Law and Order [Blu-ray]

Director: Nathan Juran Nathan Juran

Overview

The first film version of W.R. Burnett's novel Saint Johnson was filmed as Law and Order in 1932. Essentially an all-names-changed retelling of the Wyatt Earp legend, the film scored on its humanity and restraint. The 1953 remake eschewed the shadings and subtleties of the original in favor of a traditional shoot-em-up, replete with gratuitous violence. Ronald Reagan stars as the Earp counterpart this time, who has sworn to bring criminal Preston S. Foster to justice. The original Law and Order had no love interest at all; the Reagan version pairs up the star with beautiful Dorothy Malone, and offers a second leading lady in the form of Ruth Hampton. The original had a hanging sequence which was treated as business as usual; the remake turns this sequence into a brutal lynching. Common to both films was the final showdown between Reagan and Foster, given added melodrama in the later version by the fact that Reagan had previously sworn to give up his guns for the love of his lady. Like most of Ronald Reagan's 1950s vehicles, Law and Order paid its way and was then forgotten.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/2019
UPC:	0826663199871
Original Release:	1953
Rating:	NR
Source:	Shout Factory
Language:	English
Time:	1:20:00
Sales rank:	22,981

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ronald Reagan	Frame Johnson
Dorothy Malone	Jeannie Bristow
Preston Foster	Kurt Durling,Kurt Durling
Dennis Weaver	Frank Durling
Russell Johnson	Jimmy Johnson,Denver Cahoon
Alex Nicol	Lute Johnson
Ruth Hampton	Maria
Barry Kelley	Fin Elder
Jack Kelly	Jed
Valerie Jackson	Clarissa
Don Garner	Johnny Benton
Thomas Browne Henry	Dixon,Dixon
Richard Garrick	Judge Williams
Gregg Barton	Wingett
William O'Neal	Ben Wiley
Wally Cassell	Durango
William Tannen	Stranger
Jack Daly	Allie Marshall
James F. Stone	Martin
Harry Harvey	Land Agent
Martin Garralaga	Mexican Man
Holly Bane	Horseman
Kenneth MacDonald	Rancher
Britt Wood	Drunk
William Gould	Man
Jack Ingram	Man
Ethan Laidlaw	Man
Jimmy Gray	Man
Eddie Parker	Man
Richard Cutting	Card Player,Card Player
Watson Downs	Doctor
Thor Holmes	Stable Boy
Kermit Maynard	Onlooker
Buddy Roosevelt	Actor
Stanley Blystone	Checkers Player
Ralph Brooks	Townsman Turning in Guns
Roy Butler	Husband
Johnny Carpenter	Lynch Mob Man Johnson Shoots in Leg
Wheaton Chambers	Mr. Sterling
Lane Chandler	Townsman
Dick Cherney	Townsman
Frank Cordell	Henchman
Harry Cording	Townsman
Victor Romito	Actor
Tris Coffin	Parker
Henry Mancini	Composer
Milton Rosen	Composer
Herman Stein	Composer

Technical Credits

John Bagni

D.D. Beauchamp

Vernel Bagneris

Inez Cocke

Nathan Juran	Director
John W. Rogers	Producer
John Bagni	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
D.D. Beauchamp	Screenwriter
Vernel Bagneris	Screenwriter
Inez Cocke	Screenwriter
Leslie Carey	Sound/Sound Designer
Robert Pritchard	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The bleak look of the seminal 1932 Western classic Law and Order has been exchanged for a Technicolor landscape and the equally colorful presence of Dorothy Malone and "Miss New Jersey of 1952," Ruth Hampton, in this the third go-around of W.R. Burnett's tale of a Wyatt Earp-like reformer. Ronald Reagan, alas, is almost too laid-back as the fatigued lawman, and although they do their best to ignite the screen, the supporting players likewise fail to liven the rather obvious goings-on. The result is one of those typical early-'50s Grade-B+ Westerns that proved moneymakers for the burgeoning Universal International but are today notable mainly for the early appearances of future television stars, in this case Russell Johnson, Dennis Weaver, and Jack Kelly.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein