Captivating movie !

Absolutely Brilliant!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Alec Longmire (Rory Calhoun) is given a second chance to go straight when he escapes an ambush with the help of hardened gunfighter Bud Purvis (James Millican). After promising Purvis that he will hang up his guns, Longmire arrives in the town of Durango looking for ranch work but instead is offered the job of deputy for Sheriff Jade Murphy (Dean Jagger). Even though it's an honest job Longmire is reluctant to accept because of his promise to Purvis. With some encouragement from Murphy and his daughter (Martha Hyer) Longmire relents and pins on the badge but he quickly finds himself in the middle of a range war between land baron Rufus Henshaw (Robert Middleton) and a group of small ranchers who have staked claims on the land. This is another solid program western from the Universal International stable. No new ground is covered in this one but director Jack Arnold wisely doesn't try to re-invent the wheel, sticks with the tried and true and turns out an entertaining Oat Burner. Red Sundown is a straight up action Western with minimal romantic melodrama even though Calhoun's wife in real life (Lita Baron) shows up in a small part as a former old flame. Bad guys Grant Williams and Leo Gordon round out the cast.Filmed in Technicolor and based on the novel 'Back Trail', Red Sundown is a reasonably ambitious western that would have been better served by a more expansive production budget. There is a lot of story to try to pack in eighty one minutes considering the sub plots that were never able to be fully developed. Nevertheless Red Sundown still pretty good Western fare.

In the 1950's, Universal was cranking out these Audie Murphy and Rory Calhoun Technicolor oaters at a furious pace. Calhoun gets his turn here. He may not manage Murphy's hard-eyed stare, but he does well enough in the grim determination department. Then too, this feature was fortunate to get Jack Arnold away from mutant creatures long enough to lend the proceedings his cut-above-average direction.So, can ex-gunslinger Calhoun stay away from guns long enough to keep his promise to dying buddy Millican. Notably, this was the latter's final film, and movie veteran Millican departs on a particularly poignant note, rare for any Western, A or B. Anyway, Calhoun has good intentions, but there're always the baddies who've got other ideas. Here, the pudgy but agile Westerfield naturally wants all the land, not just some, and Sheriff Jagger is not quite up to handling his gun-toting crew. So guess who he hires as deputy. Plus the sheriff's comely blonde daughter (Hyer) helps Calhoun make up his mind, despite his earlier promise.Now Calhoun can handle heavyweight Westerfield as their surprisingly acrobatic barroom brawl shows. But can he handle professional gunslinger Williams (Swann), who appears to have been born with a perpetual sneer. This is Calhoun's real test, after which maybe he can at last keep his promise. But then Swann is one sly gunman. Here Williams goes against type since he usually plays a good guy. But the sneer is a good touch and speaks volumes.All in all, it's a good little Western even if it never leaves greater LA (Thousand Oaks). Thanks to Arnold, however, the pace never drags, plus there's Millican's truly moving performance, worthy I think of at least a sagebrush Oscar.

After hooking up with old time gunfighter James Millican, younger gunfighter Rory Calhoun decides he'd better look for a different line of work himself. Especially after Millican dies holding off a pair of brothers out to get them. But it's not so easy when the only trade you know is a fast draw.And in Red Sundown that's just what old time sheriff Dean Jagger needs to stop a range war between the local Ponderosa owner Robert Middleton and a bunch of smaller ranchers and farmers. Land titles aren't clear and Middleton's grabbing all he can.Also keeping Calhoun in town is Jagger's daughter Martha Hyer, but there's a complication there with the presence of Middleton's mistress Lita Baron who has a history with Calhoun. Her function in the film and her relationship with Middleton make Red Sundown quite the adult western for its time.In only an 81 running minute time Red Sundown packs quite a bit in what is an above average B western. I do love the way that kid actors David Kasday and Scotty Morrow function as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on the comings and goings in the town and showing the voice of public opinion in prevailing mores. Grant Williams the future incredible shrinking man makes his screen debut here playing a vicious punk gunfighter that Calhoun has to deal with.Red Sundown is one of the best of Rory Calhoun's B westerns and definitely an above average film for the limited production values it got because of its low priority.

One of the greatest satisfactions in watching old westerns is when you find some forgotten film that turns out to be quite good like this one. Directed by the very competent Jack Arnold famous for his science fiction films , "Red Sundown" is the story of Alec Longmire (Rory Calhoun), a famous gunfighter, who wants to change. The reason is that he promised another gunfighter that he would not live by the gun. But then he goes to a town where there is a fight for land, and becomes friendly with the Sheriff (Dean Jagger) who asks him to be his deputy. The big boss Henshaw (Robert Middleton) who wants to stay with all the land, ends up contracting the fastest gun, Chet Swann (Grant Williams). Williams is excellent as the mean, always laughing, Swann. Longmire also falls in love with Caroline (Martha Hyer) the Sheriff's daughter. There are many shootouts, also a good fistfight and a showdown, and nice scenery in color.