Night Passage (1957)

When the local railroad becomes the constant target of a group of bandits robbing the trains of its payroll contents, the railroad officials rehire an ex-employee (James Stewart) to guard the next payroll shipment. This is in spite of his intentionally letting a member (Audie Murphy) of that gang escape a few years earlier. Based on the novel by Norman A. Fox and directed by James Neilson (THE MOON SPINNERS) who replaced Anthony Mann before filming started. The first movie shot in the new wide screen Technirama format (sharper image and less grain) and the film looks great with cinematographer William H. Daniels (SOME CAME RUNNING) making the Colorado landscapes pop on the screen. I wish I could say the same for the film which is average at best. Stewart's performance seems to be on cruise control but Murphy is surprisingly effective in a rare bad guy role and Dan Duryea overacts terribly as the head of the gang. The film hints at going into the darker places but ends up going for the safe and predictable. Too bad. With Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Olive Carey, Hugh Beaumont, Paul Fix and Ellen Corby.