Lawman
A lawman from Bannock arrives in Sabbath to arrest all the cattlemen whose wild celebration the year before resulted in the accidental death of an old man.
- Director:Michael Winner
- Genre:Western
- Runtime:95 minutes
Cast
Burt Lancaster : Bannock Marshal Jared Maddox
Robert Ryan : Sabbath Marshal Cotton Ryan
Lee J. Cobb : Vincent Bronson
Robert Duvall : Vernon Adams
Sheree North : Laura Shelby
Official Site:-
The film starts with a scene common to many Westerns, cowboys in a drunken state shooting up a town and wreaking havoc. The rowdies are from the town of Sabbath and are visiting the town of Bannock for a little recreation that gets out of hand.
The town’s marshal, Jered Maddox, rides into Sabbath and is not alone. He brings along the body of Marc Corman, one of the unruly cowhands from the recent drunken spree in Bannock, carrying it on the back of a horse; a crude but effective reminder to all that the law is finally coming for a payback visit. It turns out Corman along with five others were involved in the accidental killing of an old man and Maddox is looking for them. The remaining five are Vernon Adams, Choctaw Lee, Jack Dekker, Harvey Stenbaugh and Hurd Price, all hired hands at wealthy Vincent Bronson’s ranch.
Maddox follows protocol and calls on Sabbath’s sheriff, Cotton Ryan (played by Robert Ryan). He demands that the five surrender to him within 24 hours. Ryan is a lawman whose career had seen better days. He urges Maddox to avoid a confrontation with Bronson. Maddox won’t back down, although he believes the suspects are likely to get light sentences due to the accidental nature of their crime and the fact that the justice system of Bannock can easily be influenced by bribes. Ryan goes to Bronson’s ranch to inform him of Maddox’s demands.
Bronson, unaware of the killing in Bannock up to this point, tries to negotiate by offering compensation to the victim’s family and even to Maddox. Ryan explains that Maddox will not agree to anything other than an unconditional surrender of all five men. One of the suspects, Stenbaugh (Albert Salmi), who is Bronson’s foreman, tries to persuade Bronson to have Maddox killed. Despite his violent past, Bronson is tired of death and violence and refuses Stenbaugh’s suggestion, insisting on further negotiations. Read more
