This British rip off of "High Noon", set in South Africa, stars Richard Todd as a lawman who once ran the rotten Lionel Jeffries and his brothers out of town and now they are all back to seek revenge, basically taking over the town and bullying everyone there because it is a weapon free town and nobody has anything to stop them from doing it. Jeffries, best known for his eccentric characters (probably Dick Van Dyke's father in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") is a despicable villain here, and attempts to rape Anne Aubrey while the drunk and obviously insane brothers (James Booth among them) turn the local saloon upside down with their menacing ways.
The only real difference between this and "High Noon" is the cheap color photography and the absence of the theme song, in addition to other memorable types from that famous Gary Cooper western. The script itself isn't bad but the fact of his such a blatant copy of the more famous classic makes it all the more difficult to rank as a good film. Also the fact that it is very unpleasant and extremely violent and that's in the Wilds of South Africa, not even one person had a weapon to blow these people off the face of the Earth. There is an arsenal of hidden weapons somewhere in the area, and it will take a lot of courage for the cowardly people to finally stand up and say enough. Strong stuff if you're able to stomach it, but pretty forgettable.
The only real difference between this and "High Noon" is the cheap color photography and the absence of the theme song, in addition to other memorable types from that famous Gary Cooper western. The script itself isn't bad but the fact of his such a blatant copy of the more famous classic makes it all the more difficult to rank as a good film. Also the fact that it is very unpleasant and extremely violent and that's in the Wilds of South Africa, not even one person had a weapon to blow these people off the face of the Earth. There is an arsenal of hidden weapons somewhere in the area, and it will take a lot of courage for the cowardly people to finally stand up and say enough. Strong stuff if you're able to stomach it, but pretty forgettable.