Last Train from Gun Hill

A western built on the clock, set in one town. Matt Morgan is a marshal. His wife is killed on the road by two men; his son escapes and reaches him carrying a saddle. Morgan knows whose saddle it is: his old friend Craig Belden, the big rancher. Morgan goes to Gun Hill. One of the killers he wants is Belden's son. Belden protects him. The town belongs to Belden and nobody helps the marshal. Morgan takes the boy hostage in a hotel room and waits for the nine o'clock train. Belden's men surround the building. The tension comes out of that wait: one room, a train time and a crowd outside. The real subject sits under the siege: two old friends, one breaking the law to save his son, the other using him for his wife. There is no place where both are right. Kirk Douglas plays Morgan and Anthony Quinn plays Belden. Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman and Brad Dexter are in the cast. John Sturges directed; a few years later he made The Magnificent Seven. A strong example for anyone who likes classic westerns and tension in confined space. For a viewer expecting wide landscape, the film takes place almost entirely inside the town.