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| The Man Called Noon | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Collinson |
| Starring | Richard Crenna |
| Music by | Luis Bacalov |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | National General Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | Spain |
| Language | English |
The Man Called Noon is a 1973 film directed by Peter Collinson. It stars Richard Crenna and Stephen Boyd. [1] It is based on a 1970 Louis L'Amour novel of the same name.
Ben Janish (Ángel del Pozo) arrives in the town of Kiowa Flats and tries to assassinate a man (Richard Crenna) in his hotel room, while observed by the enigmatic Rimes (Stephen Boyd). The bullet grazes the man's head and he falls out of his hotel window, but manages to escape and hide on a freight train. Once the train has left town, we discover that Rimes is also there, and that our hero has completely lost his memory due to the head trauma he has sustained. Rimes decides to take the injured man, who spontaneously decides on the name Jonas, under his wing.
The unlikely pair leave the train, and walk to a deserted town. Rimes reveals that he is an outlaw, and uses a mirror to signal for help - which arrives in the form of Fan Davidge (Rosanna Schiaffino), who picks up the two men and takes them to her ranch - the Rafter D. She reveals that a gang of outlaws, led by Janish, are using the ranch as a hideout against her will but that she has been unable to contact the outside world for help. The amnesiac Jonas is aware that Janish is the man who tried to kill him, but seems curiously unconcerned that he might return to the ranch at any time.
Fan's loyal foreman Henneker (José Jaspe) warns Jonas against his burgeoning romantic interest in Fan, and gives him a document - it's clear that Henneker thinks he knows who Jonas really is, and that the paper shows he has been hired to perform a task. He joins the other outlaws in the bunkhouse, where he shows his fist fighting credentials by viciously beating two of them.
In the morning, he bonds with a stray horse at the ranch and asks Fan if he can take it for a ride. Rimes joins him in his exploration, and Jonas reveals that the paper he had been given was from Cullane, an attorney in El Paso, and is addressed to a man named Ruble Noon, who Rimes identifies as a notorious gunman. Jonas wonders if he might himself be Noon, but Rimes finds the idea ridiculous. Later, the horse - which seems to know Jonas well - leads them to a valley containing a luxurious cabin, where Rimes discovers some muzzle loading rifles together with a supply of old lead bullets. The cabin seems strangely familiar to Jonas, but is apparently owned by a man with initials JM.
The two men find a manually operated lift that leads to an escape route from the valley, and continue to investigate, arriving at a farm where Jonas is recognised and welcomed. They get new horses and ride to a station to catch a train to El Paso, but the brakeman (Ricardo Palacios) warns them to leave the train early 'in the usual place', and it is clear that he also knows Jonas. While waiting for sunset so they can arrive at the city in darkness, the two men are attacked by gunmen but manage to shoot them dead.
Arriving in Santa Fe in broad daylight, Jonas breaks into Cullane's office and searches for information that might shed light on his identity, while Rimes sends and receives a telegram and then goes for a drink with his friend Kissling (Aldo Sambrell). Jonas is interrupted by the arrival of Cullane's sister Peg (Patty Shepard), who explains that her brother had been killed by Ruble Noon, and suggests that Jonas might want to see his body in case it helps him remember. On the way to the vigil Peg introduces Jonas to Judge Niland (Farley Granger), but when they arrive she draws a gun on him, accusing him of being Noon, and it is clear that Rimes has betrayed him.
Jonas/Noon, whose alias has now developed into Jonas Mandarin, manages to escape from Peg and her henchmen and takes refuge with the judge, who is also aware of his true identity. The judge tells Noon that Peg Cullane is working with Janish, and that they are looking for gold that Fan Davidge's father had arranged to be hidden somewhere in the vicinity of the Rafter D. Apparently it was Fan's father who had hired Noon to remove Janish and his gang from the ranch, and it had been Janish that had killed Cullane, and had then tried to murder Noon. Noon goes to pick up his horse and is held at gunpoint by Peg's sadistic henchman Christobal (Julián Ugarte), but he disables him with a hayfork, shoots him dead, and rides out of town.
Noon arrives at the back door of the cabin, where he is observed - but not attacked - by Janish. Rimes is waiting for him in the cabin with Fan, and explains that he had previously helped him escape from the funeral parlour because he wants to keep Noon alive in order to claim a reward. One of Janish's henchmen rides up in the lift, but is shot dead by Noon and Rimes, wrecking the lift and meaning their escape route has been destroyed. Noon decides to check out the surrounding country, but is spotted and attacked by the judge, who has manipulated Noon into returning to the valley, and who wants the gold for himself.
The judge wounds Noon, who falls dramatically, hits his head, and in the process fully regains his memory, including the place he hid the Davidge gold. He escapes back to the cabin, and shows that the old style bullets found by Rimes are in fact made of solid gold. Rimes now reveals the full story to Fan - Noon's original name was Jonas Mandarin, the boss of an arms company who had lived in the cabin with his wife and daughter but, after his family was murdered by bandits, he took the identity of Ruble Noon, a one man revenge squad trying to kill as many outlaws as possible.
The judge tries to get the three occupants of the cabin to surrender and, when they refuse, murders Henneker in cold blood. Janish accesses the cliffs above the house, and sets the roof on fire, also dropping sticks of dynamite in the hope of driving the defenders out. While Rimes and Fan hold off the gang, Noon/Mandarin climbs up the inside of the chimney, then confronts and kills Janish and dislodges a large boulder, which rolls down into the valley. Normally, a boulder of this kind would be easy to avoid, but the judge is so busy shooting his own henchmen for cowardice that he fails to notice it and is crushed to death. Peg and Fan duel, and Fan shoots Peg dead.
They erect a grave for Ruble Noon, signifying that his mission is complete and his identity no longer required, and Mandarin and Fan ride off into the sunset. Rimes, who cannot collect the reward for Noon, has got hold of a portion of the gold, so is also satisfied.
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