Main Cast: Richard Widmark, Donna Reed, William Campbell, John McIntire, Barton MacLane
Release Year: 1956
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
The breathtakingly beautiful Technicolor cinematography of Irving Glassberg is but one of the many small pleasures of the big-budget western Backlash. Set in post-Civil War Arizona, the film stars Richard Widmark as Jim Slater, who hopes to prove that his down-and-out father (John McIntire) was not involved in a gold robbery. To prove this, Slater has to find the money, which is also the goal of Karyl Orton (Donna Reed), the supposed widow of one of the thieves. Eventually, Slater discovers that his father is every bit as rotten as the law claims he is, though he can take some comfort in the fact that Karyl is now in love with him. As in his earlier Bad Day at Black Rock, Backlash director John Sturges is more concerned with building tension than with overt displays of wanton violence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Backlash may be set in the Old West, but it's as much a mystery/detective film as it is a Western. Combining the two genres often yields surprisingly effective results, but Backlash, despite a number of worthy elements, never becomes the totally satisfying picture that one keeps expecting it to become. Primary responsibility for this rests with director John Sturges and writer Borden Chase. The contributions of both are good, but they lack a little something that keeps the film, while entertaining, from reaching its potential. Where Chase is concerned, the issue seems to be an inability to quite capture the right mixture of the genres; it doesn't quite feel like a Western and it doesn't quite feel like a detective story. Sturges isn't able to reconcile this conflict, and he also doesn't seem to always have his heart into the proceedings. Some of it is very well directed, especially the climax which really brings the film to life. But there are other parts where one can almost feel the director's attention wandering. Fortunately, Backlash has both Irving Glassberg's sterling cinematography and a couple of captivating star performances from Richard Widmark and Donna Reed to compensate, as well as humdinger of a supporting turn from John McIntire. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Backlash is a 1956filmTechnicolor, released by Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by John Sturges (with whom Widmark would also make another westernThe Law and Jake Wade), and unfolds in the vein of the psychological Western (a sub-genre that has yielded many films, e.g. those of Anthony Mann, with whose films this bears comparison), delivering an unconventional story, written by Borden Chase, of Widmark's search for his father (played by character actor John McIntire) and his final discovery of a man who is willing to kill his own son for gold. Widmark's female support is Donna Reed.
