i can remember as a kid when this was in the theatres, there was a scene in the opening sequence, where we see jonathan rudd, the real jonathon rudd, camping out on his way to rincon to open his church. robert mitchun's character just happens upon him, and he happens to have a newspaper that details the murder of frankie rudd. he then kills him, takes his place and appears in rincon for his revenge...............why this was deleted, who knows it's hollyweird.......
shareProbably to have the movie play out as a "Who done it"... Frankly, the staging, directing and framing are so horrible that there isn't a lot to look at. This movie would be completely forgettable, even with Dean and Mitchum in it, if it wasn't for that element of mystery...
shareI believe the original poster has confused this film with Dean Martin's previous western, Bandolero. In Bandolero, James Stewart comes across a black-garbed hangman who says he is going to execute a gang of outlaws. During the conversation it turns out that one of the outlaws is Stewart's brother (Martin). Stewart then overpowers the hangman and assumes his identity.
shareGood catch! That's exactly what I was thinking when I read that!
shareYes, and in the "Bandolero" page there was/is consternation about this hangman's fate after Stewart hijacks his identity. It's covered a bit on early prints of the film that show the hangman alive & well in his white long johns as Stewart rides off in his garb. The only problem is this permits the hangman to alert law enforcement ahead as soon as he is able to make it to a town.
shareDean Martin made several western of this kind ;
*Five Card Stud, *Bandolero, *Rough Night in Jericho and *Something Big
all of them in the same line, and with low quality.