Rebel in Town (1956)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I just watched this movie on Netflix. Although I am a big western fan, I had never seen this movie with its wonderful cast. The general story line is about a nervous confederate man shooting a boy and then becoming more cowardly than ever, allowing his brother to take the blame. That's not what this movie is truly about. It is about the psychological effects people had as the Civil War ended. On one side, we have the heroic Northern officer who can't resist always assisting the law and his perspective of the Confederacy that he has passed on to his son. On the other side, we have five war-weary confederate soldiers, four brothers and a father, having just robbed a bank in a nearby town, but having a need for water. Three of them ride into town and one is involved with a shooting. The youngest brother feels guilt and wants to do the right thing. The father of the shooting victim wants revenge against the soldiers, regardless of the fact it was an accident. The story hinges on the tug and pull of the emotions and feelings people had, due to the War. If there was something I would criticize, it would be the writer finding the easy out by making the shooter become cowardly and unconcerned about anyone but himself. What made this western stand out to me was the material it covered. It was not a simple plot. The emotional content is what makes this story special, the right and wrong perspective idea consistently flows throughout this movie with only Ruth Roman being the voice of reason and logic. All the actors did great jobs with their characters and it was refreshing watching actors, normally portrayed as stereotypical heroes playing people with huge flaws that pinpointed their humanity. I would like to have seen more of Ben Johnson (side bar complaint). Very worthy of watching more than once.

"Rebel in Town" offers up an interesting character reversal with the portrayals of John and Nora Willoughby (John Payne, Ruth Roman), in that it's the wife's role to maintain a balance of composure and common sense when her only child is accidentally shot and killed when a trio of ex-Confederate soldiers makes it's way to the town of Kittreck Wells. One would expect the woman in the situation to become hysterical and call out for blind vengeance, but here she maintained the voice of reason long enough for the truth of the incident to reveal itself.The Mason clan was an interesting bunch I'd have to say. Led by Bible thumper Bedloe (J. Carroll Naish), the clan always took a vote when it came to important family decisions. Although I didn't catch any vote when Pa took a whip to bad boy Wesley (John Smith) for scheming against brother Gray (Ben Cooper). You know, I would have sworn that the part of Gray Mason was portrayed by Richard Thomas, except the math wouldn't have worked for the year the picture was released. Thomas would have been five years old, but if you pull up their pics on IMDb you'll see the resemblance.The movie eventually reestablishes your conventional norms by the end of the story, as John Willoughby realizes his wife's advice is sound and successfully dissuades the good folks of Kittreck Wells to lay down their hangman's noose. I always hate to see a young kid get killed in one of these old time Westerns, so that's my biggest downside for the picture. However it was satisfying that Pa Willoughby was vindicated, and didn't have to exact revenge with a restless gun.

This film show us a war that is supposedly over but some non conformed rebels are still using their uniforms and becoming bandits to survive. When a misunderstanding happens and a boy is killed there seems to be no way out for them. The importance of a woman, Nora (Ruth Roman), who even though her son is dead, makes all efforts for a peaceful solution, is the remarkable aspect of this western. What looks like a plain B movie at the beginning gradually becomes more meaningful, directed by Alfred Werker (Three Hours to Kill, The Last Posse). John Payne (Willoughby) and John Carrol Naish (Mason) are the heads of family and Ben Cooper (Gray Mason) is excellent as the son with good feelings. The tragedy of the film is caused by a boy using toy guns. In the fifties toy guns used to be popular, probably even more in the years before. Good thing you do not see them anymore.

When an Ex-Confederate patriarch and his four sons stop for supplies on the run after robbing a bank, one of them gets nervous hearing a cocked pistol behind him and turns quickly, blasting a 9 yr old boy playing with a toy pistol. The murder of the child spawns hate and a blind rage for vengeance in the small western town. J. Carroll Naish has one of his best roles as the Bible-spouting sire of a brood of scum, trying to keep them in order. John Payne as the traumatized father of the dead boy gives an unnerving performance as a decent man who's become emotionally unbalanced. His uncertainty and mental disruption are almost palpable as his alarmed wife (Ruth Roman) desperately tries to stifle his increasingly homicidal personality. It's very unsettling to see Payne in this unheroic light...the difference from his usual demeanor draws a very convincing portrait of a severely unbalanced man. Ben Cooper (who usually plays a disturbed role) is uncommonly sympathetic here as the only member of the gang responsible enough to acknowledge guilt for the tragedy, even though his own life is at risk instead of his older brother's, the unrepentant perpetrator. This is definitely several cuts above your average western and sustains viewers'interest throughout. Highly recommended....