Gun Battle at Monterey
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Carl K. Hittleman
Sterling Hayden
Pamela Duncan
Ted De Corsia
Mary Beth Hughes
Lee Van Cleef
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After robbing an express company in Monterey, Max Reno and Jay Turner return to their hideout in a cave on the beach where Jay tells Max that he wants to end their temporary partnership and move on. Angered, Max shoots Jay in the back and leaves him for dead. Jay is found by a Mexican woman, Maria Salvador, who, with her father's help, nurses him slowly back to health. Meanwhile, Max moves to another territory and wins a gambling house in a card game. Several weeks later, Jay has nearly recovered and although he and Maria have fallen in love, he is obsessed with taking revenge on Max and, one day, rides away. Months pass as Jay attempts to find Max in numerous towns. One day he rides into the town of Del Rey and learns from the drunken sheriff, Claude Mundy, that Max is running the local saloon. Posing as John York from El Paso, Jay comes to the aid of the town's newspaper publisher, who is being roughed up by Max's henchmen, and later comes face to face with Max. Although Jay has changed his appearance by shaving his beard and a year has passed, Max feels certain that York is really Turner. Max assigns his female card dealer, Cleo Winters, to learn more about Jay, but she fails in her task. When Kirby, Max's henchman, goads Jay into a gunfight, Jay defeats him. After Max fires Kirby, Jay takes him to the jail where a group of citizens appoint Jay deputy. Later, Kirby tricks Mundy and strangles him to death. After Cleo frees Kirby from the cell, he goes gunning for Max. Kirby is about to shoot Max when Jay intervenes and kills Kirby. Jay then reveals his true identity to Max and demands half of the profits from the saloon. They are interrupted by a group of citizens who want to lynch Max, but Jay saves him by claiming that Max is wanted in Texas and that he intends to take him there. This appeases the group and Jay, with Max as his prisoner, rides off into the desert. When they camp, Jay tells Max that he is taking him back to Monterey to stand trial for armed robbery and murder. Jay explains that when Max is hanged he will not only have his revenge but will also collect the reward offered for Max's arrest. They eventually reach Monterey where Jay turns Max over to Sheriff Romero. When Max protests that "John York" is actually Jay Turner, the sheriff refuses to believe him because Jay has been declared dead. After stating that he will return for the reward money, Jay rides off to find Maria. Although she is still in love with him, she is dismayed when she learns that Jay's vengeful act will result in Max's death for a crime he did not commit. Maria urges him to reconsider and do the right thing, indicating that she will wait for him. Jay then returns to the sheriff and turns himself in. Much to Max's amusement, they share a cell and after forgiving Jay, Max points out that they should have arranged for Maria to turn them both in, in which case they could have split the reward.
Cast
Sterling Hayden
Pamela Duncan
Ted De Corsia
Mary Beth Hughes
Lee Van Cleef
Charles Cane
Pat Comiskey
Byron Foulger
Mauritz Hugo
I. Stanford Jolley
Fred Sherman
George Baxter
Michael Vallon
John Damler
Felipe Turich
Rodolfo Hoyos
Steve Conte
Richard Warren
Frank Richards
Ralph Gamble
Charles Postal
Rick Warick
Chet Brandenburg
Crew
Frank Agnone
Ralph Butler
Harry Coswick
Max Frankel
D. Jersey Grut
Del Harris
Russell Ray Heinze
Carl K. Hittleman
Mollie Kent
Joseph Kish
Emile Lavigne
Jack Leonard
Harry Lewis
Yolanda Mcginnis
Robert Wiley Miller
David Milton
Alice Monte
Harry Neumann
Ben Remington
Lawrence Resner
Milt Rice
Sam Schneider
Allan Sloane
Amalia Wade
James West
Allen K. Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film's working titles were No Place to Die and Man from Monterey. The studio production sheet lists David Lang as one of the film's writers, although his name does not appear onscreen nor in any news item or review. The CBCS gives sole screenplay credit to John McGreevey, but his name does not appear anywhere else and his contribution to the final film has not been determined. According to a May 10, 1957 Hollywood Reporter news item, the Mexican group Trio Los Flamingos was to be in the cast but their appearance in the released film has not been verified.
