Rough Night in Jericho (1967)

Director:

Arnold Laven

Writers:

Marvin H. Albert (novel)
Sydney Boehm (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 August 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Plot:

A former deputy and a strong-willed widow determine to stop a ruthless town boss. |

Plot Keywords:

Stagecoach | Card Playing | Hanging | Frontier Town | Bomb

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Alex Flood
George Peppard	...	Dolan
Jean Simmons	...	Molly Lang
John McIntire	...	Ben Hickman
Slim Pickens	...	Yarbrough
Don Galloway	...	Jace
Brad Weston	...	Torrey
Richard O'Brien	...	Frank Ryan
Carol Andreson	...	Claire
Steve Sandor	...	Simms
Warren Vanders	...	Harvey
John Napier	...	McGivern

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | France:-16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Kanab, Utah, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Quotes:

Molly Lang: Hired killers.
Dolan: The badge gives them a license.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Flamingo Rising (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hold Me

It was real rough for Slim Pickens

Dean Martin for the first and only time in his career played a villain, a town boss named Alex Flood who still hasn't gotten control of the stagecoach line Jean Simmons runs. She's sold it to George Peppard and John McIntire. McIntire is wounded on the way into town and he and Peppard are put up by Simmons. This doesn't sit well with Dino, he and Simmons have had their moments in the past.

It's a good adult western with lots of action to satisfy everyone. One of the most brutal fight scenes in cinema history takes place between Peppard and Slim Pickens who's Martin's chief henchman. More brutal than the one between Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt against Barton MacLane in Treasure of the Sierra Made. More brutal because Pickens meets his demise.

The rest of the film is Peppard rallying forces to take the town away from Martin's control. Of course having Jean Simmons to come home to is enough to inspire anyone.

Simmons is no longer playing the young girls she played in the 1950s, but she gives a good account of herself as the stageline widow. She's always good, one of the most under-appreciated actresses in movie history.

Good adult western, worth a view. And if you want to see a modern remake, catch the Patrick Swayze film Road House.