Okay, Sinatra was pretty limp in his first oater. The wig was a mistake and a distraction. A cheater up front would have been enough. The script's vacillation between making him a villain and a hero was unfortunate. He should have remained a weasel to the end and been shunned for it. It took the killing of one of the townspeople to get the rest of the villagers to take matters into their own hand(guns). That said, this is still an enjoyable and sometimes engrossing play. There are several great radio players - Bill Conrad, Howard Petrie, Bill Bouchey, Russell Thorson and others who give gravitas to the script. Wallace Ford is a pathetic rabbit and Keenan Wynn is wonderful as the gunslinger-turned-preacher. The poker game is the centerpiece of the show and it is a perfect metaphor for the kind of soft tyranny that can encroach upon a community. The street set is deliberately stylized, making the film look more like a live television play than a motion picture. With some tweaking to the script this could have been a great film. It could certainly be adapted into a great play.
Review of Johnny Concho
