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 Guide
Review
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 Guide
Robert Clatworthy - Art Director, Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Fred Frank - First Assistant Director, Nathan Juran - Director, Ted Kent - Editor, Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Joseph E. Gershenson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Bud Westmore - Makeup, Clifford Stine - Cinematographer, John W. Rogers - Producer, John P. Austin - Set Designer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Leslie I. Carey - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Pritchard - Sound/Sound Designer, Vernel Bagneris - Screenwriter, John Bagni - Screenwriter, Daniel D. Beauchamp - Screenwriter, Inez Cocke - Screenwriter, W.R. Burnett - Short Story Author
