-hour TV western anthology. As it is, it's an interesting (peculiar, as Leonard Maltin aptly put it) movie with an unusual premise. Ladd plays a Confederate following the Civil War who is en route to the frontier with his pregnant wife. When she can go no further, he stops in a small town to get a room and find a doctor for her. Unfortunately, he is delayed by several of the townsfolk from getting her medicated in time and the wife and baby are allowed to die. He is then offered a job for recompense and opts to become the deputy sheriff. From here, he begins to recruit several disparate types in order to pull off a sizable heist, though there may be more to his plan than initially meets the eye. Murray plays a boozy, fellow ex-Confederate who is taken in by Ladd. O'Herlihy is a mildly foppish pickpocket and delectable Coe is a fast-draw gunman, both of whom are hired by Ladd as well. Rounding out his collection of schemers is Michaels as a washed-up saloon girl. Though it does no real disservice to his haggard role, Ladd looks positively awful here. His face is shot, his voice is a cig-infested rattle, his "hair"consists of a floppy, strawberry-blonde toupee, he can barely maneuver around and he's swimming in his clothes, often looking in long-shots like a little boy dressed up in Grandpa's pants. He's also saddled with a ridiculous hat that does nothing to help (except perhaps add height, so that all of his costars can stand in a bit shallower trench around him than would normally be the case.) And the real shame of it all is that he was 46, a testament to the ravages of alcohol and tobacco if there ever was one. His performance suffers from all of the above and more, though his character wasn't meant to be a peppy young guy in any case. Murray overacts some of his scenes tremendously, but manages to come through with a good performance by the end. O'Herlihy doesn't have a lot to work with, but acquits himself nicely. Coe is fine. With his looks and ability, he should have gone much further in Hollywood than he did. The best acting probably comes from Michaels who is affecting and appealing most of the time. She retired before really making a mark in films and it's a shame. Recognizable townspeople include Swenson as the sheriff and Gates, in a rare sympathetic role, as the doctor. It's a neat, tough little film that holds up just until its somewhat too altruistic and idealistic ending.

Very interesting story, written by Aaron Spelling. Alan Ladd's character went from good guy victim to manipulative, Machiavellian, ruthless, master mind, and killer. Nobody could see that coming.

He was treated very badly by three of the towns, people in particular, when he desperately needed medicine to save his wife's life, as she was struggling with childbirth complications. They all played a part in delaying the life-saving medication until it was too late.

Afterwords, the towns people rallied around him and offered him their friendship and his choice of employment. He chose to be the sheriff's deputy.

From there, we see that he devised a plan to steal $100,000 and get revenge on the town he secretly resented. He carefully recruited for cohorts, in much the same way the recruitment was done in the Magnificent Seven. What we see unfold is a tale of ruthless deception, murder, and double cross.

On the whole, an interesting western, with better character development than most, and a less predictable story and ending than most. Their Georgian farm burned by Yankee troops, ex-Confederate soldier Mitch Garrett(Alan Ladd) and pregnant wife Ellie are relocating to the far West. When Ellie becomes ill, somehow relating to her imminent birthing, they stop in an AZ town to provide her with a room in which to recuperate and give birth. The town doctor(Seltzer) is called and instructs Mitch to get some medicine from the general store (in the middle of the night!)as soon as possible. But Mitch lacks the $1.87 the medicine costs, thus pulls a gun on the sleepy proprietor, after grabbing the medicine, which the proprietor had to formulate. The sheriff, amazingly, responds to a distress call and Mitch is detained a while for questioning. Eventually, it's agreed to take the medicine to his wife, but they are too late. She just died. Mitch becomes unhinged, blaming the several men involved in delaying the delivery of the medicine for Ellie's death. Well, it's difficult to imagine a medicine of this era so potent that it could have made a difference in the course of Ellie's illness, if given, say, only an hour before her death. This is a significant reality weakness in the screen play. Conveniently, the nature of her illness is not discussed. It's clear from certain aspects of the rest of the story that MITCH, ALTHOUGH GENUINELY AGGREIVED OVER HIS WIFE'S SUDDEN DEATH, IS ALSO USING THIS INCIDENT AS AN EXCUSE TO AUGMENT HIS RAGE AGAINST YANKEES, IN GENERAL, FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS HOME AND SOUTHERN WAY OF LIFE. He thinks of most everyone in this town as hated Yankees, except for fellow Yankee-hating ex-Confederate soldier Dan(Don Murray), whose Shenandoah farm was also destroyed by Yankee troops. Thus, while appearing on the surface to have forgiven those he blames for his wife's death, he hatches a plan to kill them all, along with pulling off a mega bank robbery to both financially devastate this town, while providing himself with seed money to reestablish himself financially. To help him achieve these goals, he gradually acquires a small group of accomplices, beginning with boozy drifter Dan, whose main role will be to make 'liquid firestuff'(an incendiary bomb, made of kerosene, with a percussion cap, in a glass bottle to blow up or fire several town buildings, as a diversion during the bank robbery. Next, he acquires Sir Henry Ives(Dan 0'Herlihy) : a pick-pocketing traveling foppish aristocrat, who carries a concealed Derringer, used during the robbery. Beautiful saloon girl Julie(Dolores Michaels), with an attitude, blackmails Mitch for a 1/5 share of the bank take, to finance her anticipated relocation in the East, to start a more conventional life. Finally, handsome Stu(Barry Cole) impresses Mitch with his gunslinger skills , in a bizarre town-sponsored lethal gun duel contest. Later, while leaving during the holdup, Stu points a gun at Mitch at close range says "So long, Mitch" and pulls the trigger. Incredibly, he only hits Mitch in the left arm, instead of the chest! This mistake will come back to haunt him, as later Mitch returns 'the favor'. Now hiding behind his sheriff badge(having disposed of the prior sheriff out in the boonies), Mitch hatches an elaborate plan to achieve his goals, including the death of several of his accomplices. His original plan was to spare Dan and Julie(who now is pretending to be Mitch's wife, although only for stage purposes, relating to the bank holdup). But Dan unexpectedly discovers Mitch's planned deaths of partners Sir Harry and Stu, now blamed for the robbery, despite lacking the money. Thus, Mitch decides that Dan(and probably Julie too) have to be silenced, as well, and he will gladly take their share of the stolen money..........I leave the concluding part of the film for you to see. However, I will add that Dan and Julie, both feeling adrift, gradually develop a romantic relationship: something Mitch is incapable of, in his post-Ellie state of mind. Their scenes together help soften the otherwise grim last portion of the film. Although, on the surface, uncommonly desirable as a woman, Julie reveals an abused past, beginning with her alcoholic father and his buddies, that makes her feel unworthy of deserving real love. Is Dan a good risk as a potential husband, being a very recently reformed drunk? Or is Julie fated for a repeat of her father in Dan? Unfortunately, we don't find out. Incidentally, Don Murray and the recently divorced Dolores reportedly developed a real romantic relationship for a spell.

Yes, Alan Ladd, never a very energetic -acting leading man, comes off as looking lethargic and puffy-faced late in his film career, due to alcoholism. He would die just a couple years later of acute poisoning by a combination of alcohol and drugs, having apparently tried to end it all just the year after this film, with a bullet in the chest. Difficult for me to understand his popularity, even back in his glory days. For one thing, I never liked his unusual voice. I would have preferred Jimmy Stewart or Kirk Douglas, for example, in his role. However, Ladd's presence in the lead role doesn't really negate the interest of this film. I have a similar attitude toward "Guns of Timberline", also released in '60,, also costarring Ladd, and which I also find an interesting off beat western. Aaron Spelling wrote the screenplays for both of these films, and soon became a major creator or producer of many popular TV series..........In regard to Ladd's villainous role in this film, earlier in his career, he remarked "I know what's good for me. I can't play black or grey. I can't be a villain or anything close to one. I have to play white" . Until this film, Ladd never played a villain, and this film was a failure at the box office. Guess he was right........Several complain about Don Murray's sometimes 'overacting'. I didn't find this objectionable, and it helped compensate for Ladd's sometimes 'underacting'....Larry Gates is good as the friendly, sympathetic, doctor. ....