Showdown At Abilene (1956)

Returning home from the Civil War, the former sheriff (Jock Mahoney) of Abilene finds the town changed considerably. Instead of the peaceful farm community, he finds the town taken over by cattlemen and tensions run high between the farmers and cattlemen. He also finds his former fiancee (Martha Hyer) engaged to marry his childhood friend (Lyle Bettger). Directed by Charles Haas, this is a decent if unoriginal programmer. However, casting causes a strange shift in empathy. Normally, the hero protagonist would be our focus of interest but as played by the colorless Mahoney, he's just not very interesting. Bettger is a better actor than Mahoney which allows his conflicted cattleman to take center stage despite being the third wheel. The lovely Martha Hyer as the "girl" doesn't have much to do except wring her hands and look pretty. With David Janssen, Grant Williams and Ted De Corsia.