A deputy marshal kills a murderer in a town that loved him, and when no one is willing to identify him, he can't collect any reward.A deputy marshal kills a murderer in a town that loved him, and when no one is willing to identify him, he can't collect any reward.A deputy marshal kills a murderer in a town that loved him, and when no one is willing to identify him, he can't collect any reward.
- Con Maynor
- (as Thomas B. Henry)
- Mr. Creavy
- (as Joseph McGuinn)
- Les Patton
- (as Michael Mason)
- Customer
- (as Shirle Haven)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first film in which Charles Bronson receives top billing.
- Quotes
Luke Welsh: Sally...
Sally Crane: That's who I am, Sally.
Luke Welsh: Took the day off?
[Sally nods]
Luke Welsh: This is what you do with it? Come up here like this and sit, all alone?
Sally Crane: I've been alone all my life. Only most of the time people are around. So in my day off I go right away from them. On my day off, I get to be alone without them... I like that better.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Wild West (1979)
** (out of 4)
Deputy Marshal Luke Welsh (Charles Bronson) is working as a bounty hunter when he finds the man he's been looking for in a small town. The man resists the arrest so Welsh is forced to shoot him, which doesn't sit too well with the people of the town who decide to make it rough on the bounty hunter. SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL was the first of two films that Bronson made with director Fowler (the next was GANG WAR) and it's an okay Western even if it doesn't feature anything you haven't seen hundreds of times before. I think the main draw is going to be fans of Bronson who are wanting to see his stuff before he became a major Hollywood star. It doesn't hurt any that the actor gets to act with John Carradine, another man who certainly knew about the highs and lows of the business. Cult fans are certainly going to enjoy seeing the two men together and thankfully they share quite a few scenes. At just 72-minutes the film pretty much has a start (Bronson getting his man) and an end (the showdown) but what happens in between is rather bland and doesn't really go anywhere in terms of action. Sure enough there are a couple of the dead man's friends who take exception and come after Bronson but the action is rather tame and never overly exciting. There's also way too much dialogue because more times than not we have supporting characters just sitting or standing around talking about what they should or shouldn't do. I know this was a low-budget movie but the genre turned out one small budget after another so they could have at least bumped the energy level up a bit. I was surprised to see how well the romance between Bronson and a local waitress (Fintan Meyler) turned out. There's a subplot about Bronson's shyness with girls and his depression about being short that's rather interesting to see simply because most won't be use to seeing Bronson play a softie. The actor does a pretty good job with the part even though it really doesn't ask him to do too much except act tough. Again, Bronson handles some of the more dramatic stuff but we're not talking Shakespeare here. Carradine pretty much walks through his role as a barber/doctor/preacher and he's always fun to see. Carole Mathews is pretty good as the love interest's mother and Robert Hutton plays one of the bad guys. If you're expecting the work of John Ford then it's best to look elsewhere because this movie doesn't offer anything too original. Fans of Bronson and Carradine are going to be the ones who want to check this one out.
- Michael_Elliott
- Apr 29, 2011
- How long is Showdown at Boot Hill?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Shadow of a Gunman
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 11 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1