THE LAW AND JAKE WADE (1958)

The clock was ticking at M-G-M in the late ‘50s with everyone waiting to see if BEN-HUR/’59, in production over in Rome, would save the fast-shrinking studio.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Robert Taylor, M-G-M’s longest serving star, was becoming the last contract man standing.  In decline since IVANHOE,/'52 and QUO VADIS, 1951's BEN-HUR precursor*,  thanks to directors Nicholas Ray and John Sturges, Taylor still had a few decent outings left to him, including this solid Western from Sturges, probably the best of the lot.  Lean as a Budd Boeticher/Randolph Scott B-pic Western over at Columbia*, Taylor ups his tepid game, challenged by Richard Widmark greedily returning to the vicious psychopaths of his earliest roles.  The prologue sees Taylor saving his former partner in crime from a hanging; a favor returned as Widmark did much the same for him, only to watch as Widmark leaves a trail of shot men in the street during a botched getaway.  Hoping he’s done for good with the guy (Taylor now a comfortably engaged Marshall in a far off town), he's shocked to find Widmark waiting for him in his office with a ruthless scheme to make Taylor show him where he buried the 20 thou they stole back in the day.  The film becomes a hostage-on-the-move saga with Widmark and his current crew (Robert Middleton, Henry Silva leading a tasty bunch of thugs) also with Taylor’s fiancée Patricia Owens in tow to keep Taylor in line.  Neatly worked up with some stunning location work from D.P. Robert Surtees (think desert mountain territory) and only those ‘50s style soundstage exterior camping sites to disappoint.  One nighttime cyclorama background a real stinker.  (The film stock of the day unable to consistently handle evening lighting conditions?)  No surprise to see Widmark steal the show, but Taylor not bad at all here, while forgotten ingenue Owens comes thru nicely and Sturges keeps everyone on their toes.  A damn good outing for the time and place.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Perhaps the closest match to this from the Boetticher/Scott series is THE TALL T/’57.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-tall-t-1957.html   

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Tempus Fugiit - M-G-M’s last Roman/Christian epic, QUO VADIS/’51, starred Taylor with three of its four principals being M-G-M contract players.  BEN-HUR used no contract players at all . . . and, of course, no Taylor.