Gun Fury (1953)

A rancher (Rock Hudson) and his fiancee (Donna Reed) are heading toward California when the stagecoach they are riding is held up by a renegade group of ex-Confederate soldiers. The rancher is left for dead and the gang kidnaps the girl but he sets out after the bandits. Based on the novel TEN AGAINST CAESAR by Kathleen and Robert Granger and directed by veteran Raoul Walsh. This is a routine western which was originally filmed in 3D and the gimmick is the only novel thing about it. We get rocks, plates and knives tossed at us, even a leaping rattlesnake! Hudson makes for a rather benign protagonist for most of the film. A peace loving man who refuses to carry a gun until forced to when he realizes that the film's villain (Philip Carey) will stop at nothing including betrayal and murder in his bid to get what he wants. The cinematography of Lester White (PUSHOVER) makes striking use of the Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona. With Lee Marvin, Neville Brand, Roberta Haynes and in the film's best performance, Leo Gordon.