Terror in a Texas Town

Summary

“If you don’t sign that paper, I’m going to have to kill you.”

In the last year I have watched four Joseph H. Lewis films – his classic Gun Crazy, My Name is Julia Ross, So Dark the Night, and finally, Terror in a Texas Town. I have been working my way through those films after being charmed by the altogether great Gun Crazy. Terror in a Texas Town bears little resemblance to those other films, but is an enjoyable Western and morality play. The film features a script by Dalton Trumbo and a performance from the inimitable Sterling Hayden, who happens to be one of my favorite actors. For myself, this is one of my favorite Joseph H. Lewis films I have seen and I will discuss why below.

In Prairie City, Texas the local townspeople are being run off their land by McNeil (Sebastian Cabot,) a prosperous business man who claims to have prior claim to the lands upon which the farmers live. He uses strong arm tactics like burning of barns when his message is not received loud and clear by the townspeople. Deacon Matt Holmes (Frank Ferguson) would like to have the people stand together against McNeil, but the townspeople are starting to sell their land for undervalue prices to avoid the threat of violence to their families. One farmer that has no plan whatsoever to vacate his land is Sven Hanson – a Swedish immigrant and former whaler. When the young boy Pepe and his father Mirada (Victor Millan) visit Sven they have big news. While digging a well they had discovered oil beneath the land. Suddenly it makes much more sense why McNeil wanted everybody’s property. While Pepe and Mirada are inside Sven’s house, the assassin Johnny Crate (Nedrick Young) arrives to give Sven a final stern warning to sign the paper awarding his land to McNeil or die. Sven raises his whaler’s harpoon and Johnny shoots him dead while Pepe and Mirada look on. Pepe and Mirada tell Miranda’s wife about the oil and the murder. They agree to stay quiet because she is pregnant. Arriving on a train, Swedish whaler George Hansen (Sterling Hayden) soon finds that his father has been murdered just a few days earlier. George soon finds that Sheriff Stoner (Tyler McVey) is under the thumb of McNeil and that justice will not be served. His immigrant dream of taking over his father’s farm is being held back by the worst American notions of capitalism and cronyism. George refuses to leave town or sell his farm which puts him at odds with McNeil and Johnny.

In the wake of the McCarthy blacklist, Terror in a Texas Town was written by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo under the pen name of Ben Perry. The star of the film Sterling Hayden gave names and regretted it the rest of his life. The villain of the film Nedrick Young had refused to name names and had been blacklisted. This lends some interesting back story to the film and helps to inspire all sorts of speculation as to how much that influenced the screenplay and the actors’ choices in the film. I had watched the epic Dalton Trumbo penned film Exodus earlier this year and anybody who has seen that film can tell you that Trumbo doesn’t write simple screenplays. People do not talk in normal turns of phrase but instead their dialogue is meant to hint at much larger social issues. He uses his characters as gateways to discuss morality and the human condition. The effect? Characters do not sound natural, but the audience is forced to think through bigger issues. Some could criticize this for being heavy handed, but for myself, I dig it. It definitely takes some getting used to, but once you roll with it for a while it is really enjoyable and insightful. Terror in a Texas Town is just as much a High Noon imitation as it is a takedown of the corrupt political system that aims to harm the immigrants that hold just as much a claim on their property as Americans born and raised. The great (and sad) part is that the film still holds up. There will always be those with much that want to take away from those with little, and Trumbo speaks to the unfairness of that with force and vitality in Terror in a Texas Town.

The performances in the film work great. Sterling Hayden, while I am not sure if he is completely convincing as a Swede, is great in the lead role. Hayden bears a strong resemblance to my grandfather, so that might make me partial. Regardless, I love watching him on screen and he is great in the lead role. Nedrick Young is sort of a poor man’s Humphrey Bogart and he is perfectly cast as the villainous Johnny. I also really enjoyed the performance by ham-fisted Sebastian Cabot as McNeil. He is the personification of a fat cat in the film.

Overall – this is a lot of fun. I enjoyed this film almost as much as I enjoyed Gun Crazy. I know that I might be in the minority on this opinion based on other reviews that I have read, but I could sit back and watch this one again anytime. 

Video

The transfer provided by Arrow Films looks great. Here is what the booklet details:

“Terror in a Texas Town has been exclusively restored in 2K resolution for this release by Arrow Films. The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono sound. 

An original 35mm fine grain positive was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered 4K Lasergraphics Director Scanner at Deluxe’s EFilm facility in Burbank. Picture grading was completed on the Nucoda Grading System. Picture restoration was performed using Phoenix and PF Clean software. The soundtrack was sourced from a 35mm magnetic element created from the original sound negative reels. All grading and restoration work was completed at R3:Store Studios, London.“

The video transfer from the 2K scan looks great. Fine detail is solid. Gray and black levels are pleasing. Fans will be pleased to know that this is undoubtedly the best the film has ever looked.

Audio

The LPCM 2.0 mono track that Arrow provided sounds pretty good. Dialogue is clear and though there is some hiss it was not distracting or pervasive. The score is pretty interesting and occasionally overshadows the action on the screen with some of its decisions. This track will not blow anybody away, but I think that fans will be pleased with the results overall. 

Supplements

Introduction by Peter Stanfield – Joseph H. Lewis and his varied career is discussed. The discussion of whether Lewis was an auteur or not is a good listen. I think it could be argued both ways. Also discussed is how the film is reflective of the times and the blacklisting in Hollywood. 

A Visual Analysis – certain scenes of the film are discussed for their recurring motifs and decisions made by the filmmaker. A pretty fun piece.

Theatrical Trailer

Overall scores

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 4/5

Terror in a Texas Town is a solid Western with a great moral compass. Fans of Dalton Trumbo will enjoy the way that Trumbo discusses larger issues through his writing. Joseph H. Lewis fans will be pleased to see more of his work get the full high definition treatment. The film looks the best it has ever looked and the supplements supplied by Arrow, while brief, are well-researched and enjoyable. Overall, this is an enjoyable release that I definitely recommend checking out.