John Bennett Perry is Sam Hatch, a man whose wife and son were killed near the end of the Civil War by renegade Confederates under a Gen. Grey.
The vengeance trail leads Hatch to the once-burgeoning town of Independence, where the mayor hired some of the renegades to tame the town, only to watch them take it over.
Hatch solves that problem, dispatching of the crooked sheriff and the two renegades running the town in a desperate gunfight against stiff odds.
In return, he’s offered the sheriff’s badge. Hatch accepts.
Flash forward a few years, and Hatch has settled down with a pretty woman named Bridie (Isabella Hoffman), two nearly grown daughters who survived the earlier attack, Bridie’s nephew and two younger children.
In his jail are brothers Ezekial and Isaiah Creed, convicted of raping and killing 10 women, and sentenced to hang.
Hatch thinks his biggest problem is keeping the mayor from turning the double hanging into a circus.
Folks are coming from all around to witness the event. The mayor insists the gallows be built in the town square. And he’d like to put the dead men’s bodies on public display after it’s over.
What Hatch doesn’t know is that the Creed brothers were involved in a holdup with Gen. Grey and his gang. In fact, they hid the stolen money afterward.
Now Grey (Anthony Zerbe) and his marauders are headed to Independence, determined to break the Creeds out of jail, take over the town and recover their lost loot.
John Bennett Perry as Sheriff Sam Hatch, hoping to bring the Creed brothers to justice in Independence (1987)
Isabella Hofmann as Bridie, the new love of Sheriff Sam Hatch in Independence (1987)
Review:
A better than average TV Western that scores bonus points for originality and a gritty, witty script.
And with the diverse cast we’re introduced to, this smells for all the world like the pilot for a TV series that was never made.
In addition to his pretty lady love, Hatch’s family includes Fitz, a growing boy who resents Hatch’s control over his life; Chastity, a spoiled daughter who’s more than a little boy crazy and Prudence, a more studious daughter haunted by memories of the attack on the family.
Amanda Wyss, who plays the spoiled daughter, had an earlier role as a saloon girl in “Silverado” (1985) and played a saloon manager in 2019’s “Badlands.”
R.G. Armstrong is fifth-billed here but doesn’t show up until the end of the film. He plays the Bible-thumping father of the Creed brothers, arguing that its his right to dispense justice on them.
Anthony Zerbe as Gen. Oral Grey, the partly crippled leader of Grey’s marauders in Independence (1987)
R.G. Armstrong as Uriah Creed, arriving to dispense his own justice to his sons in Independence (1987)
Directed by:
John Patterson
Cast:
John Bennett Perry … Sheriff Sam Hatch
Isabella Hofmann … Bridie
Sandy McPeak … Sterling Mott
Anthony Zerbe … General Oral Grey
R.G. Armstrong … Uriah Creed
Amanda Wyss … Chastity
Stephanie Dunnam … Prudence
Mason McCalman … Angus Thurston
Joshua Julian … Fitz
Joseph Brustman … Ezekiel Creed
Christian Clemenson … Isaiah Creed
Adam Gregor … Kankor
Ola David Verploegh …. Tait at a young boy
Devin Hoelscher … Deputy Sheriff Tait
Runtime: 100 min.
Mason McCalman as Angus Thurston, mayor of Independence, arguing for a hanging on the town square in Independence (1987)
Sandy McPeak as Sterling Mott, the newspaperman with aspirations of becoming the next Ned Buntline in Independence (1987)
Memorable lines:
Mayor Thurston, on the eve of the scheduled double hanging of the Creed brothers: “I asked you to keep the lid on, Sam, especially with so many new folks in town for the festivities.”
Sheriff Sam Hatch: “Well, I hope a barroom brawl don’t spoil their enjoyment of a hanging.”
Mayor Thurston: “Now, Sam, I know you’re peeved about having the gallows in the square.”
Sheriff Sam Hatch nods.
Mayor Thurston: “What deterrent is a dual execution if we hide it out in Jagtown?”
Newspaperman Sterling Mott, interviewing the Creed brothers: “What did you feel right after you raped and killed all the women in the quilting bee?”
Isaiah Creed: “Exhaustion. Wanted a smoke.”
Bridie to Sam Hatch, when he insists on vengeance against the Grey’s marauders who rule Independence: “I was wrong. You are no fool. You’re crazier than a duck in thunder.”
Sam Hatch to Bridie’s nephew: “Tonight’s gonna be longer than a wet week … Now don’t you go climbin’ fool’s hill.”
Sterling Mott, sarcastically, to Sheriff Sam Hatch: “We all feel better knowing we’re protected by one of your homespun metaphors, Sam.”
Sam Hatch to members of Grey’s marauders: “You’re one dumb move from hell.”
Gen. Grey: “You forgot what hate’s all about.”
Sam Hatch: “If I did, you kicked the lid off.”
Stephanie Dunnam as Prudence, the oldest daughter of Sheriff Sam Hatch in Independence (1987)
Amanda Wyss as Chastity, the youngest daughter of Sheriff Sam Hatch in Independence (1987)
Joshua Julian as Fitz, Bridie’s nephew who balks at Sam Hatch’s attempts at parenting in Independence (1987)
Isabella Hofmann as Bridie with John Bennett Perry as Sheriff Sam Hatch in Independence (1987)
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