Showdown

Dean Martin Director: George Seaton George Seaton

Overview

In this Western comedy, Billy (Dean Martin) and Chuck (Rock Hudson) were the best of friends until Chuck married the girl they were both courting. Now they have drifted apart. Chuck has since become a sheriff and must hunt down Billy, now a robber. As the chase proceeds, each of them reminisces about their past together.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/2021
UPC:	0738329251987
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	27,827

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dean Martin	Billy
Rock Hudson	Chuck
Susan Clark	Kate
John McLiam	F.J. Wilson
John Gill	Earl Cole
Dan Boydston	Rawls
Donald Moffat	Art Williams
Charles Baca	Martinez
Ben Zeller	Perry Williams
Philip L. Mead	Jack Bonney
Rita Rogers	Girl
Raleigh Gardenhire	Joe
Ed Begley	Pook
Jackson D. Kane	Clem
Victor Mojica	Big Eye

Technical Credits

Theodore Taylor

George Seaton	Director,Producer
Alexander Golitzen	Art Director
Henry Bumstead	Art Director
John R. Carter	Sound/Sound Designer
Jim Fargo	Asst. Director
Edith Head	Costumes/Costume Designer
John W. Holmes	Editor
Ernest Laszlo	Cinematographer
George Milo	Set Decoration/Design
Hal Mooney	Musical Direction/Supervision
James Di Pasquale	Score Composer
David Shire	Score Composer
Theodore Taylor	Screenwriter
Waldon O. Watson	Sound/Sound Designer
Albert J. Whitlock	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Showdown is not the kind of movie that one can get very worked up about, and that's its big problem. It's amiable enough, so one doesn't feel angry about its shortcomings, but it doesn't inspire any passionate positive feelings either. Mostly, it just passes by the on the screen, making little impression. With a better screenplay, of course, it would have been a better movie. The ingredients -- two former friends must become enemies due to the different choices they made in life -- are familiar but could be the basis of a gripping, entertaining story. In Showdown, it's just a premise that doesn't go anywhere new or show viewers anything they haven't seen numerous times before. There's nothing revelatory about the performances of stars Dean Martin and Rock Hudson either. Martin ambles his way through the film without a great deal of commitment, and while Hudson is definitely better, he still doesn't really give his all to the part. And there's a distinct lack of chemistry between the two, something which this kind of story absolutely has to have to work. George Seaton's direction is fine but undistinguished. Susan Clark is quite good in the nothing role of the wife, and some of the location work is quite stunning, but neither of these can lift Showdown above the ordinary.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler