Customer Rating:  
Summary: Quality psychological western in unique setting
Comment: In the 1950s, westerns took a turn to the more intellectual with less reliance on mindless action, Day of the Outlaw is one of those psychological westerns. Rancher Blaise Starrett (what a cool western name) owns a spread in the mountains of Wyoming, but he's having trouble with the local farmers who want to fence off the area. But just when the confrontation is coming to a full boil, a gang of vicious renegades on the run ride into town to rest up after being chased by the cavalry for robbing an Army payroll. Now Blaise and the townfolk must band together if they hope to survive against these ruthless killers. Being a psychological western, there isn't a ton of action here, but when it comes it's surprising and meant to catch you off guard. Not many westerns filmed in winter settings, but the snowy locations add to the dark, cynical feel of the movie and the use of black and white really adds to the effect. Take advantage of this new DVD, the movie's well worth a watch.
The always reliable Robert Ryan leads a strong cast as Blaise Starrett, the Wyoming rancher who's always been interested in his own problems but now finds himself having to look out for the well-being of others. Starrett makes a noble transformation by the end of the movie, something you actually believe in because it's Robert Ryan. Singer Burl Ives gives a startling performance as Captain Jack Bruhn, a cavalry officer with a checkered past now leading a band of ruthless renegades. Bruhn is not like his men and single-handedly keeps them behaved. A pre-Gilligan's Island Tina Louise shows what a good actress she is as Helen Crane, a farmer's wife who has feelings for Starrett but neither of them know what to do if they want to be together. Jack Lambert and Lance Fuller are very good as Tex and Pace, two of Bruhn's gang and maybe the most dangerous of them all. Other recognizable western faces here include Nehemiah Persoff, Elisha Cook, Dabbs Greer, Alan Marshal, and David Nelson.
The DVD has a widescreen presentation of the movie in its original black and white format. The Andre De Toth directed movie looks great with all the snowy locations, but unfortunately there's no special features here. The movie's a good one though, especially Robert Ryan and Burl Ives, so give Day of the Outlaw a try!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ryan Rules.
Comment: Superb western to just now be released on dvd. We need more of these classics for our movie libraries, but its just a shame we have to wait so long to get them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Robert Ryan and Burl Ives are outstanding in this bleak, austere, frigid western
Comment: "Now listen," says Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives), renegade former captain in the U. S. Army, to the frightened men and women of Bitters, population about 20, four of them women. It's deep winter and Bruhn and his men have just barged into the saloon as rancher Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) was about to gun down farmer Hal Crane. "Do as you're told and you can go about your business just like we're not here, almost. But we are here so it's best you know with what you're dealing. Pace here gets pleasure out of hurting people. Tex, rile him and you're going to hear some screaming in this town today. Denver, half Cheyenne. Him hate white man. He doesn't feel half so badly about white women. Vause, bones covered with dirty skin but even half drunk he's the fastest draw in Wyoming Territory. And Shorty. We soldiered together. The young fella, well, he's a fresh recruit but he's learning fast."
For the rest of the day and through the night Bruhn by force of will is going to control his motley, dangerous gang. He'll deny them liquor, deny them the town's women, and undergo an excruciating operation by the town vet to extract a bullet from a lung. They're on the run with $40,000 in gold in their saddlebags. The U.S. Cavalry is on their trail. Bruhn is a complex man with an odd sense of honor. He was responsible for a massacre by soldiers under his command. His justice is ruthless. His authority is complete...as long as he lives. Right now he is the only one capable of keeping his gang of killers from tearing up Bitters by its roots.
And that includes Blaise Starrett, an angry rancher...angry at being rejected by Hal Crane's wife, Helen (Tina Louise), angry with Crane for the barbed wire that Crane will be putting up next to his land, angry at the farmers moving into the town and the territory that he cleaned up and made safe. That showdown with Crane that Bruhn interrupted would have been no more than murder. Crane wore a gun but couldn't use it well, and Starrett was purposely goading him. And in this complex, austere western both Starrett and Bruhn are going to find in themselves a capacity for surprising decisions. For Starrett, it will mean the realization that killing Crane won't solve anything, the realization that Helen Crane will not leave her husband for him, and the realization that the only one capable of outfoxing Bruhn is Starrett, himself...by leading Bruhn and his killers through a way out of town in the deep winter that will most likely kill them all. For Bruhn, he survives the operation. He's given a little morphine. He's back on his feet...and he's starting to cough. Let's just say Bruhn knows what's going to happen
All the while in this achingly cold western, snow is on the ground and the weather is frigid. When Starrett leads the gang out of town there is freezing white mist in the air and the snow is nearly up to the horses' bellies. The last 30 minutes of the movie are exhausting, with the horses struggling through the deep snow, with the wind blowing too hard to start a fire, and with men dying.
It's no spoiler to say that Blaise Starrett survives. It might be a spoiler to say that while he may no longer be the angry man we met at the start of the movie, he'll probably be just as lonely.
You could flip a coin to decide who holds this movie together more impressively, Robert Ryan or Burl Ives. Ryan brings all his impressive presence to his role. Ives, however, by force of acting and authenticity, makes his ability to impose his will on this gang believable. It's a first-rate performance. But, oh, if only this movie could have been made without the women. Two of the four actresses can't act, and those two are ones the story lingers on. Tina Louise as Helen Crane is completely out of her skill range. Her lack of acting ability severely undercuts the notion that a man like Blaise Starrett, especially when played by such a fine actor as Ryan, would ever carry a torch for her. Tina Louise's Helen Crane is too dull to lust after. And while all the men look like they seldom see a bar of soap more often than once a week (and in the case of Bruhn's gang, once a month, maybe), all the women look as clean and groomed as if they'd stepped out of a Sears Roebuck catalogue. Some of their tidy polish gets rubbed off, however, at one of the most ominous dances in a western. Bruhn has decided that the women will dance with his men to lower their resentment over being denied whiskey and assault. Bruhn keeps control during the dance, but these leering, groping villains take advantage of the four women every chance they get, and the women dare not do anything about it. It's a nasty, uncomfortable, well-staged scene.
Day of the Outlaw is a corny title, but even with its flaws the movie is engrossing. I almost put on a sweater while I watched it. It's one of the bleakest, coldest looking movies I've ever seen.
The DVD transfer looks fine. There are no extras.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A very odd "oater"
Comment: First I have to say I'm a huge Robert Ryan/Western fan (Hour of the Gun, The Lawman), and if you've ever seen Burl Ives in "Big Country" you know how good he can play a bad guy. But this movie was an odd diappointment--not terrible, but strange for a Western.
It starts right off with Robert Ryan being a tough guy; then shows him oddly romantic with Tina Louise (yes, from Gilligan's Island who looks gorgeous as a brunnette) and you see why Ryan rarely did love scenes. The whole movie is taking place indoors at this pt and it's claustrophobic and not at all what you want or expect in a Western.
Then Burl Ives (who's quite good) shows up with his thugs and it shifts into a "hostage take-over plot" we've seen many times before and it seems like an akward fit into a Western. This part goes on for awhile with some very uncomfortable scenes with the thugs dancing with the 4 women left in town.
At that point the film moves to it's conclusion with Robert Ryan heroically & cleverly leading the bad guys to their own destruction. He then returns to town with one of the original thugs a changed Man--very odd. And one final thing; this movie is beautifully shot in B&W but the harsh treatment of the horses by the men is hard to watch. This film is now in my Western 'collection' but I don't much recommend it for viewing unless you're a diehard like me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: for what it's worth
Comment: Am biased, being a western fan but even so have to say that this movie not as good as expected despite having Robert Ryan. Burl Ives wooden. Good locations.
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