Backlash (1956 film)
| Backlash | |
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| Directed by | John Sturges |
| Produced by | Aaron Rosenberg |
| Screenplay by | Borden Chase |
| Based on |
Fort Starvation 1953 novel by Frank Gruber |
| Starring |
Richard Widmark Donna Reed |
| Music by | Herman Stein |
| Cinematography | Irving Glassberg |
| Edited by | Sherman Todd |
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Production
company |
Universal Pictures
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,025,000 |
| Box office | $1.6 million (US) |
Backlash is a 1956 Technicolor Western film directed by John Sturges starring Richard Widmark and Donna Reed.
It was directed by John Sturges (with whom Widmark would also make another western The Law and Jake Wade), and unfolds in the vein of the psychological Western (a subgenre that has yielded many films, e.g. those of Anthony Mann, with whose films this bears comparison). It delivers an unconventional story, written by Borden Chase, that sometimes crosses into film noir, as a colorful cast of supporting characters help or hinder the protagonist during the unfolding of its central mystery.
Jim Slater (Richard Widmark) meets Karyl Orton (Donna Reed) in Gila Valley, Arizona. She thinks that he is searching for a gold cache believed to hidden somewhere in the valley. When a man with a rifle starts shooting at him, Jim wonders if she can be trusted. After Jim kills his foe, he discovers the dead man was a deputy sheriff from Silver City. He takes the body there.
When Sheriff J. C. Marson (Edward Platt) questions him, Jim reveals that he is after the person responsible for his father's death. Jim's father and four other men were besieged and killed by Apaches. Jim believes there was a sixth man who got away and could have gone for help, but instead decided he wanted the gold they found all to himself. Marston reveals that one of the men was the brother of the dead deputy. There are two other brothers, who will want revenge. When Jim refuses to leave town, Marston suggests he go see Sergeant George Lake (Barton MacLane) in Tucson. Lake led the detail that found the massacre victims.
Jim takes his advice, but finds Lake and his men under siege at an isolated trading post. Lake tells Karyl that only three of the bodies could be identified. While there, Karyl stakes her claim to the gold; her husband was another victim of Gila Valley. Lake and Jim sneak out that night and stampede the Apaches' horses, allowing the party to escape. Lake, however, is mortally wounded. Before he dies, he reveals they found a horse bearing the of Carson's outfit in Texas.
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