A Time for Dying *** (1969, Richard Lapp, Anne Randall, Victor Jory, Audie Murphy, Peter Brocco) – Classic Movie Review 7289

Writer-director Budd Boetticher’s 1969 Western A Time for Dying unites him with producer-star Audie Murphy, who returns to a role he had taken as far back as 1950 in Kansas Raiders, that of the outlaw Jesse James, in what turned out to be his last movie. Murphy, who also produces as well as makes a star cameo, died in a plane crash shortly after the film was finished. So the film has a horribly ironic title.

A Time for Dying is effectively made by cult Western director Boetticher, with attractive cinematography by Lucien Ballard, and this excellent little Western also showcases Victor Jory’s rich, definitive portrayal of the famous drunkard Judge Roy Bean. I say ‘little’, but not so much in achievement as in running time – it is only 72 minutes long.

It stars Richard Lapp as naive farm boy Cass Bunning and Anne Randall as newcomer saloon girl Nellie Winters. After Cass and Nellie are forced into marriage by Judge Roy Bean, Cass decides to become a bounty hunter, and encounters Jesse James.

It was shot at the Apacheland Movie Ranch near Tucson in April and May 1969.

A rough cut premiered at the National Film Theatre in London on 27 May 1969 and the final film premiered in Dallas, Texas, on 15 September 1969, followed by showings throughout Texas. But because of legal problems after Murphy’s death in 1971, the film’s full release was held up for a more than a decade, finally released on 2 June 1982.

Also in the cast are Richard Lapp as naive farm boy Cass Bunning, Anne Randall as newcomer saloon girl Nellie Winters, Peter Brocco as Seth, Bob Random as Billy Pimple, Beatrice Kay as Mamie, Ron Masak as Sam the Bartender, Walter Reed as the Mayor and Burt Mustin as Ed. Two of Murphy’s sons make their film debuts in small roles. Murphy’s friend Willard Willingham plays Frank James.

Murphy and Boetticher had formed their own company Fipco Productions [First International Planning Company] to make films. Murphy spent 18 months on fund raising but finance was scarce and A Time for Dying is several minutes shorter than scripted. Murphy was flying to a business meeting on 18 May 1971 when his private plane ran into thick fog near Roanoke, Virginia, and crashed into a mountain, killing all six aboard.

A Time for Dying is directed by Budd Boetticher, runs 72 minutes, is made by Fipco Productions and Etoile Productions, is released by Corinth Films, is written by Budd Boetticher, is shot on location in Arizona in colour and Panavision by Lucien Ballard (director of photography), is produced by Audie Murphy, is scored by Harry Betts and is designed by A Leslie [Les] Thomas.

Boetticher recalled: ‘Audie got in real trouble with some people in Las Vegas, and he needed a director to make a picture, and he would be the producer. He was a friend, and he was in trouble, so I made the picture for him. But then Audie was killed in a plane crash shortly after the film was finished, so the whole thing was just tragic.’

Boetticher had directed Murphy on The Cimarron Kid (1952).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7289

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