Rock Hudson is Chuck Jarvis and Dean Martin is Billy Massey in this story of best friends who wind up on opposite sides of the law.
As children, they did everything together, including jumping to one another’s defense. When they became adults, they started a ranch together.
But they also both fell for the same pretty young woman, Kate (Susan Clark), who ran an eatery in town.
And when she opted to marry Chuck, the more reliable of the two, Bill agreeably dissolved the partnership and road off to find his own future.
That future wound up including a train robbery near the town of Cumbres. The robbery goes off without a hitch, but Bill has a falling out with the other bandits when it comes time to split the loot.
He’s also unaware that the new sheriff in Cumbres is none other than his old friend Chuck Jarvis, who now has no option other than to try to bring his best friend to justice.
Of course, he’s not the only one pursuing Massey. He made off with all the loot from the train robbery, and the other gang members want it back.
Meanwhile, Kate Jarvis finds herself hoping her husband never catches up with Massey. Of the two, she knows Massey’s the better shot.
Rock Hudson as Chuck Jarvis in Showdown (1973)
Dean Martin as Bill Massey in Showdown (1973)
Review:
This wound up being the final Western — and one of the last feature films — for Hudson and Martin, though Dean continued to host a popular comedy show on NBC for several years.
And it’s far from their best Western, though it has its moments, including a climatic showdown in a burned out forest.
Frequent flashbacks to the days when they were children and young adults do a better job of selling the friendship that’s integral to the film than any on-screen chemistry between Hudson and Martin.
And the years had clearly taken their toll on Martin, who looks considerably less like the lady man he’s still trying to play than he did when he started making Westerns in the mid-1950s.
Donald Moffat plays the leader of the outlaw gang on Massey’s heels. John McLain is the district attorney aware of the friendship between Jarvis and Massey and determined to see that the latter pays for his crimes. Victor Mohica is the Indian scout who helps Jarvis track down his friend.
Susan Clark as Kate Jarvis in Showdown (1973)
John McLiam as F.J. Wilson gives Billy Massey a glimpse of a unhealthy future in Showdown (1973)
Directed by:
George Seaton
Cast:
Rock Hudson … Chuck Jarvis
Dean Martin … Billy Massey
Susan Clark … Kate Jarvis
Donald Moffat … Art Williams
John McLiam … F.J. Wilson
Charles Baca … Martinez
Jackson Kane … Clem
Ben Zeller … Perry Williams
John Gill … Earl Cole
Philip L. Mead … Jack Bonney
Rita Rogers … Girl
Victor Mohica … Big Eye
Raleigh Gardenhire … Joe Williams
Ed Begley Jr. … Pook
Dan Boydston … Rawls
Runtime: 99 min.
Donald Moffat as Art Williams, leader of the outlaw gang in Showdown (1973)
Rita Rogers as the Mexican girl in Showdown (1973)
Memorable lines:
Bill Massey: “Art, gotta hand it to you. Whole thing went off as well as spit on a round door knob.”
Bill Massey, looking at the two lazy cows on the Jarvis Massey Ranch: “They better start humping awful soon, or we aren’t going to have much of a herd.”
Chuck Jarvis: “Yeah, if that bull was only half as horny as you, we’d be in business.”
Kate Jarvis, as Chuck Jarvis prepares to ride off after the train robbers: “Well, we had a bullet hole — what — about four months ago. How about one on the other side? Or one right down the middle? A nice clean widow maker.”
Victor Mohica as Big Eye in Showdown (1973)
Kate (Susan Clark), Billy Massey (Dean Martin) and Chuck Jarvis (Rock Hudson) at a shooting match in happier times in Showdown (1973)
Kate Jarvis, when she learns Bill is one of the train robbers: “Does he know you’re the sheriff?”
Chuck Jarvis: “I’ll have to ask him. If I can catch him.”
Kate: “I hope you don’t.”
Chuck gives her a look.
Kate: “For my sake. He’s a better shot.”
Chuck: “You don’t have to remind me.”
Chuck Jarvis, as a youth, in a swimming hole: “Why’d you spit on me?”
Bill Massey: “I wasn’t spitting on you. I was spitting at the world.”
Jarvis, retaliating: “Yeah, well that’s the world spitting back.”
Billy Massey, enjoying a meal at a senorita’s house as he flees: “This chili sure can heat a man up. And you don’t cool me down, either.”
Billy Massey: “I still think Kate is getting tired of being married to seven square feet of rock of ages.”
Chuck Jarvis: “I didn’t know you were an expert on marriage.”
Billy Massey: “I’m an expert on women.”
Chuck Jarvis, as he tracks Billy: “Billy’s not the kind to walk on water, so I guess he rode in it.”
Rock Hudson as Chuck Jarvis with wife Kate (Susan Clark) in Showdown (1973)
Dean Martin as Bill Massey, pretending to be passed out, gets close to Kate in Showdown (1973)
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