Law of the Lawless (1963)
Directed by: William F. Claxton
Starring: Dale Robertson, Yvonne De Carlo, William Bendix, John Agar, and Bruce Cabot
"Basically, there are no differences in people. Whether he's a rich man or poor man. Whether he's educated or illiterate, only the circumstances that made him that way, those are the differences."
Judge Clem Rodgers formerly known as having the fastest gun has now turned it in for a gavel instead. Siding with the law to bring in men who believe they hold the law. "I try you in every court and hang you there. Not you as an individual but other men like you. What you stand for. What you represent. "
Now, Judge Clem Rodgers finds himself in a bit of a predicament. A man named Pete awaits trial. The mayor of this town firmly believes that the Judge needs to turn away and let this one go. He even employs one Joe Rile as a backup. Ol' Joe holds some importance and to avoid spoilers you'll have to check it out. Pete decides to pull some strings and employees Ms. Ellie (Yvonne) to set Judge Clem in a scandal. However, Ms. Ellie a victim of circumstance doesn't feel it's right and does all she can to help. Ms. Ellie was once married but lost her husband in a gunfight. She had to make ends meet and now is a saloon girl.
Thoughts: I decided to give this one a whirl. I'm not familiar with westerns but I really did enjoy this. This film had more substance than action and for that it held a strong message. Excellent job with sets, setting, score, cast, and overall worth the watch.
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