The Day of the Outlaw

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Set in an isolated, snow-covered town in the far West, this story has a renegade army officer named Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives) and his henchmen riding into the town threatening their worst to the men and women there. Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) decides to agree to Bruhn's demands for someone knowledgeable to lead them away from the law and the town, to safety. Mortally wounded himself, Bruhn opts to take Starrett up on his offer in one last act of generosity toward the townspeople, sparing them the mayhem threatened by his men. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • cc

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Robert Ryan - Blaise Starrett
       Burl Ives - Jack Bruhn
       Tina Louise - Helen Crane
       Alan Marshal - Hal Crane
       Nehemiah Persoff - Dan
       Venetia Stevenson - Ermine
       Donald Elson - Vic
       Robert Cornthwaite - Tommy
       Jack Lambert - Tex
       Lance Fuller - Pace
       Frank de Kova - Denver
       Paul Wexler - Vause
       Jack Woody - Shorty
       David Nelson - Gene
       Arthur Space - Clay
       William Schallert - Preston
       Michael McGreevey - Bobby
       Dabbs Greer - Doc Langer
       Elisha Cook, Jr. - Larry
       Dan Sheridan - Lewis
       George Ross - Clagett
       Betsy Jones - Moreland - Mrs. Preston
       Helen Westcott - Vivian

• Director:

  André De Toth

• Producer:

  Sidney Harmon, Philip Yordan

• Screenwriter:

  Philip Yordan

• Book Author:

  Lee E. Wells

• Cinematographer:

  Russell Harlan

• Composer (Music Score):

  Alexander Courage

• Editor:

  Robert Lawrence

REVIEW:

• One-eyed director Andre de Toth helmed this unique low-budget Western filled with fine performances and a view of pioneer life that isn't as idealized as other films of its day. Rather than a sun-baked prairie, de Toth gives us a truly bleak Wyoming winter. Instead of a quaint frontier town, the few buildings are simple, ramshackle shelters surrounded by a mix of dirt and snow. This tiny community of 20 souls isn't too small to escape trouble between local farmers and the lone cattle rancher over barbed wire fences, but these problems become moot when a band of rogue cavalrymen take over the town. Robert Ryan is great as the bitter, conflicted rancher Blaise Starrett, a roughneck who fought to clean up the territory for settlers and is ostracized for his troubles. Both he and dying cavalry officer Burl Ives are dark heroes who set aside their contempt for one last stab at salvation. Day of the Outlaw relies less on gunplay than the tension between kidnappers and their quarry, and the final showdown is between man and the elements rather than a shootout in the streets. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi