''Stranger on Horseback'' is a 1955 American Anscocolor

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

and starring

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

. The screenplay is based on a story by

Louis L'Amour Louis Dearborn L'Amour (; né LaMoore; March 22, 1908 – June 10, 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known West ...

. It was filmed in and around

Sedona Sedona ( ) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. The city is within the Coconino Nati ...

, AZ, and on

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

’s Melody Ranch in Placerita Canyon, Newhall, CA.

Plot

Rick Thorne, a circuit judge, rides into Bannerman and discovers everything in town is controlled by rich rancher Josiah Bannerman and his kin. He meets sheriff Nat Bell and district attorney Buck Streeter and asks why Bannerman's arrogant son, Tom, got away with killing a man without an arrest or trial. Offered no assistance, Thorne stands up to Tom and then jails him. He becomes acquainted with Bannerman's beautiful niece, Amy Lee, who is attracted to Thorne but doubts her cousin Tom is a cold-blooded killer. Thorne finds allies in Caroline and Vince Webb, who own a gun shop and are willing to testify with evidence against Tom in court. Thorne realizes he needs to sneak Tom and the Webbs to a different town if he's to get a fair trial. Bannerman and his men pursue them, and Amy Lee watches as Tom deliberately causes Vince Webb's death. In time, Thorne gets the prisoner to the next town safely, and Amy Lee goes to court to back him up.

Cast

as Judge Richard 'Rick' Thorne * Miroslava as Amy Lee Bannerman *

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

as Tom Bannerman *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novemb ...

as Josiah Bannerman *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

as Col. Buck Streeter *

Nancy Gates Nancy Gates (February 1, 1926Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. .P. 471. – March 24, 2019) was an American film and television actress. Early ...

as Caroline Webb *

Emile Meyer Emile Meyer (August 18, 1910 – March 19, 1987) was an American actor, usually known for tough, aggressive, authoritative characters in Hollywood films from the 1950s era, mostly in Westerns or thrillers. Career Meyer had an uncredited ...

as Sheriff Nat Bell * Robert Cornthwaite as Arnold Hammer * Jaclynne Greene as Paula Morrison *

Walter Baldwin Walter Smith Baldwin Jr. (January 2, 1889 − January 27, 1977) was an American character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances. Baldwin was born January 2, 1889, in Lima, O ...

as Vince Webb *

Emmett Lynn Emmett Earl Lynn (February 14, 1897 – October 20, 1958) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Early life Lynn was born in Muscatine, Iowa. When he was nine years old, Lynn became a song plugger in Denver, Colorado. From tha ...

as Barfly *

Roy Roberts Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones; March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen. Life and career Born in Tamp ...

as Sam Kettering * George Keymas as Bannerman's Henchman *

Lane Bradford Lane Bradford (born ''John Myrtland Le Varre, Jr.''; August 29, 1922 – June 6, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films and television series between 1940 and 1973, specializing in supporting "tough-guy" roles predominan ...

as Kettering Henchman (uncredited) *

Dabbs Greer Robert William "Dabbs" Greer (April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007) was an American character actor in film and television for over 60 years. Greer appeared in nearly 100 film roles and in nearly 600 television episodes of various series. He pl ...

as Hotel Clerk (uncredited) *

Frank Hagney Frank Sidney Hagney (20 March 1884 – 25 June 1973) was an Australian actor. He is known for his work on '' It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946), '' Ride Him, Cowboy'' (1932) and '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). Early life and career Born in Sydney, ...

as Bartender (uncredited) This was Miroslava's last Hollywood film; she committed suicide a few weeks before the film was released.

References

External links

* * 1955 Western (genre) films 1955 films American Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films United Artists films Films directed by Jacques Tourneur Films scored by Paul Dunlap 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links