How sad is this?

Beautiful, moving film.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Director: GEORGE TEMPLETON. Screenplay: Alan Le May. Based on his 1934 novel, Thunder in the Dust. Photography: Winton C. Hoch. Color by Technicolor. Film editor: Jack Ogilvie. Art director: John B. Goodman. Music: Leonid Raab, Rudolph Schrager. Music director: Irvin Talbot. Orchestrated by Joseph Nussbaum, George Parrish, Leonid Raab. "O'Riley's Song" (Preston) by Al Colombo (music) and Alan Le May (lyrics). Wardrobe: Byron Munson. Technicolor color consultant: Mitchell Kovaleski. Assistant directors: Harry Templeton, James Paisley. Sound recording: Gene Garvin, Harry Lindgren. Producer: Alan Le May. A Le May—Templeton Production.Copyright 31 December 1949 by Nuys Theatre Corporation. U.S. release through Eagle Lion: 1 February 1950. New York opening at the Palace: 4 May 1950. Australian release through British Empire Films: 30 November 1951. 85 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An outlaw joins a law-abiding rancher to combat a group of cattle rustlers.NOTES: George "Dink" Templeton directed only three features in his lifetime, of which this is the first. He followed with "Quebec" in 1951 and "A Gift for Heidi" in 1958. He also directed seven shorts from 1944 through 1946 and episodes of the TV "Rawhide" series in 1959. Most of his career was spent as an assistant director. Notable films in this capacity were Road to Singapore, The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, Ministry of Fear, The Affairs of Susan, Variety Girl and Tap Roots. The star of his first short, Trailin' West (1944), was Chill Wills. It's also interesting to note that Jack Elam also figured in the cast.COMMENT: An odd western, filmed on actual locations in Texas, "The Sundowners" incorporates some potentially interesting story ideas with vibrant, stimulating characters, yet adds up to considerably less than the sum of its parts. Templeton's direction throughout is often regrettably loose, even weak, but the chief fault undoubtedly lies in the casting of colorless Robert Sterling in the key role of the ambivalent rancher who cannot make up his mind whether to accept or reject the outlaw's offer of help. This is a genuine dilemma, but Sterling plays the hero as such a pallid personality, we really don't care what he does. This lack of audience identification weakens the story-line almost fatally, particularly as Robert Preston takes up the slack to make the charismatic outlaw the central focus of our attention. John Drew Barrymore (in his movie debut) struggles gamely to regain the initiative for the good side, but is defeated by shallow writing that switches attention to yet another ambivalent character, Kathleen Boyce (the wife of a neighboring rancher), played with understandable uncertainty by Cathy Downs. We're also never sure whether Jack Elam, who always plays bad guys, is actually on the right side in this movie. Nor do our doubts stop with the Boyces. The sheriff (Don Haggerty) is yet another player in the drama who seems to be playing both ends against the middle. At least John Litel knows where he stands. He actually makes his confession, in fact. This is one of the film's most impressive scenes. A turning point, we feel. But then the Litel character virtually disappears, allowing Preston to ride roughshod until the final long-anticipated climax with the weak-kneed Sterling. For all its faults, The Sundowners boasts some fine Technicolor photography, and will certainly prove a treat for Robert Preston's fans. He sings too!OTHER VIEWS: This ambitious "B" western is almost scuttled by one fatal flaw: An audience simply cannot identify with lead characters that are weak, pallid fence-sitters who lack the drive to put their ideals into action. One or two such waverers may be tolerable in a psychological western, but this movie assembles six or seven: our hero (Sterling), brother (Barrymore), self-appointed friend (Wills), neighbor (Elam), the neighbor's wife (Downs), sheriff (Haggerty), and maybe the sheriff's dad (Litel). Far too many negatives for one movie. Only the villain radiates self-confidence. That's bad!

Peaceful rancher Robert Sterling is on the losing side of a range war with his ruthless neighbors, that is until notorious outlaw Robert Preston shows up out of the blue to level the playing field. Soon he begins to go too far, feeding a growing sense of unease in Sterling, especially when his son begins to idolize the wily criminal.The Sundowners is a tightly-paced, gritty, and surprisingly tough little picture with a great performance by Preston. Here, he comes across as an evil version of Shane, that is until the real nature of the rancher and the outlaw's relationship is revealed. Most movie guides and video boxes spoil the surprise!Rounding out the cast is Chill Wills, Jack Elam, and the debut of John Drew Barrymore, who became more famous for his offspring than his acting.

The summary line above, spoken by James Cloud (Robert Preston) to his brother Tom (Robert Sterling) just about says it all. Jim, AKA Kid Wichita, has a way of making things happen, only trouble is, he usually leaves dead bodies where he's been. Not the sort of mentoring Tom envisions for younger brother Jeff, who likes what he sees in Jim, especially when defending their ranch against local Texas cattlemen.The opening credits state 'Introducing John Barrymore Jr. as the Younger Brother', in this his very first screen appearance. That seemed rather odd to me, particularly since he was addressed as Jeff almost immediately into the story. Approximately eighteen at the time of this movie, he bears a passing resemblance to Sean Penn. No stranger to personal and legal problems throughout his career as well as estrangement from his family, I was left wondering if his daughter Drew Barrymore might have ever seen this picture. I'm inclined to think not.On the subject of resemblances, I was also struck by the thought that the young Robert Sterling looked a bit like Roy Rogers early in his career. Knowing Sterling previously only from his role as George Kerby in the early 1950's TV series 'Topper', I thought he looked out of place in a Western, but that might just be me. His character becomes emboldened by his brother's resourcefulness at creating trouble, and provides some of the edginess to this not so typical story. Minor subplots abound, including the relationship rancher John Gall (John Litel) has with his son the Sheriff (who Kid Wichita kills), and the troubled marriage between Kathleen Boyce (Cathy Downs) and her husband Earl (who Kid Wichita kills). Chill Wills rounds out the main cast as one of Tom Cloud's hired hands, and figures in the somewhat predictable finale.What's not quite predictable is how things eventually wind up there, and for that reason, this Western earns points for following a less traveled, hence not quite as formulaic a plot as a lot of good brother/bad brother Westerns do. Combined with the eclectic casting of the principals, it's one I'd recommend, even if you have to endure some of the jump cuts and sloppy editing that I experienced with my copy.

This was an exceptional western in it's day. Filmed on location, in Technicolor no less, with top B-list stars Robert Sterling, the bland good-guy type and Robert Preston, the evil bad-man brother with good support by Cathy Downs, John Barrymore Jr., Chill Wills, John Litel among others including Jack Elam. After viewing this again after a long while, it's obvious that the more "adult" aspects of the story were eliminated or toned down so drastically that the drama was just too tame by todays' standards, but they had the "Code" in those days. It also appears as if the studio (Eagle-Lion)may have also edited some scenes down to fit a particular running time (approx. 83 minutes). It makes no sense to spend the money they did on this film and then cut it to it's running time. If this film had a couple of the Alan Bates, Susannha York, John Hurt scenes from "The Shout" written into this "re-make" it would be more explosive and make more sense. I would also explore and expand the strong-willed father, weak son sheriff sub-plot a little more. Yes it's watchable still as is, but when we bring back the Western some day, let's re-make this one early on.