Town Tamer (1965)

Dana Andrews stars as Tom Rosser, aka “The Town Tamer.” Only in the last town he tamed — Broken Lance, Kansas — Riley Condor (Bruce Cabot) put a $2,000 price tag on his head.

Fast gun Lee Ring (Lyle Bettger) tried to collect, only his bullet hit Rosser’s wife instead, killing her.

Now Rosser has followed Condor and Ring to the town of Great Plains, Texas. He’s been hired by a railroad tycoon named James Fell to rid the town of it’s evil element.

But this time he doesn’t have a star on his vest or the law on his side.

Condor owns the law in Great Plains, and has installed Ring as his sheriff.

That stymies Rosser for a while. He’s ambushed by one of Condor’s men, beaten by another, and jailed after shooting one who mutilated his horse.

But as the town leaders begin to talk of vigilante law, Rosser decides it’s time to even the score for what happened back in Kansas.

Dana Andrews as Tom Rosser, headed to Montana to tame a town without a badge on his chest in Town Tamer (1965)

Lyle Bettger as Marshal Les Parker, aka Lee Ring, one of the two men responsible for the death of Rosser’s wife in Town Tamer (1965)

Review:

Andrews tries his best, but after a fast start, this film bogs down into lots of talk and little action. It seems to take forever to get to the final showdown.

And when shot … well, let’s just say director Lesley Selander’s actors will never be mistaken for Spaghetti Western extras doing a flamboyant dance of death.

Like the other A.C. Lyles Westerns of the 1960s, this is filled with familiar faces on the downside of their careers. Well, perhaps with the exception of DeForest Kelly, who plays a gutless gambler here, but would soon become Dr. McCoy of Star Trek fame.

As for the ladies, Terry Moore plays a former librarian who was fooled by that gambler’s charm and apparent wealth but winds up siding with Rosser.

Coleen Gray, female lead in several 1950s Westerns, has a bit role as Andrews’ former wife, the one gunned down back in Kansas. It would mark her last Western film. She appeared in one episode of Bonanza in 1968 and continued acting into her mid-60s, passing in 2015 at age 92.

Terry Moore as Susan Tavenner, getting to know Tom Rosser a bit better on a horse ride together in Town Tamer (1965)

Bruce Cabot as Riley Condor, the man who paid to have Tom Rosser killed when the two were operating in Kansas in Town Tamer (1965)

Directed by
Lesley Selander

Cast:
Dana Andrews … Tom Rosser
Bruce Cabot … Riley Condor
Lon Chaney Jr. … Mayor Leach
DeForest Kelly … Guy Tavenner
Terry Moore … Susan Tavenner
Lyle Bettger … Lee Ring
Pat O’Brien … Judge Murcott
Richard Arlen … Dr. Kent
Barton MacLane … James Fell
Richard Jaeckel … Johnny Honsinger
Philip Carey … Jim Akins
Sonny Tufts … Carmichael
Coleen Gray … Carol Rosser
Jeanne Cagney … Mary Donley
Don “Red” Barry … Tex

Runtime: 89 min.

Title tune: “Town Tamer”
Sung by: The Three Ds

DeForest Kelly as Guy Tavenner, Susan’s husband, getting his marching orders from saloon owner Riley Condor in Town Tamer (1965)

Lon Chaney Jr. as Mayor Charlie Leach, ready to try vigilante law if Rosser can’t ride his town of Riley Condor in Town Tamer (1965)

Memorable lines:

Riley Condor: “Just what would you suppose to do for $2,000?”
Lee Ring: “Suppose you tell me, Mr. Condor.”
Condor: “Would you — kill a man?”
Ring: “Well, you don’t get $2,000 just for digging a row of potatoes.”

Tom Rosser: “I’ve tamed a lot of towns, Mr. Fell. This will be the first time I’ve had to go against the lawless element and the law. I’ve always had the town behind me. And I wore a badge.”
James Fell: “Great Plains is becoming known as a town where they kill a man every hour on the hour.”

Judge Murcott to railroad boss James Fell: “You may be a big noise somewhere else. But right here, you’re just a man butting into somebody else’s business. You got that clear?”

Riley Condor: “You sure he (Tom Rosser) doesn’t know who you really are?”
Lee Ring: “Well, if he knew, I’d probably be getting buried.”

Dana Andrews as Tom Rosser, pleading his case and getting support from an unexpected source, Marshal Parker (Lyle Bettger) in Town Tamer (1965)

Barton MacLane as James Fell, the railroad man who wants to hire Tom Rosser to tame a Montana town in Town Tamer (1965)

Richarde Jaeckel as Deputy Johnny Honsinger, a hothead quick to turn to his gun in Town Tamer (1965)

Philip Carey as Jim Adkins, one of Condor’s men, trying to ambush Tom Rosser in Town Tamer (1965)

Roger Torrey as Mike Flon, the strongman on Riley Condor’s payroll, trying to pick a fight with Tom Rosser in Town Tamer (1965)

Richard Arlen as Dr. L. Kent, trying to keep the vigilantes back while Tom Rosser deals with Riley Condor in Town Tamer (1965)

Pat O’Brien as Judge Murcott, presiding over a trial designed to put Tom Rosser behind bars in Town Tamer (1965)

Coleen Gray as Carol Rosser, trying to convince her husband to leave a dangerous lawman’s job as soon as possible in Town Tamer (1965)

Dana Andrews as Tom Rosser and Terry Moore as Susan Tavenner, getting acquainted on the stage ride west in Town Tamer (1965)

Bruce Cabot as Riley Condor and Philip Carey as Jim Akins watch vigilantes prepare to storm the saloon in Town Tamer (1965)

Dana Andrews as Tom Rosser watches Dr. Kent (Richard Arlen) work on a wound suffered by Mayor Charlie Leach (Lon Chaney Jr.) in Town Tamer (1965)