Tension at Table Rock

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Tension at Table Rock
Tension at Table Rock.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charles Marquis Warren
Written by Winston Miller
Based onBitter Sage by Frank Gruber
Produced bySam Wiesenthal
Starring Richard Egan
Dorothy Malone
Cameron Mitchell
Angie Dickinson
Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc
Edited by Doane Harrison
Harry Marker
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Production
company
Sam Wiesenthal Productions
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • October 3, 1956 (1956-10-03)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.4 million (US/Canada rentals) [1]

Tension at Table Rock is a 1956 American Western drama film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Richard Egan and Dorothy Malone. The film stars Richard Egan as a man vilified after killing a famous gunslinger who was a public hero. [2] The same year this film was made, Richard Egan would star in another western: Love Me Tender . That film would mark Elvis Presley's film debut. Despite Richard Egan being first billed in that movie, people mainlywent to see it mainly because of Presley, but at the same time would discover how good an actor Egan was and he would become a known actor.

Contents

Plot

After killing a man whom many thought was his friend, Wes Tancred is assaulted and immortalized in an uncomplimentary song about one man shooting his best friend in the back; when in fact Wes' friend was reaching for his gun to shoot Wes in the back as he started out the door. Wes leaves town and winds up working as a hostler at a Stagecoach Outpost. He adopts an alias and befriends the father and son who run the outpost. Three outlaws arrive with plans to rob the stagecoach when it arrives. The father is killed in a showdown with the three outlaws. Wes kills them and takes the boy to live with his aunt and uncle, who is the Sheriff in Table Rock. A reckless band of herders that are running a cattle drive come to town with revelry and kill a sodbuster. In court there is testimony presented that the murder was self-defense because the ramrodder had placed a weapon in the victim's hand. Both the Sheriff and Wes are aware of this; however, the Sheriff who was traumatized from a previous beating, states in his report, that it was self-defense. He revises his report when Wes steps forward with testimony to the contrary, challenging him to overcome his fear. Wes shoots down a hired gun that comes to town to kill the Sheriff and the Sheriff, in turn, shoots the man who hires the gunman when he attempts to shoot Wes in the back.

Cast

Production

Sterling Hayden claimed he had been hired for six weeks to appear in the film but RKO Pictures disclaimed the agreement so he sued them for $35,000. RKO settled out of court. [3]

See also

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References

  1. "Top Film Grossers of 1956". Variety . January 2, 1957. p. 1.
  2. "Tension at Table Rock (1956) - Charles Marquis, Charles Marquis Warren - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. "Sterling Hayden Settles". Variety . January 1, 1958. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2021 via Archive.org.