A Time For Killing (1967)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
During the Civil War Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison
and head for the Mexican border.
Along the way they kill a Union courier who has a message that the war is over.
Keeping the message a secret, the Captain has his men go on
and they soon find themselves in a battle with the Union search party
who also is unaware of the war's end.
Written by Maurice VanAuken

Full Cast
Inger Stevens ... Emily Biddle
Glenn Ford ... Maj. Tom Wolcott
Paul Petersen ... Blue Lake
Timothy Carey ... Billy Cat
Kenneth Tobey ... Sgt. Cleehan
Richard X. Slattery ... Cpl. Paddy Darling
Harrison Ford ... Lt Shaffer (as Harrison J. Ford)
Kay E. Kuter ... Owelson
Dick Miller ... Zollicoffer
Emile Meyer ... Col. Harries
Marshall Reed ... Stedner
George Hamilton ... Capt. Dorrit Bentley
Max Baer Jr. ... Sgt. Luther Liskell (as Max Baer)
Todd Armstrong ... Lt. 'Pru' Prudessing
Duke Hobbie ... Lt. Frist
Harry Dean Stanton ... Sgt. Dan Way (as Dean Stanton)
James Davidson ... Little Mo
Charlie Briggs ... Sgt. Kettlinger
Craig Curtis ... Bagnef
Jay Ripley ... Cpl. Timothy Dwight Lovingwood
Dean Goodhill ... Bruce
Peter Ford ... (uncredited)
Eddie Smith ... Union Soldier (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Nelson Wolford (novel "The Southern Blade") and
Shirley Wolford (novel "The Southern Blade")
Halsted Welles

Original Music
Mundell Lowe

Cinematography
Kenneth Peach

Trivia
Harry Joe Brown wrote a personal check to Columbia Pictures for $1,000,000
to cover the costs of going over budget.

First credited film role of Harrison Ford.

Goofs[
Anachronisms
Early on, the Union and Confederate troopers are armed with single shot breech loading carbines, but in the final battle scene, all of a sudden, everyone is armed with Winchester repeating rifles that do not exist in 1865.

Revealing mistakes
When Emily tries to escape horseback, and hits Capt Bentley with a sword, the blade can be seen bending and flopping.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Kanab, Utah, USA
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA

A Time for Killing is a 1967 Western film started by Roger Corman
but finished by Phil Karlson, and starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton,
Inger Stevens and a young Harrison Ford in his first credited film role

The film is sentimentally significant as Glenn Ford's one hundredth film.

User Review

Quote

Weak western
4 December 2003 | by Wizard-8 (Victoria, BC)

Despite his advancing age, Glenn Ford made a number of westerns during this period, this one being one of his weakest. It does have an eccentric cast, most notably George Hamilton, who doesn't fit at well here. It's not that he can't act, but his look and demeanor come off a bit too "nice" for a character who should be meaner and grittier. Oddly, he has much more screen time than Ford, though maybe that's for the best since Ford seems a bit bored and uninterested in the little we see of him. It's not like the script is inspired or anything, giving us weak characters, unfunny comic relief (despite some brutality shown or implied several times), and even offensive racial stereotypes. Not to mention an underwhelming ending that at the same time feels unfinished. The production quality is also surprisingly cheap and sloppy at times, not just with some incredibly bad editing, but with obvious post-production shots and sequences shot in a studio instead of outdoors on location. Probably wasn't the inspiration for the movie "The Hunting Party" made several years later, but who knows.