SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

gkhege This is one of those movies that come in handy when you can't sleep at night. Watching Bobby Darrin attempt to play a tough ex- Sheriff, is simply to hard to believe. His hair remains perfectly groomed for the entire movie. The outfits are for the most part, wrong for the period in which the film takes place. For me, the background music upstaged all the stars who performed in this boring film.

dinky-4 Though only 11 years had elapsed since the release of "Showdown at Abilene," Universal re-made this under the title "Gunfight in Abilene" with, surprisingly, Bobby Darin taking over the Jock Mahoney role. It's an unexpected casting which does not pay off since Darin seems out of place in a western and he's simply too small and modest to be the kind of tough lawman who could "clean up" a frontier town. In some scenes, he looks even shorter than leading lady, Emily Banks, and whereas Mahoney appeared on the balcony of the Abilene hotel gloriously bare-chested -- showing off his impressive physique but wearing his pants high enough to hide his navel -- Darin plays this same scene with his shirt on though open a bit at the top. (When Darin wakes up from a nightmare in a brief and dimly-lit scene, however, he's bare-chested whereas Mahoney, in a comparable scene, wears an undershirt.) On the plus side, Darin did contribute a song, "Amy," which is sung under the opening credits and which, though undistinguished, is pleasant enough and which today -- due to a decline in movie-song-writing quality -- might win an Oscar.The triangular relationship among Jock Mahoney, Lyle Bettger, and Martha Hyer which strengthened the original movie is still of interest here but one can't quite believe that Bobby Darin and Leslie Nielsen had once been close friends.Though this re-make follows the original quite closely, there are two notable changes. This version begins with a Civil War battle sequence showing Bobby Darin accidentally shooting a friend. Thus the audience knows from the start why the guilt-stricken Darin is reluctant to carry a gun when he returns to Abilene and why he feels he owes a debt to the dead friend's brother. When Darin later confesses the truth to Nielsen, his remarks lack the impact they had in the original version when the audience did NOT know what had happened back in the Civil War battle.The other change is also questionable. In the new version there's a young blonde woman in Abilene who has a crush on Darin and who pops up in a few scenes. This character does not appear in the original version and she adds nothing to the story.The re-make is superior to the original in two respects, however. Donnelly Rhodes makes a much more convincing "bad guy" than Ted de Corsia, and Michael Sarrazin's whipping is more effectively staged than Grant Williams' whipping in the 1956 version. Sarrazin is stripped of his shirt and subjected to more punishment and taunts than Williams who, for some inexplicable reason, is allowed to keep his shirt on while being flogged, even though he has a pleasing physique -- as was proved in "The Incredible Shrinking Man" -- and even though Universal had begun to groom him for his "hunk" appeal.Finally, all the character names from the 1956 version have been changed for the 1967 one.

bux Although this is routine faire, it is interesting to watch Darin and Neilson in a western with an early performance by Michael Sarrazin. The title song "Amy" is nifty, worked into the background music nicely and doesn't wear out it's welcome, as in the case of so many other westerns. The plot is routine, but the action moves the story along to it's predictable conclusion nicely, giving us a good watch.

Tony Rome This is a good western film from the mid- 60's with Bobby Darin playing a Civil War soldier who returns home, only to find that things have changed in his occupation status, and love life. Darin gives a good performance, and Leslie Nielson is good as the villain.*** stars