Day of the Outlaw (1959)

Day of the Outlaw (1959)

starring Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise

directed by André de Toth

92 minutes

Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) is pushed into the position of having to stand up for the small Wyoming town that doesn't really want him when a gang of outlaws arrives looking for refuge. Captain Bruhn (Burl Ives), the leader of the outlaws, keeps his men on a tight leash but he is suffering from a gunshot wound.

Bruhn's men are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the handful of women in town. Bruhn manages to just barely keep his men happy without getting any of the women raped. Captain Bruhn's plan to leave the next day is thrown in disarray when a heavy storm drops a considerable amount of snow overnight.

Starrett offers to lead the men westward over the mountains by a route that only he knows. It becomes clear to Bruhn that Starrett is lying but he decides to go along with Starrett's plan because he is dying and the alternative seems to be to allow his men to tear the town apart by drinking and having their way with the women.

Blaise leads Bruhn's gang up into the snowy mountains but things quickly fall apart as horses get injured and the men start to turn on one another.

Thoughts

Tina Louise played the part of Helen Crane, one of the town's women who has a past with Starrett although she is married to another man. She is probably best known for playing Ginger on Gilligan's Island.

Eddie Muller described this as a western noir. I agree with that assessment. Robert Ryan is the man trapped by circumstances, forced to do a job that he doesn't really want, for reasons that sometimes seem unclear.

The music for this film was composed by Alexander Courage whose best known work is probably the theme song to the original Star Trek series.

I have to imagine that this film might have influenced some of the films of Sam Peckinpah.

This movie did not really grab me until Captain Bruhn and his men came to town. It also didn't feel very noir up to that point. Some of the performances weren't up to par but Robert Ryan and Burl Ives were both quite good in the roles they played. Most of the actors who played the men in Bruhn's gang were also quite good. The final act was very suspenseful but it isn't filled with action.