The Hard Man ** (1957, Guy Madison, Valerie French, Lorne Greene) – Classic Movie Review 9433

‘The Hard Man Will EXCITE You!’: The 1957 Technicolor Western film The Hard Man stars Guy Madison as Steve Burden, who takes the job of Deputy in El Solito, controlled by a villainous cattle baron (Lorne Greene).

Director George Sherman’s routinely scripted but efficiently done and decently acted 1957 American Technicolor Western film The Hard Man stars Guy Madison as Steve Burden, who takes the job of Deputy in El Solito in the US Southwest, knowing that the last outlaw he killed, his old friend Myron Healey, was framed for murder in the town.

Lorne Greene plays the villainous cattle baron Rice Martin, who controls El Solito and sends a man to kill him. Valerie French plays Rice Martin’s unfaithful wife Fern Martin.

Also in the cast are Barry Atwater as George Dennison, Robert Burton as Sheriff Hacker, Rudy Bond as John Rodman, Trevor Bardette as Mitch Willis and Renata Vanni as Juanita.

The screenplay is by Leo Katcher, based on his novel, the film is nicely shot in attractive Technicolor by Henry Freulich, and the sets are designed by art director Carl Anderson. It is a humble co-feature, running an economical 80 minutes.

Made by Romson Productions, it was released by Columbia Pictures in a double bill with The Long Haul (1957) with the sell line: ‘The Long Haul will DELIGHT You! The Hard Man Will EXCITE You!’

Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley; January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) is best known for playing Wild Bill Hickok in the Western TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok from 1951 to 1958.

Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) is best known for playing the patriarch Ben Cartwright in the Western TV series Bonanza, the first one-hour Western series filmed in colour (1959–1973), making Greene a household name.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9433

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