Terror in a Texas Town
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joseph H. Lewis
Sterling Hayden
Sebastian Cabot
Carol Kelly
Eugene Martin
Ned Young
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Synopsis
After an arson fire destroys a farmer's house and barn, the other farmers meet to discuss efforts by hotel owner McNeil to drive them off their land. Meanwhile, at the hotel in nearby Prairie City, McNeil tells gunfighter Johnny Crale that the farmers are squatters who refuse to leave even though he has offered to pay for the land. McNeil now wants Crale to drive them away. Soon after farmer José Mirada shows his neighbor, Swedish-born Sven Hansen, that there is oil on their land, Crale arrives. Urging Mirada and his son Pepe to hide in a nearby shed, Hansen, armed with a whale harpoon, speaks with Crale. Crale asks him to transfer his land grant to McNeil, and when Hansen refuses, kills him. Mirada intends to tell the others about the oil discovery and Crale's murder of Hansen, but his wife Rosa begs him to remain silent. Some time later, Hansen's son George arrives in Prairie City, but when he asks about transportation to the Hansen farm, Crale reveals that his father has been killed. George, who had gone to sea to help pay for the farm, then asks the sheriff what is being done to catch his father's killer. The sheriff, who is one of McNeil's men, informs George that his father did not own the land, and that he will arrest him if he trespasses on the farm. George agrees to stay in the hotel, but adds that although he is a foreigner, he understands justice and will get it. After George turns down his offer to buy the land, McNeil orders Crale to get rid of him by any means short of murder. Despite the sheriff's warning, George visits the farm and talks to Mirada, who pretends to know nothing. He then gives George his father's harpoon. While they talk, Crale and his men arrive and order the Miradas to leave town. When George wonders why McNeil wants the land, Mirada again keeps silent. Later, in the hotel saloon, George offers a drink to Molly, Crale's wife, and then questions her. Although Molly reveals nothing, Hansen deduces that Crale murdered his father. Moments later, Crale and his men beat George and put him, unconscious, on a train. When George regains consciousness, he struggles back toward town. The Miradas take him in, and this time, Rosa tells him about the oil. After George informs the sheriff that there was a witness to his father's murder, Crale kills Mirada. Believing Crale's work to be done, McNeil pays him, but Crale, who was deeply affected by the courage with which Mirada faced death, turns on McNeil and kills him. When George learns of Mirada's murder, he takes his father's harpoon and heads for a showdown with Crale. Meanwhile, Molly decides to leave Crale. She interrupts a farmers' meeting at the church to tell them that George intends to face Crale with the harpoon as his only weapon. While the farmers watch, Crale shoots and wounds George, but the Swede kills Crale with the harpoon.
Director
Joseph H. Lewis
Cast
Sterling Hayden
Sebastian Cabot
Carol Kelly
Eugene Martin
Ned Young
Victor Millan
Frank Ferguson
Marilee Earle
Ann Varella
Sheb Wooley
Fred Kohler
Steve Mitchell
Jamie Russell
Tyler Mcvey
Ted Stanhope
Gil Lamb
Hank Patterson
Crew
Charles Althouse
Stefan Arnsten
George Brand
Carl Brandon
Rudy Butler
Dick Chaney
Richard Dixon
William Ferrari
Gerald Fried
Arnold Goode
James T. Hecker
Millard Kaufman
Ken Lobben
Shirley Madden
Sid Perell
Ben L. Perry
Ray Rennahan
Tom Renning
Joyce Rogers
Carrol Sax
Frank N. Seltzer
Ernie Smith
Anita Spear
Frank Sullivan
George Wells
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Articles
Terror in a Texas Town
The premise, of big business trying to muscle in on small farmers and the thirst for the revenge that follows, is not particularly original. What makes this film unique is that it emphasizes style over content - and talk about style! Lewis takes the traditional Western with its natural, outdoor setting and transforms it into a dark saga about vengeance and death. The stark, black and white photography and the slow, fluid camera movements have more in common with film noir than the standard horse opera. Of course, there are some weak points; Sterling Hayden's Swedish accent comes and goes like the tide and some of the supporting performances, particularly the young actor who plays the Mexican boy, are almost embarassingly amateurish. But the kinetic editing and exaggerated compositions give the film a deep sense of brooding and menace that is unlike any other "B" Western.
Interestingly, Lewis was set to retire when his friend, the actor Nedrick Young, handed him the script for Terror in a Texas Town. Young had been blacklisted and this picture was his chance to get back into the business, along with the screenwriter for the film, Dalton Trumbo, one of the infamous "Hollywood Ten" who was blacklisted during the McCarthy-era witch hunts of the late forties and early fifties. 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. Short on money and time (he had to wrap the film up in ten days), Lewis had gained plenty of experience working on low-budget Westerns early in his career and understood the pressure of making a film quickly. By incorporating ten to twenty scenes into one shot and covering it in various angles and points-of-view, he pulled off the feat with tremendous aplomb.
Anyone with a passing interest in some of the more innovative B pictures of the fifties owe it to themselves to check out Terror in a Texas Town and some of Lewis's other work: My Name Is Julia Ross (1945), a terse little thriller about a case of mistaken identity, Gun Crazy (1949), a variation on the Bonnie and Clyde story told with gripping narrative skill, and the astonishing film noir thriller, The Big Combo (1955), which is as raw and edgy as any gangster thriller made that decade - all ingenious efforts that prove Lewis was one of the great low-budget stylists of his era.
Producer: Frank N. Seltzer
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Screenplay: Ben Perry (a front for Dalton Trumbo)
Art Direction: William Ferrari
Cinematography: Ray Rennahan
Film Editing: Stefan Arnsten, Frank Sullivan
Original Music: Gerald Fried
Cast: Sterling Hayden (George Hansen), Sebastian Cabot (McNeil), Carol Kelly (Molly), Eugene Martin (Pepe), Nedrick Young (Crale).
BW-81m.
By Michael T. Toole
Terror in a Texas Town
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Hard as Nails. The scene leading up to the climactic showdown between "George Hansen" and "Johnny Crale" is played before the film's titles. Sheb Wooley is best known for his recording of the novelty song "Purple People Eater." Modern sources add Chuck Roberson and Emory Parnell to the cast. According to modern sources, the film was made in ten days for $80,000.
Although screenwriter Ben L. Perry was given screen credit for the screenplay when the picture was initially released, the film was actually written by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, whose credit was officially restored by the WGA in September 2000. According to WGA records, Perry fronted for Trumbo and blacklisted writers John Howard Lawson and Mitch Lindeman on Terror in a Texas Town. Trumbo, who was originally approached by producer Frank N. Seltzer to write the script, was involved in other projects and recommended Lawson and Lindeman, according to a biography of Trumbo. Later, at Seltzer's request, Trumbo rewrote the script.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall September 1958
Re-released in United States May 17, 1991
Re-released in United States May 17, 1991 (Public Theater; New York City)
Released in United States Fall September 1958