Former lawman Dolan (George Peppard) and Ben Hickman (John McIntire) enter a partnership into a stage line business with Molly Lang (Jean Simmons).
What they don’t know is that they’re entering a partnership in a town controlled by Alex Flood (Dean Martin), a town where he insists on owning 51 percent of everything.
And he wouldn’t mind owning more than 51 percent of Molly, a former lover in the days when he was cleaning up the town, in the days before he became power hungry.
Dolan sizes up the odds and decides they’re too long; that he and his partner should cut their losses and move along.
But Hickman is itching for a fight. And Dolan’s more prone to fight than run when Flood begins flexing his muscles and using his hired guns to force him out of town under the threat of a hangman’s noose.
George Peppard as Dolan tends to his wounded partner Ben Hickman (John McIntire) in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Review:
Well-done Western that turns surprisingly violent at times, with fine performances from Peppard, McIntire and Simmons
In one scene, Dolan and Molly Lang get drunk together. He winds up trying to carry her to bed. The next morning, she pretends to be better than him at dealing with a hangover.
Dean Martin, usually the charming rogue or wayward partner in his Westerns, is also effective as the villain here.
He has men hanged at the drop of a hat, destroys the property of his adversaries, has his best girl Claire acting like a puppet and will even beat up Molly a bit if he gets jealous.
Slim Pickens and Brad Weston are among his henchmen; Don Galloway plays a former sheriff who couldn’t stand up to Flood.
Dean Martin as Alex Flood gets a shave from Claire (Carol Andreson), his second favorite gal in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Directed by:
Arnold Laven
Cast:
Dean Martin … Alex Flood
George Peppard … Dolan
Jean Simmons … Molly Lang
John McIntire … Ben Hickman
Slim Pickens … Yarbrough
Don Galloway … Jace
Brad Weston … Jess Torrey
Richard O’Brien … Ryan
Carol Andreson … Claire
Steve Sandor … Simms
Warren Vanders … Harvey
John Napier … McGivern
Runtime: 104 min.
George Peppard as Dolan recovers from a fight while Molly Lang (Jean Simmons) looks on in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Memorable lines:
Alex Flood, taking the badge off a deputy he frightens: “Looks like this tin is a little too heavy for you, sonny.”
Dolan, after being greeted by the sight of a hanged man as he drives a stage into town: “Tell me, doc, do you have many hangings in this town.”
Doc: “Can’t say.”
Dolan: “That fella hanging up in the plaza, what did he do?”
Doc “I wouldn’t know.”
Dolan: “Do you always leave them dangling overnight/”
Doc: “Never noticed.”
Dolan: “Any particular reason you never noticed?”
Doc: “Yes, Mr. Dolan, my wife and children.”
Dean Martin as Alex Flood with his hand-picked sheriff Jess Torrey (Brad Weston) in Rough Nigh in Jericho (1967)
Dolan to Molly Lang: “Ma’am, do you know what you do when you walk into a bad bar and the hairs on the back of your neck stick up? You get your drink, you pay for it, you turn around, and you walk out.”
Molly Lang: “And this is a bad bar?”
Dolan: “Been a widow long?
Molly Lang: “Not long enough for it to bother me. So don’t let it bother you.”
Molly Lane, a very drunk Molly Lane: “Mr. Dolan, somebody ought to put dynamite down your chimney.”
Dolan: “The way I look at it, a man who starts choking a woman is looking to go to hell in a hurry. All I did was oblige him.”
George Peppard as Dolan about to face off with two of Flood’s bullies in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Dean Martin as Alex Flood, the man who insists on owning 51 percent of everything in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Jean Simmons as Molly Lang, questioned Dolan’s courage when he’s reluctant to stand up to Alex Flodd in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
John McIntire as Ben Hickman, the again ex-lawman who agrees to help Molly Lang in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Brad Weston as Jess Torrey, new sheriff of Jericho with his boss Alex Flood (Dean Martin) in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Slim Pickens as Yarbrough, a Flood man threatening to harm Molly Lang (Jean Simmons) in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Steve Sandor as Simms, one of Alex Flood’s men, squaring off against Dolan in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Richard O’Brien as Ryan, one of Flood’s victims, trying to protect Molly Lang (Jean SImmons) in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Don Galloway as Jace, the deputy who can’t quite stand up to Alex Flood in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Carol Andreson as Claire with the man she’s always trying to please, Alex Flood (Dean Martin) in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
Jean SImmons as Molly Lang, determined to stop a lynching in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
George Peppard as Dolan, dispensing justice with a pair of six-guns in Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
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