The Hired Gun (1957)

Anne Francis is Ellen Beldon, a woman sitting in jail in Beldon County, Texas, and scheduled to become the first woman hanged in Texas.

She was tried and convicted of killing her husband, Cliff, eldest son of cattle baron Mace Beldon (John Litel).

But on the morning she’s scheduled to be executed, Judd Farrow (Chuck Connors) slips into town disguised as a preacher and helps Ellen escape.

They flee to her uncle’s ranch in New Mexico, out of the reach of Texas authorities.

But Mace and his younger son Kell (Vince Edwards) won’t be denied justice on Cliff’s behalf.

They summon gunfighter Gil McCord (Rory Calhoun) and offer him $5,000 to find Ellen and bring her back to Texas.

Finding her isn’t difficult. She’s living on her uncle’s ranch fending off the advances of Judd.

Taking her into custody isn’t difficult either; Gil simply convinces her uncle he’s a cowpuncher looking for work on a roundup.

But once they’re on their way back to Texas, Gil begins to wonder if she’s telling the truth about being innocent and whether he’d be serving justice by turning her over to the Beldons.

Her version of the story: She and her husband argued at a dance. He flew into a drunken rage. As Cliff pursued her outside, he got into a struggle with his brother Kell, who fired the fatal shot.

Kell’s motive: He wanted his father’s inheritance, and that was the perfect answer to getting both of them out of the way.

So McCord takes Ellen to Mexico instead of Texas, then sets out to find the lone witness to the killing.

Rory Calhoun as Gil McCord, looking for the truth behind the death of Cliff Beldon in The Hired Gun (1957)

Anne Francis as Ellen Beldon, reflecting on a marriage that ended badly in The Hired Gun (1957)

Review:

Rory Calhoun is solid and Anne Francis is certainly fetching as the convicted killer trying to dodge the hangman’s noose in Texas.

But while having a female character in that position is unique, the short run time leaves little time for Calhoun’s Gil McCord and Francis’ Ellen Beldon to develop a relationship on their way back to Texas, or for him to grow gradually more sympathetic to her plight.

Also detracting from the film — the speeded-up action scenes, some so rushed they come off as downright cartoonish.

Playing the man who helps Ellen Beldon escape jail, but still can’t win her affection, Chuck Connors was still a year away from his five-season run as Lucas McCain in the hit TV series, “The Rifleman.”

John Litel as Mace Beldon, getting news that the woman convicted of killing his son has escaped jail in The Hired Gun (1957)

Vince Edwards as Kell Beldon, the stepson oh so eager to see Ellen hang for his brother’s death in The Hired Gun (1957)

Directed by:
Ray Nazarro

Cast:
Rory Calhoun … Gil McCord / McCready
Anne Francis … Ellen Beldon
Vince Edwards … Kell Beldon
Chuck Connors … Judd Farrow
Guinn William … Elby Kirby
John Litel … Mace Beldon
Salvador Baguez … Domingo Ortega
Regis Parton … Cliff Beldon
Robert Burton … Nathan Conroy
Dan Riss … Walt Bodie
Edgar Dearing … Sheriff Jenner
Nolan Leary … Judge Dwight Larsen

Runtime: 63 min.

Chuck Connors as Judd Farrow, the man who helps Ellen escape a hanging, but can’t get her to love him in The Hired Gun (1957)

Robert Burton as Nathan Conroy, the uncle who gives Ellen (Anne Francis) refuge on his ranch in The Hired Gun (1957)

Memorable lines:

Ellen Beldon: “Who sent you after me? Mace Beldon?”
Gil McCord: “Not exactly. Five-thousand dollars of his money sure did.”

Gil McCord: “I’m being paid to do a job, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Ellen Beldon: “Even if I’m innocent.”
McCord: “I’m the wrong one to prove it to. I’m not a judge or a jury.”

Ellen Beldon: “What do you do for a living when you’re not out catching desperate criminals like me? What is it you say you do, Mr. McCready?”
Gil McCord: “I catch up filing notches on my gun.”

Rory Calhoun as Gil McCord, with the stone he uses to make his horse appear lame in The Hired Gun (1957)

Anne Francis as Ellen Beldon, watching for a chance to escape Gill McCord in The Hired Gun (1957)

Guinn Williams as Elby Kirby, a key witness in Ellen Beldon’s murder trial in The Hired Gun (1957)

Dan Riss as county attorney Walt Bodie, surprised at Mace Beldon’s determination to hang a woman in The Hired Gun (1957)

Salvador Baguez as Domingo Ortega, the south-of-the-border friend who keeps Gil McCord’s guns in working order in The Hired Gun (1957)

Rory Calhoun as Gil McCord, delivering a convicted killer to justice in The Hired Gun (1957)