''Star in the Dust'' is a 1956 American Western film directed by

Charles F. Haas Charles Friedman Haas (November 15, 1913 – May 12, 2011) was an American film and television director. Biography Haas was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Harvard University. In 1935, he began his career at Universal Studios - ...

and starring John Agar,

Mamie Van Doren Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957). Early life Van Do ...

and Richard Boone. In the town of Gunlock,

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Bill Jorden is due to hang Sam Hall for cattle-stealing. Jorden has to contend, however, with various citizens, including the

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

s who want to rescue Hall and the cattlemen and farmers who want to lynch him. Hall, meanwhile, is planning his escape with girlfriend Nellie.

Plot

In the late 1800s in the western town of Gunlock, gunslinger Sam Hall, who has murdered three farmers, is scheduled to be hanged at sundown. Sheriff Bill Jorden faces opposition from the cattlemen’s association, who had hired Hall to kill the farmers as part of a plot to acquire more grazing land. A group of farmers, fearing that the cattlemen will spring the killer before he is hanged, want the sheriff to hang Hall as quickly as possible. Fearing violence between the ranchers and farmers, Jorden tries to call for additional help but discovers that the telegraph line serving the town has been cut. Informed that the farmers are headed to town to kill Hall, Bill meets them and reasons with them to allow the law to handle Hall’s punishment. On the morning of the hanging, Jorden brings out Hall, threatening to shoot the prisoner himself if anyone tries to stop the hanging but before Hall is executed, the ranchers set the gallows on fire, precipitating a gun battle between opposing factions. Hall is eventually hanged and the cattlemen are brought to justice.

Cast

* John Agar as Sheriff Bill Jorden *

as Ellen Ballard * Richard Boone as Sam Hall * Coleen Gray as Nellie Mason *

Leif Erickson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norsemen, Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have s ...

as George Ballard * James Gleason as Orval Jones *

Randy Stuart Randy Stuart (born Elizabeth Shaubell; October 12, 1924 – July 20, 1996), was an American actress in film and television. Early years Stuart's parents, John and Gladys Shaubell, were itinerant musicians in the American South and the Midd ...

as Nan Hogan *

Terry Gilkyson Terry Gilkyson (June 17, 1916 — October 15, 1999) was an American folk singer and songwriter. Biography Gilkyson was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and graduated from St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island in 1935. By his early ...

as The Music Man *

Paul Fix Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career be ...

as Mike MacNamara * Harry Morgan as Lew Hogan * Stuart Randall as Jess Ryman * Robert Osterloh as Rigdon * Stanley Andrews as Ben Smith * John Day as Jiggs Larribee * Stafford Repp as Leo Roos * Lewis Martin as Pastor Harris * Renny McEvoy as Timothy Brown * Jess Kirkpatrick as Ed Pardee * James Parnell as Mary Tremain * Anthony Jochim as Doc Quinn *

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

as Tom, a ranch hand (uncredited)

Production

The film included an early appearance of

, who played a very small role as a

ranch hand A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

. One of the movie's scenes features Coleen Gray and

fighting for possession of incriminating letters hidden in a suitcase. The actresses invited their husbands to watch the scene's filming, which lasted over 50 seconds and included both women punching and wrestling each other. At the conclusion of the choreographed scene, Gray recalled in a later interview, the women simply dusted themselves off, but the two husbands ..."were pale and clammy and weak in the knees" having watched their wives engage in a lengthy fistfight.

References

External links

* * * {{Albert Zugsmith 1956 films 1956 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films based on American novels Films based on Western (genre) novels Films directed by Charles F. Haas Films scored by Frank Skinner Universal Pictures films 1956 directorial debut films Revisionist Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links