Deadman Standing (2018)

Cattle king Hugh Anderson wants to control all the land around Newton, Kansas. And if that means cheating people out of their land with the help of judge Clarence Potts, so be it.

But election day is coming, and Tim Johnson is running for mayor, hoping to improve the plight of all those living on what Anderson considers the wrong side of the tracks.

He has the sympathy of town Marshal Mike McCluskie (Luke Arnold), who’s retreated to the bottle following the death of his wife, but is still a force to be reckoned with.

He also has the support of a brothel owner named Rosie (Viva Bianca), who’s saloon is considered neutral ground between the opposing factions.

Thrown into the turmoil are a young whore named Violet, left scarred by a violent customer; a tubercular young man named James Riley, who is taken in by the marshal; and Anderson’s son Hughie (Douglas Bennett), who is struggling to live up to his pappy’s expectations.

And they’ll all be affected when the death of Anderson’s self-appointed sheriff and a town character known as Heyoke Joe leads to an eruption of violence in the part of town known as Hyde Park.

Review:

The credits aren’t lying. This is based on a real-life gunfight at Hide Park in Newton, Kansas, that involved participants named McCluskie and Riley, Anderson and Bill Bailey.

As for whether or not it’s a very factual … well, one reviewer on IMDb who says he’s researched the actual gunfight calls it “history turned into a Hollywood cliché.”

Most of the story is told flashback style when a Stranger shows up at Rosie’s new saloon. Also present is Hugh Anderson Jr., one of the lone survivors of the gunfight.

And he certainly hasn’t gotten any more pleasant in the years that have passed.

The acting is better than in most low-budget Westerns, But the set used for Anderson’s ranch is laughably clean and pink — yes, pink. Luke Arnold, in the role of McCluskie, doesn’t seem nearly as tortured as the script implies. And that script could have used a much sharper focus.

Directed by:
Nicholas Barton

Cast:
Luke Arnold … Mike McCluskie
Viva Bianca … Rosie
Quinn Lord … James Riley
C. Thomas Howell … The Stranger
Douglas Bennett … Hughie Anderson Jr.
Aly Mang … Violet
Peter Douglas … Billy Bailey
Danny Winn … Happy Jim
Lane Compton … Tim Johnston
Christopher Hagen … Heyoke Joe
Luce Rains … Faro Fred
Richard Riehle … Judge Clarence Potts
M.C. Gainey … Hugh Anderson

Runtime: 92 min.

aka:
The Gunfight at Hyde Park
Hyde Park
Dead Man Redemption

Memorable lines:

The Stranger: “You know how men can be with their stories.”
Rosie: “Unlike most cowboys, we ladies don’t embellish the size of things.”

Hughie Anderson, threatening Violet with a knife; “In Texas, we carve up our bitch whores.”
Marshal Mike McCluskie, shooting out a candle in the saloon: “Last I checked, this wasn’t Texas.”

Hughie Anderson, after being told one of Rosie’s girls has been learning new tricks with the French madams: “What kind of tricks?”
Rosie: “I’m told the ones that make your toes curl so hard, your boots won’t fit.”

Mike McCluskie: “What’s your name, boy?”
James Riley: “James.”
McCluskie: “No, it’s Shadow. Because you’re gonna stick to me and stay solid, like my shadow.”
James: “Am I in trouble?”
McCluskie: “Follow me.”

James Riley to Hugh Anderson Jr.: “It’s time for you to stop breathing my air.”