Showdown ** (1973, Rock Hudson, Dean Martin, Susan Clark – Classic Movie Review 9698

Director George Seaton’s 1973 film Showdown is a generic, standard Western with solid if uninspired performances from Rock Hudson and Dean Martin as Chuck Jarvis and Billy Massey, boyhood friends estranged by their chosen careers as lawman and hold-up man and their joint infatuation with Kate (Susan Clark), whom Hudson marries to Martin’s fury.

The clichéd characters are set in a predictable plot about sheriff Hudson going after train robber Martin.

The painstaking Universal Pictures production, dedicated Seaton direction, and attractive New Mexico photography lift it. But this is conventional, rather tired stuff made at a time when the Western was going out of fashion. And so, unfortunately, were the two stars here.

Also in the cast are Donald Moffat, John McLiam, Charles Baca, Jackson D Kane, Ed Begley Jr, Ben Zeller and Rita Rogers.

Showdown is directed by George Seaton, runs 99 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by Theodore Taylor, based on a story by Hank Fine, is shot by Ernest Laszlo, is produced by George Seaton and is scored by David Shire.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9698

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