Woman They Almost Lynched ** (1953, Joan Leslie, John Lund, Brian Donlevy, Audrey Totter) – Classic Movie Review 10,331

Cult director Allan Dwan’s 1952 black and white Western film Woman They Almost Lynched stars Joan Leslie as Sally Maris, a posh East Coast socialite who learns to shoot and becomes the target for scared Western townsfolk. The usual prejudiced rabble wants to put a noose around her neck for supposedly spying for the Confederacy, when her appearance coincides with the outbreak of a rash of villainy.

Of course there is a spy in town, Leslie’s lover Lance Horton (John Lund), whom no one suspects.

Dwan’s distinctive direction, plus the splashy, stalwart female star duo of Leslie and Audrey Totter as Kate Quantrill, who unexpectedly end up in a shootout, distinguish an otherwise very ordinary, predictable Republic Pictures studio Western.

Among its problems are some tired performances lower down the cast and some mundane writing, both in the dialogue and characters as well as in the plotting, in the screenplay by Steve Fisher. On the plus side are Brian Donlevy as Charles Quantrill, Ben Cooper as Jesse James and Jim Davis as Cole Younger. Film noir stalwart Totter is pretty spectacular.

Also the cast in are Brian Donlevy, Ben Cooper, Ellen Corby, Jim Davis, Minerva Urecal, Reed Hadley, Ann Savage, Virginia Christine, Marilyn Lindsey, Frank Ferguson, Ted Ryan and Richard Crane.

It is the second movie in which Donlevy plays Quantrill, after Kansas Raiders with Audie Murphy in 1950.

Steve Fisher’s screenplay is based on Michael Fessier’s story in the Saturday Evening Post.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,331

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com