Showdown at Abilene

Plot synopsis:
Charlie Mayeaux (Liam Neeson) is an undercover DEA agent suffering from anxiety and gastrointestinal problems after a bust gone wrong. During the aforementioned incident, his partner was killed and he found himself served up on a platter of watermelon with a gun shoved in his face just before back-up arrived. Charlie, once known for his ease and almost "magical" talent on the job, is finding it very hard to return to work. His requests to be taken off the case or retired are denied by his bosses, Lonny Ward (Louis Giambalvo) and Dexter Helvenshaw (Mitch Pileggi) as so much time was put into his cover. Charlie works with the dream of one day retiring to Ocean Views, a luxury housing complex with servants and utilities.
During his flight to New York, where his job will resume, another passenger strikes up a conversation with him. It turns out that this man, Dr. Jeff Bleckner (Michael Mantell), is a psychiatrist and upon arriving to New York, Charlie enlists his services. Dr. Bleckner listens to his troubles and prescribes him anti-anxiety medication to help him deal with stress. He also encourages him to join a group therapy session. At therapy, Charlie meets and befriends a group of stressed out men from the business world.
To deal with his gastrointestinal issues, Charlie goes to the doctor where he meets the free-spirited and beautiful Judy Tipp (Sandra Bullock), the self-proclaimed "Enema Queen" who introduces him to alternative therapies to his problems as well as some romantic interest.
Back on the job, Charlie is knee-deep in negotiations for high-stakes money laundering and stock manipulation. He was brought into the group by the passionate Fidel Vaillar (José Zúñiga) and his close bodyguard, Estuvio Clavo (Michael DeLorenzo). Vaillar is a son of an important Colombian drug cartel and fears being viewed as a stereotype. They are dealing with an intense man with an unpredictable temper named Fulvio Nesstra (Oliver Platt) who represents the Italian mob in New York. Fulvio is disfavored son-in-law of high-ranking Italian mobster, Carmine Minetti (Frank Vincent). Jason Cane (Andrew Lauer), a young Wall street-type with a plan, but poor taste, completes the group. Each thinks he understands the other players, but there is more to these characters than meets the eye.

Tags: murder

Review:
Better than Average Western.
Couldn't quite give this film an 8, but I think it's a solid 7.
The cinematography takes advantage of a few great landscapes, and some solid lot work, and even dares to shoot dark at dusk and in the dark.
The depth of the film being pushed becomes really apparent, and it has a thick, rich, painterly quality to it.Jock Mahoney is said to be wooden, but I think he adapts well in the role of a war- weary veteran with a disability he needs to hide since it is central to his ability to fight and shoot.
All that's really needed to carry the film is one hero, one tragic figure, one template bad guy (who still warns the tragic figure he's gonna lose, and the tragic figure doesn't take his heed), and a heroine.
This keeps the film competently engaging.The real meat of the script is given to Dave, played strongly and with complexity by Lyle Bettger, whose big eyes project emotion well.
His part is really phenomenal in that he is a decent man who is a childhood friend of Mahoney's lead Jim Trask, and yet Trask undoes his entire life and accomplishments, and I ended up wanting him to triumph more than the lead character.
It's one of the most tragic figures I've ever seen played in any Western.
The trajectory of Dave's destruction occurs on multiple levels, partially through the usual underestimating of his foe, but also at his failure to step in and take down the hero, who has done a list of wrongs any man would kill for.There's a boilerplate villain, played competently, but not phenomenally, and a heroine who is gorgeous and devoted, but their characters are pretty two dimensional.
The strength of this film is really in the dynamic between a hero trying to find his way, and the epic tragic figure of his childhood friend.
In fact, the tragedy is almost overwritten, to the point you almost lose support for the lead by the end.This film has the feel of a peak Hollywood Western, not too clean but far before the revisionism of the 70s.
It just has a real authenticity to it, with the dialog and the horse work and stunts, which include Jock Mahoney doing some serious diving into the dirt and hand to hand fighting.
The actor was a real physical threat, and it shows.All in all, a strong film, especially for its time and budget..
Showdown at Abilene is directed by Charles Hass and written by Bernie Giler and Clarence Upson Young.
It stars Jock Mahoney, Martha Hyler, Lyle Bettger and David Janssen.
Music is by Joseph Gershenson and photography by Irving Glassberg.Plot has Mahoney as Jim Trask, a former Sheriff of Abilene who returns home from the Civil War with a guilty conscience and a new contempt for guns.
Compounding his troubles is that his old friend Dave Mosely (Bettger) has taken up a romantic relationship with his girl, Peggy Bigelow (Hyer), and he soon learns that Dave is also into villainous activities.
Can Trask overcome his troubles and restore order to Abilene and his life?Better than average and competently acted, Showdown at Abilene is a solid time filler for the undemanding Western fan.
Although thoughtful in its treatment of the characters, formula dictates there are no surprises and comparisons are easily drawn to better Westerns with the same thematics.
Mahoney (TV series The Range Rider) turns in a good show as the emotionally perturbed Trask, while as a stuntman by trade he isn't found lacking in the physical demands of the role as he leaps around with exciting conviction.
Hyer (The Sons of Katie Elder) is pretty as a picture as serves the story well as a rose between two thorns, while Bettger (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) scores favourably as the crafty Dave Mosely.
Not faring so well is Ted de Corsa (also Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) as Dan Claudius, who looks (and is) wrong for prime villain duties.
Shot primarily out of Morrison Ranch, Agoura in California, picture sadly is lifeless in colour, so we never get to see the locale and costuming come to life.
Producer Howard Christie liked the story so much he re-made it eleven years later as 'Gunfight in Abilene', where Bobby Darin starred as the conflicted lead character.Nothing overtly impressive here, nor anything particularly damning either.
Just safe and solid B Western viewing.
While this modestly-cast production from 1956 has a number of the elements found in the usual B-western, its plot and characters offer a bit more depth and complexity than one might expect.
This is largely due to the "triangle" relationship between Jock Mahoney, his former girlfriend, Martha Hyer, and the man she's now engaged to marry, Lyle Bettger.
It's an awkward situation and the fact that these three people, at least at the start of the story, like each other gives the situation refreshing ambiguities and nuances.
At least it's not the usual "good guys and bad guys." As has been mentioned in other reviews, this movie is well-cast though I agree Ted de Corsia is too old and out-of-shape to be convincing as the "hired gun." Curiously, just 11 years later, Universal released a re-make of this movie called "Gunfight in Abilene" with, of all people, Bobby Darin in the Jock Mahoney role.
Excellent Permances Makes Showdown At Abilene An Above Average Western.
This is an average western that is predictable right from the start.
Excellent performances by Jock Mahoney as Jim Trask, Martha Hyer as Peggy, Lyle Beher as Dave and, a young, David Janssen as Deputy Vern Ward make Showdown At Abeline worth a look.
The hired gun was played by Ted de Corsia which was the only error in casting that I could find.
The town of Abilene and surrounding areas, do not match the flat lands of Kansas but otherwise, excellent photography give the film added appeal..
Jock Mahoney and Martha Hyer star in this good B western about a Civil War veteran returned from the war with a dark secret and a desire not to carry weapons.
Naturally he has no plans to return to his former occupation as sheriff of Abilene.Abilene has a new sheriff in the coarse and brutal Ted DeCorsia and he's in the pocket of Lyle Bettger who in the interim has moved in on Mahoney's girlfriend Martha Hyer and they plan to be married.
Everybody did think Mahoney was killed and one who was killed was Bettger's younger brother.Abilene has also changed from a peaceful agricultural community to a trail's end for cattle shipping.
How many gazillion westerns have been made with that plot premise and all it entails.Given Mahoney is a cowboy hero in the tradition of Tom Destry you know he only has one way to go.
Still Showdown In Abilene is nicely packaged for any western fan..
Routine and pedestrian Western.
In my view by far the best book on the Western is Phil Hardy's "The Western".It is volume one of the Aurum Encyclopedia of the Cinema a series which explores different genres in each volume.The methodology of the series is to provide capsule reviews on a year by year basis and the book has been useful in steering me towards some of the less well publicised WesternsPhil Hardy does not deem this movie worthy of a seperate review and consigns it to a one line mention in an appendix This is a tad unfair because while routine in conception and execution it is sturdt enough and the studio obviously thought well enough of the basic plot to remake it in the late 1960's as "Gunfight in Abilene"starring the least convincing Westerner in the genre's history,Bobby Darin Mahobney plays "Jim Trask" a retuning Cofederate veteran who is pressured by old friend and ruthless entrepreneur "Dave Mosley" played by Lyle Bettger to take up his former job as the law in Abilene,a town riven by conflict between ranchers and the cattle interests represented bty Mosley who feels he can manipulate "Trask" to seve the cattlemans causeTrouble soon breaks out and open conflict erupts between the parties before the final shootout restores orderPerformances are perfunctory and the direction is routine,but genre lovers could do worse as a way of whiling away a wet afternoon.
"A man's gotta fight to live in peace".
The western tap showed no sign of being turned off in the late 1950s,with all formats of cowboys oaters flooding out of major Hollywood studios, Universal was probably the most prolific and well established in making such films, SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE was one of these.
Confederate officer Jim Trask(JOCK MAHONEY)returns home from the Civil war to his home town of Abilene,Kansas.What he finds is a powder keg situation just waiting to explode, a range war threatening to erupt between farmers and ranchers due to large areas of farm land being taken over by Dave Mosley(LYLE BETTIGER)to be used as grazing land for cattle.
Jim takes back his old job of sheriff, but refuses to use or even wear a gun due to a terrible incident which occurred during the war...SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE was remade in 1967 as GUNFIGHT IN ABILENE, in a way, I nearly think that this film is on a par with the remake, but the more I think about it, SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE is definitely the better of the two films.
The storyline and script are by far superior and the script is more tightly written which gave the film a much better pace than the remake.
The action scenes,although few and abrupt, were fantastically put together, the fistfight in the street Trask and the cowboy was really impressive.
Jock Mahoney does some Spaghetti western style acrobatics as he leaps over a wooden barrier and pounces onto his enemy before beating him unconscious.
The final showdown between Trask and Claudius was amazing and much better than the one in GUNFIGHT IN ABILENE, it's far more intense and exciting and again I was blown away by the stunts and how the sequence was shot, loving how a wounded Trask jumps onto the ground as he dodges gunshots from Claudius, lifts his gun and shoots Claudius.
I think this scene is an awesome example of the real western showdown that is described in books and comics.Jock Mahoney is better in the lead than Bobby Darin was, he's far cooler and is the proper image of the cowboy action hero.
Lyle Bettiger was more dramatic than Leslie Nielsen,especially in the scene near the end when he discovers that Trask killed his brother, he delivers more emotion and gives more of a powerhouse performance here.Ted De Corsica was alright as Dan Claudius, but I thought Donnelly Rhoades was better in the remake, he was more sadistic and brutal.
Thankfully the whipping scene was included fully in this film and it was incredibly shot, it's still really cruel and chilling and you can feel young Chip's fear and pain as he is repeatedly thrashed and the final shootout was definitely more spectacular here than in the remake.
I happened to notice that the shots of the townsfolk looking out of their windows before the final shootout were the exact same shots used before the final shootout in the remake.
One big gripe I did have about this film is that there is no battle scene at the beginning of the film to let the audience know what Jim Trask did, a battle or at least a short montage would have looked fantastic and been a brilliant and explosive way to kick off the film.SHOWDOWN AT ABELINE is just as enjoyable as GUNFIGHT IN ABELINE,but just a little bit better, both films are nearly the exact same, but it's interesting to compare the two, but both of them are strong and entertaining films.
Universal really did know how to make action packed and riveting westerns and were the greatest in Hollywood at making them.SHOWDOWN AT ABELINE is, without a doubt, deserving of a good DVD release.9/10..
"Showdown in Abilene" emerges as a rugged but formulaic Universal International Pictures' oater with some nice touches.
Jock Mahoney tops a first class cast that features western stalwarts like Lyle Bettger, Martha Hyer, Ted de Corsia, and Lane Bradford.
"Showdown in Abilene" is more than a mere western melodrama.
This horse opera boasts a hero who suffers from a guilty consciousness that puts him into a film noir category.
The leading man in a western has an antipathy to firearms.
Later, when he becomes a sheriff, he walks around in public without wearing a six-gun!
Aside from its sturdy cast, "Showdown in Abilene" is far better than its remake "Gunfight in Abilene." Crooner Bobby Darin took over the role that Mahoney originated, but he isn't convincing as the iron-willed lawman.After the American Civil War, former Confederate officer Jim Trask (Jock Mahoney of "Money, Women, and Guns") rides back to his hometown of Abilene to find things have changed.
One of Trask's old friends Dave Mosely (Lyle Bettger of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral") has given up farming and entered the beef business.
Once a farmer, Dave has amassed a fortune now as a result of the railroads setting up shop in Abilene and shipping cattle out to market.
Not only has Dave gotten into the cattle business, but he also has bought up real estate so he can fatten his herds.
In the meantime, he has pinned the sheriff's badge on one of his hired gunmen, Dan Claudius (Ted de Corsia of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"), and Dave has Abilene wrapped up in his fist.
Literally, Dave rules Abilene with an iron fist, but he has only one hand.
We're never told how he lost his hand in a childhood accident that Jim Trask committed.
If Trask finds that Abilene has changed, Abilene learns that Jim has changed, too.
Initially, everybody thought Jim had died in the war so his reappearance surprises several people.
One of them is none other than Trask's former sweetheart, Peggy Bigalow (Martha Hyer of "The Sons of Katie Elder"), the lady that he vowed to marry after he came back from the war.
Now, Peggy is poised to marry Dave.
One of the best scenes, staged imaginatively by Haas, has Peggy confronting Jim in the general store where our hero is having a suit of clothes made for him.
When Jim and Peggy approach each other, Haas has set up a full-length mirror in front of and between them so we can see the reflection of Dave Mosely.
Literally, Dave stands between Jim and Peg as they gaze into each other's eyes.
Later, Haas stages another interesting scene when former Union soldier Chip Tomlin (Grant Williams of "The Incredible Shrinking Man") is bull-whipped by the evil Claudius.
The villains tie Chip to the tail end of their wagon and Claudius cuts Chip's shirt to ribbons with his bull whip.
In a separate shot, one of the drovers holding the team of horses has to calm that horses that have been frightened by the crack of the whip.
The fear that the shuddering horses show reflects the brutality of Claudius and his whip.
Naturally, Dave is incensed when he learns what Claudius has done.
Dave dreads the prospect that Chip's death will bring.
Clocking in at a trim 80 minutes, "Showdown in Abilene" never wears out its welcome, and it is looms over its remake..
A sheriff without a gun.
As the film starts it looks as if it will start with a bang; two men, one in Confederate grey, the other in Union blue meet; it turns out though that the war is over and they are friends who chose different sides returning to their home town of Abilene Kansas.
There are been a lot of changes while they were gone; before the war everybody was growing wheat but with the coming of the railway the town is becoming part of cattle country.
The Confederate soldier is Jim Trask, who everybody thought was dead, the former sheriff of Abilene and a close friend of the most successful cattleman, Dave Mosely.
Things start off awkwardly between the two of them; while Trask survived the war Mosely's brother who served with him died and Mosely is now engaged to Trask's former fiancée, Peggy Bigelow; they appear to be willing to bury the hatchet though and Mosely asks Trask to take his old job back.
The current sheriff, Dan Claudius, and villain of the story then returns to being Mosely's senior stock man.
It isn't long before feelings are running high between the farmers and Mosely after Claudius whips a farmer who he accused of stealing a cow despite the man protesting that he was in fact returning it.
Matters are complicated by the fact that Trask will not carry a gun because he is haunted by an event that happened during the war and the fact that his ex-fiancée still has feelings for him.While this is far from a classic it is a decent enough film with a solid performance from Jack Mahoney as Trask and it was a nice twist making the sheriff unwilling to use a gun; although he will inevitably be forced to use one in the end...
you can't call a film 'Showdown at Abilene' without there being a showdown between hero and villain!
Ted de Corsia was okay as the villain but didn't have the lean, mean look of a dangerous gunfighter; at least his character was suitably unpleasant.
The love triangle between Trask, Mosely and Peggy didn't have any surprises apart from the reason Trask didn't seem willing to try to get her back, this is also the reason for most of his actions and I won't spoil it although I'm sure several people will guess it as they watch the film.
Overall this is worth watching if it is on the TV if you enjoy westerns but it isn't a must see example of the genre.