What a strange little picture. Audie Murphy, like Randolph Scott, has a place in second tier western heroes that is unassailable. By second tier, that's not to denigrate either actor, just that they never attained the heights of movie stardom like James Stewart, John Wayne or later Clint Eastwood did in westerns. Sadly, this marked the final screen appearance of Audie Murphy, and only five minutes of the picture. The leading actor is Richard Lapp. Who? You might wonder why Audie Murphy decided as a producer to invest in this nobody. It's a mystery to everyone who's seen it. He came and went unnoticed. There's one really great performance in the movie with Victor Jory as Judge Roy Bean though, so all is not lost. Not as subtle and menacing as Walter Brennan's portrayal in an earlier film but over the top sort of great, announcing hangings with great glee and his dentures falling out. The director, Budd Boetticher, who made seven fine, even great minor westerns starring Randolph Scott, must have been drunk when he made this. There's no real explanation as to how this film went so badly wrong but I've given it 3 stars, one each for the beautifully clear cinematography, Audie Murphy as Jesse James (all too briefly) and best of all, Victor Jory.
Review of A Time for Dying
