Terror in a Texas Town

Terror in a Texas Town is a 1958 American Western film directed by Joseph Lewis and starring Sterling Hayden.

Terror in a Texas Town
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph Lewis
Produced byJohn Seltzer
Written byDalton Trumbo
StarringSterling Hayden
Music byGerald Fried
CinematographyRussell Harlan
Edited byStefan Arnsten
Production
company
Seltzer Films
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • August 25, 1958 (1958-08-25) (United States)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The script of Terror in a Texas Town was written by Dalton Trumbo. Due to Trumbo's status on the Hollywood Blacklist, Ben Perry initially received screenwriting credit.

Director Lewis was set to retire when his friend, the actor Nedrick Young, handed him the script. Young had been blacklisted and this picture was his chance to get back into the business. Excited by the script, Lewis agreed to do it because he had nothing to fear from working with blacklisted artists as this was going to be his last film anyway.[1]

Plot

The wealthy McNeil wants to control Prairie City and the land around it. He tries to burn out small ranchers and then hires gunfighter Johnny Crale to run them off.

Sven Hansen learns from neighbour Jose Mirada that there is oil on his land. Sven stands up to Crale, his only weapon a harpoon from his past as a whaling fisherman, and Crale callously shoots him dead.

The dead man's son, George Hansen, arrives in town and finds out that his father has died, but isn't sure how or why. The sheriff is in McNeil's pocket and unwilling to help. George tries talking to Molly, Crale's wife, but ends up beaten unconscious and dumped on a train leaving town.

Mirada is the next one gunned down by Crale, but his courage impresses the killer, who in a fit of rage shoots McNeil, the man who hired him. George Hansen returns to town for a showdown, eventually supported by the townsfolk, and is wounded before getting the better of Crale with his father's harpoon.

Cast

See also

References
  1. "Terror in a Texas Town film article at". tcm.com. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
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