Movies:
Law and Order
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2003
- Includes original theatrical trailer
- Rating:
- Genre: Western
- Movie Type: Traditional Western
- Themes: Sheriffs and Outlaws
- Director: Nathan Juran
- Main Cast: Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, Preston S. Foster, Alex Nicol, Ruth Hampton
- Release Year: 1953
- Country: US
- Run Time: 80 minutes
Plot
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. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
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. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie GuideCast
- Ronald Reagan - Frame Johnson
- Dorothy Malone - Jeannie Bristow
- Preston S. Foster - Kurt Durling
- Alex Nicol - Lute Johnson
- Ruth Hampton - Maria Durling
Russell Johnson - Jimmy Johnson; Barry Kelley - Fin Elder; Chubby Johnson - Denver Cahoon; Jack Kelly - Jed; Dennis Weaver - Frank Durling; Wally Cassell - Durango Kid; Richard Garrick - Judge Williams; Holly Bane - Horseman; Gregg Barton - Wingett; Tristram Coffin - Parker; Richard H. Cutting - Card Player; Jack Daly - Allie Marshall; Don Garner - Johnny Benton; Martin Garralaga - Mexican Man; William Gould; Harry Harvey - Land Agent; Thomas Brown Henry - Dixon; Jack Ingram; Valerie Jackson - Clarissa; Ethan Laidlaw; Kenneth MacDonald - Rancher; Kermit Maynard - Onlooker; Eddie Parker - Man; Victor Romito; Buddy Roosevelt; James F. Stone - Martin; Britt Wood - Drunk; William Tannen - Stranger; Watson Downs - Doctor; John Carpenter
