For a classic western showdown in a small town’s downtown, look no further than Budd Boetticher’s Decision at Sundown (1957). The movie lives up to its tagline “Big showdown coming up!” as it gathers vengeance and the call for justice in the heart of a town that itself becomes a character in the story.
The town is set for the wedding of its influential figure Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll), think of an unofficial owner of the place and its people, with Lucy (Karen Steele), the prettiest girl in the town. It becomes a battleground, however, with the arrival of Bart Allison (Randolph Scott), a former soldier who is thirsty for Kimbrough’s blood owing to an open wound in his personal life. With the town’s sheriff just a name for Kimbrough’s right hand, the conflict quickly lands Allison into a siege that would end like nobody expected.
Boetticher’s Decision at Sundown passes with flying colors on the merits scale. The plot is solid, character conflict intense, setting pitch-perfect, and characters well-defined and developed. Achieving a great story arc in less than 80 minutes, this story of a showdown unfolds several layers and shades of the town’s history and the dilemma of its people. As the characters interact in their respective attempts to resolve the crisis, the town emerges as a character that has been enslaved and was dying for someone like Allison to come and liberate it.
While western fans are used to seeing the bad guy dead and sometimes it’s the good guy whose ultimate heroism is instantiated in sacrificing his life for a cause. Decision at Sundown begs to differ and offers a more realistic picture, which also happens to be more a moralistic one. It’s fair to call it a more balanced resolution for a story centered around insatiable vengeance. By the time, the conflict is over, Sundown is a different town and for good.
