City of Bad Men

City of Bad Men
Hugh Sanders (left) & Dale Robertson in City of Bad Men
Directed byHarmon Jones
Written byGeorge W. George
George F. Slavin
Produced byLeonard Goldstein
StarringJeanne Crain
Dale Robertson
CinematographyCharles G. Clarke
Edited byGeorge A. Gittens
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
20th Century-Fox
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • September 11, 1953 (1953-09-11)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$740,000.[1]

City of Bad Men is a 1953 American Western film directed by Harmon Jones and starring Jeanne Crain and Dale Robertson.

Plot

A heavyweight championship fight between "Gentleman Jim" Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons is coming to Carson City, Nevada at exactly the same time outlaw Brett Stanton and brother Gar return to town. Away for six years in Mexico, Brett has alienated his former love, Linda Culligan, who is now involved with Jim London, the fight's promoter. London's sister, Cynthia Castle, tries to attract Brett's interest, but he only has eyes for Linda.

Because the bout could sell as much as $100,000 in tickets, law-breakers like Johnny Ringo are also milling around, keeping Sheriff Bill Gifford on his toes. He plays a strategy where he asks Ringo, another outlaw, and Brett, to be deputies just for the week of the fight. Gifford's idea is that this will offer incentive to the men to keep their respective gangs in order and keep the peace in town, so everyone might enjoy the festivities. The three agree to do this but soon Brett is the only one still on board. He is actually scheming to steal the fight's proceeds. .

A match-day decision by Linda to end her engagement to Jim changes Brett's plans; he decides to go straight. However, his brother Gar betrays him to Ringo, who goes through with the daring robbery. Brett has to exchange gunfire with Ringo and face down Gar - whom Ringo has mortally wounded. When it is all over, Linda and Brett are finally reconciled.

Cast

Home media

City of Bad Men was released in 2014 as a "publish on demand" DVD in the United States.[2]

In episode five of the first season of the USA network series Graceland, the main character Mike (who is an undercover FBI agent) has a conversation with one of his targets, the ruthless Nigerian crime lord "Bello" (played by actor Gbenga Akinnagbe), where at one point the film is mentioned after Mike quotes a line from it. Bello is impressed by Mike’s knowledge of the film and says he himself is a fan of it. He even shows Mike a copy of the film on DVD in a video store later on in the episode.

Historical errors about fight

The actual Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight took place in an outdoor venue, the Racetrack Arena in Carson City. The movie has the fight being held in an indoor arena under artificial lights. In the movie, Bob Fitzsimmons is shown competing in tights that ran down the length of his legs. In reality, Fitzsimmons wore short trunks.

References

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p248
  2. ^ City of Bad Men (DVD-R). Beverly Hills: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. January 29, 2014. OCLC 885387308. Home video release of the 1953 film.

Further reading

  • Roan, Toby (February 15, 2014). "DVD Review: City of Bad Men (1953)". 50 Westerns From The 50s. A rare, recent review of the film by a blogger who is working on a book about 1950s western films.
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