The Bounty Hunter (1954 film)
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''The Bounty Hunter'' is a 1954 American
western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
directed by
Andre DeToth Endre Antal Miksa DeToth, better known as Andre de Toth (born Endre Antal Mihály Tóth; May 15, 1913 – October 27, 2002), was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Austria-Hungary. He directed the 3D film House of Wa ...
and starring
Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...
,
Marie Windsor Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000) was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features ''Force of Evil'', ''The Narrow Margin'' and '' The Killing''. Wi ...
and
Dolores Dorn Dolores Dorn (March 3, 1934 – October 5, 2019) was an American film and television actress, who was the co-star of '' The Bounty Hunter'' (1954), ''Uncle Vanya'' (1957), ''Underworld U.S.A.'' (1961), and several other films through 1985. On ...
. It was the last of six Randolph Scott westerns with DeToth and the first film to feature a
bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
as its hero. It was released by
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
It was filmed in 3-D but released in standard format, though a 3-D print exists in the Warner archives. Stock footage from the 1952 film ''
Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...
'' is used at the beginning of the film. Portions of the film were shot on location in California at Red Rock Canyon and the
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
.


Plot

A prologue explains the role of the
bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
. A wanted criminal named Burch tries to ambush bounty hunter Jim Kipp, but Kipp gets the better of him. Kipp takes Burch's corpse into town to collect the reward. A representative of the
Pinkerton Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...
asks Kipp to hunt a trio of fugitives. Three masked men committed a robbery and fled with $100,000. Kipp, who has the reputation that he will do anything for money, is offered a huge reward if he can capture the culprits dead or alive. Kipp rides into the town of Twin Forks, and uses an alias. He seeks information about one fugitive's wounds from Dr. Spencer, who is wary of revealing too much. Kipp is immediately attracted to the doctor's daughter, Julie. A limping man named Bill Rachin, who works at the hotel, draws Kipp's suspicion. So does George Williams, a card dealer. Williams' wife, Alice, flirts with Kipp and tries to coax information out of him. Kipp does not reveal the purpose for his visit. Vance Edwards identifies Kipp and his reputation as a bounty hunter. Edwards mistakenly believes Kipp is seeking him for another crime. The townspeople become anxious as the truth about Kipp becomes known. Led by the postmaster, Danvers, they offer Kipp a bribe to leave town. Kipp tells several people that he is expecting a package on the next day's stagecoach and in the package is a likeness of one of the robbers. Dr. Spencer later overhears Kipp telling his daughter the same thing and he becomes worried. Dr. Spencer confronts Williams, who he knows to be associated with the robbers, and demands a meeting with them. Williams tells Spencer the three are playing poker and agrees to take him to their game but shoots Spencer instead. Hearing the shot, Kipp pursues and corners Williams. He tries to force Williams to tell what he knows about the robbery, but Sheriff Brand shoots Williams dead just as Williams was about to reveal information about the robbery. Danvers tries to smother the seriously wounded Spencer, but he is discovered by Julie. Kipp hears Julie's screams and rushes to her; Danvers flees. Kipp follows Danvers as he hastily leaves town and stops when he loses sight of Danvers but hears someone digging in the hills. He then hears a shot and finds Danvers dead next to an empty money box. Kipp now knows Danvers was one of the three robbers. The next day the stage arrives with the U.S. mail. The sheriff deputizes Rachin and plans to get rid of the bounty hunter. Vance rescues Kipp, grateful that the bounty hunter is not after him. Kipp opens one of the letters in the mail pouch and looks at the contents, then looks at the sheriff. The sheriff reveals himself as one of the robbers when he pulls a gun on Kipp, but Alice Williams kills him. She explains that Brand deserved it for shooting her husband. Julie, who had been watching, struggles with Alice for her gun and Kipp subdues Alice. Kipp realizes that Alice is the third robber. He searches her saddle bag and finds the stolen money. Kipp decides to settle in Twin Forks. He marries Julie, and becomes the new town sheriff.


Cast

*
Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...
as Jim Kipp *
Dolores Dorn Dolores Dorn (March 3, 1934 – October 5, 2019) was an American film and television actress, who was the co-star of '' The Bounty Hunter'' (1954), ''Uncle Vanya'' (1957), ''Underworld U.S.A.'' (1961), and several other films through 1985. On ...
as Julie Spencer *
Marie Windsor Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen; December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000) was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features ''Force of Evil'', ''The Narrow Margin'' and '' The Killing''. Wi ...
as Alice Williams *
Howard Petrie Howard Alexander Petrie (November 22, 1906 – March 24, 1968) was an American radio, television, and film actor. Early life Howard Petrie was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on November 22, 1906. When Howard was three years old his family ...
as Sheriff Brand *
Harry Antrim Harry Antrim (August 27, 1884 – January 18, 1967) was an American stage, film and television actor. Biography Antrim was born on August 27, 1884, in Chicago, Illinois. By 1906, he was working in vaudeville. During the early 1930s, he moved to ...
as Dr. Spencer * Robert Keys as George Williams *
Tyler MacDuff Tyler Glenn Duff Jr. (September 12, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and television actor. Life and career MacDuff was born in Hollywood, California. He attended Woodrow Wilson Junior High. MacDuff joined the U.S. Navy in 194 ...
as Vance *
Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
as Rachin *
Dub Taylor Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994),Dub Taylor, 87, Actor in Westerns, The New York Times, October 5, 1994, Section B, Page 12 was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extens ...
as Danvers *
Fess Parker Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.;Weaver, Tom.Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers p. 148 (McFarland 2012). August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010),(March 18, 2010Daniel Boone Actor Fess Parker Dies at 85" ''CBS ...
as the young cowboy *
Archie R. Twitchell Archie Raymond Twitchell (November 28, 1906 – January 31, 1957) was a pilot for over three decades between the 1920s and the 1950s. He also had a second profession as a movie actor. He was a captain in the US Army Air Force. He was killed ...
as Harrison


Production notes

Critics responded favorably to DeToth's skills as a director, especially his ability to seamlessly integrate 3-D effects into the picture as well as for his long tracking shots filmed on location. Unlike other films of the early 50s that were shot in color, ''The Bounty Hunters color photography still shows well to more modern audiences. Winston Miller's screenplay included notable dialog such as Kipp explaining that as a lawman without a
badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...
, he could enforce the law but "not wanting to break up fights or throw drunks in jail." When asked by the town
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 ...
why he became a bounty hunter, Kipp counts his cash reward, replying, "I'm counting the reasons, and they're ten short". Another scene features Julie, whose father is a doctor, criticizing Kipp's gun in comparison to her father’s medical instruments, saying it’s not a “stethoscope”, causing Kipp to caustically remark, “No, but properly used it can be very good for the human race.” Near the movie's conclusion, Julie and Alice fight over a gun. Although much of the fight was omitted from the film's final edit, pre-release publicity described it as "...blonde Delores Dorn and brunette Marie Windsor stage their own hair-pulling, scratching, swinging scrimmage." DeToth allegedly filmed the scene in one take, without a rehearsal, and encouraged the women to actually fight each other. At the end of the fight, both women were covered with dirt and perspiration. One reviewer noted that the studio described it as one of the most "fiercely fought" fights between two women ever filmed. Contemporary critics have pointed out that Kipp's marriage to Julie, played by Dolores Dorn who was 36 years his junior, seems unusual to current movie audiences. ''The Bounty Hunter'' was Dorn's screen debut.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bounty Hunter 1954 films 1950s English-language films Warner Bros. films 1954 3D films 1954 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Andre DeToth American 3D films Films produced by Samuel Bischoff Films scored by David Buttolph 1950s American films