Ghost Town (1955)

Duff Dailey (John Smith) and Kerry “Crusty” McCabe (William Phillips) have enjoyed good fortune prospecting.

Now it’s time for Duff’s fiance to meet him at Rimrock so they can head off to San Francisco, where he’ll buy a newspaper and they’ll live the good life.

But Rimrock has been burned to the ground and the stage carrying Barbara Leighton (Marian Carr) is soon attacked by Cheyenne Indians.

Duff and Kerry help escort it to a nearby ghost town where the small group will have to wait for help or make a final stand.

The small group includes a cavalryman fleeing a court martial, a son he’s coddled, a gunrunner and a preacher who believes the Indians could be peaceful, if only whites were more understanding.

As the situation becomes more desperate — especially after the ammunition runs out — so do the members of the small band. They also start showing their true character.

And to complicate matters, a former Indian chief and his adopted daughter are discovered hiding in the same town.

The chief had his tongue cut out because the whites kept breaking the treaties he negotiated. Now the Cheyenne would like to finish the job.

Most of the whites are more than willing to turn him over in return for their safety … except Duff.

Review:

Well, the acting certainly isn’t top notch, but Smith is likable in the lead role, the banter between him and his partner helps enliven the film and Duff’s finance turns out to be surprisingly flawed considering the refined blond beauty we’re introduced to when the film opens.

This marked the only Western for both of the female leads. Smith would fare better on TV, first as George Montgomery’s deputy in “Cimarron City,” then as a rancher playing the lead role in “Laramie” from 1959 to 1963.

William Phillips died two years after this film was made at age 49. He had appeared in a number of Westerns, often in uncredited roles — as a barber in “High Noon,” as a blacksmith in “Night Passage” and as a bartender in “Backlash.”

Directed by:
Allen Miner

Cast:
John Smith … Duff Dailey
William Phillips … Kerry “Crusty” McCabe
Marian Carr … Barbara Leighton
John Doucette … Doc Clawson
Kent Taylor … Anse Conroy
Serena Sande … Maureen
Joel Ashley … Sgt. Dockery
Gilman Rankin … Rev. Simon Wheedl
Edmund Hashim … Stone Knife
Gary Murray … Alex Dockery
Chief Ted Nez … Fire Knife

Runtime: 77 min.

Memorable lines:

Preacher: “All this country needs is a little water.”
Doc: “Yeah, that’s all hell needs, too.”

Barbara Leighton to a fellow stagecoach passenger: “I wasn’t aware that I said I was meeting anyone.”
Conroy: “You’re not dance hall caliber. You’re not dressed to be a school teacher. You’re too pretty to be alone. Too smart to be in trouble. What else could it be, but a man?”

The Reverend: “Indians become crazed with drink.”
Doc: “If you think they’re crazy drunk, you oughta run into them with a hangover.”

Conroy to Dockery: “Save your mad for the Indians.”

Duff Dailey to Conway, upon learning that he’s a gun-runner: “At least I don’t have to wonder whether to hate you anymore.”

Gary Murray as Alex Dockery, the son trying to prove he’s braver than his dad in Ghost Town (1955)

John Doucette as Doc Clawson and Gilman Rankin as Rev. Simon Wheedl, two of the stage passengers endangered by the Cheyenne uprising in Ghost Town (1955)

Edmund Hashim as Stone Knife, leader of the Cheyenne war party in Ghost Town (1955)

Chief Ted Nez as Fire Knife, wanted by the Cheyenne for treaties that went badly for the Indians in Ghost Town (1955)