Ronald Reagan is Frame Johnson, the lawman who tamed Tombstone but has purchased a farm near Cottonwood with hopes of hanging up his guns and settling down with his fiancée (Dorothy Malone).
But Cottonwood is under the thumb of Kurt Durling (Preston Foster) and his sons. And Durling has a grudge against Frame Johnson. Years earlier, the two had a showdown. Durling wound up losing a hand from the wound he suffered.
When a young boy is lynched for killing one of Durling’s sons in self defense, the elder statesmen in Cottonwood start looking for a marshal. Frame turns down the job, but his younger brother Lute (Alex Nicol) accepts it.
He’s not up to the challenge. In fact, he’s gunned down by Durling’s other son Frank (Dennis Weaver).
That brings Frame out of retirement. Soon, another problem develops.
Frame’s youngest brother, Jimmy, has fallen for Durling’s daughter, Maria.
The Durlings, of course, disapprove. Frame had never figured on bringing in his own brother.
Ronald Reagan as Frame Johnson, trying to reason with younger brother Jimmy in Law and Order (1953)
Dorothy Malone as Jeannie, envisioning a bright future for she and Frame Johnson in Law and Order (1953)
Review:
The good: Ronald Reagan turns in a solid performance as a former lawman past caring what others think about him. Dorothy Malone is lovely as always as his gal. Chubby Johnson has a humorous role as the undertaker who follows Frame from town to town, figuring where he goes, business will follow.
The bad: The film doesn’t build nearly as much tension as it should, given all the plot twists. And Jimmy Johnson and Maria Durling … well, let’s say they fall for one another in the blink of an eye, and not very convincingly.
Of course this marked the first film for former beauty queen Ruth Hampton, who plays Maria and had a short-lived acting career in the mid-1950s. It also marked one of the first roles for Russell Johnson, who went on to TV fame as The Professor on Gilligan’s Island. Another relative newcomer, Weaver, is far better as Kurt Durling’s oldest son.
Alex Nicol as Lute Johnson, standing up to Kurt Durling in Law and Order (1953)
Preston Foster as Kurt Durling, intimidating a newspaper owner in Law and Order (1953)
Directed by:
Nathan Juran
Cast:
Ronald Reagan … Frame Johnson
Dorothy Malone … Jeannie
Preston Foster … Kurt Durling
Alex Nicol … Lute Johnson
Ruth Hampton … Maria Durling
Russell Johnson … Jimmy Johnson
Barry Kelley … Sheriff Fin Elder
Chubby Johnson … Denver Cahoon
Dennis Weaver … Frank Durling
Wally Casselll … Durango Kid
Richard Garrick … Judge Williams
Runtime: 80 min.
Russell Johnson as Jimmy Johnson, Frame’s hot-headed younger brother in Law and Order (1953)
Ruth Hampton as Maria Durling, the woman Jimmy Johnson falls for in Law and Order (1953)
Memorable lines:
Sign: “You’re coming into Tombstone. Stranger, we’ve got law and order. Here lie a few jaspers who didn’t think so.”
Durango, surveying a cemetery full of crosses: “Looks like the people around here are sorta hard to convince.”
Frame Johnson: “Some of them couldn’t read.”
Frame Johnson: “This is the hardest riding rig I’ve ever been on.’
Denver Cahoon, the undertaker: “Customers I usually carry don’t complain.”
Kurt Durling: “I run this town, Johnson. You’re not wanted here.”
Frame Johnson: “I’ve been not wanted in a lot of places. That never kept me from staying.”
Chubby Johnson as Denver Calhoun, the undertaker who travels with the Johnsons in Law and Order (1953)
Dennis Weaver as Frank Durling, demanding a showdown with Lute Johnson in Law and Order (1953)
Barry Kelley as Fin Elder, the crooked sheriff of Cottonwood in Law and Order (1953)
Richard Garrick as Judge Williams, trying to convince Frame Johnson to pin on a badge again in Law and Order (1953)
Wally Cassell as The Durango Kid, learning what it feels like to run into Frame Johnson’s fist in Law and Order (1953)
Don Garner as Johnny Benton, petrified because the Durlings are after him in Law and Order (1953)
Alex Nicol as Lute Johnson and Ronald Reagan as Frame Johnson, holding off a lynch mob in Law and Order (1953)
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