The Bounty Hunter (1954)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
A year after a violent train robbery the Pinkerton detective agency
hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers.
He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity.
Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.
Written by Jeremy Perkins

Cast
Randolph Scott ... Jim Kipp
Dolores Dorn ... Julie Spencer
Marie Windsor ... Alice Williams
Howard Petrie ... Sheriff Brand
Harry Antrim ... Dr. R.L. Spencer
Robert Keys ... George Williams
Ernest Borgnine ... Bill Rachin
Dub Taylor ... Eli Danvers (as Dubb Taylor)
Tyler MacDuff ... Vance Edwards
Archie Twitchell ... Harrison
Paul Picerni ... Jud
Phil Chambers ... Ed
Mary Lou Holloway ... Mrs. Harrison
and more...

Directed
André De Toth ... (as Andre de Toth)

Writing Credits
Winston Miller ... (screenplay) (story)
Finlay McDermid ... (story)

Produced
Samuel Bischoff ... producer (as Sam Bischoff)

Music
David Buttolph

Cinematography
Edwin B. DuPar ... director of photography (as Edwin DuPar)

Trivia
One of two films co-produced by Transcona Enterprises for Warner Brothers,
which consisted of Judy Garland and her then husband Sidney Luft,
the other film being A Star Is Born (1954).
The third Transcona production was to be The Helen Morgan Story (1957) to star Garland,
but after the tepid box office performance of 'Star', Garland and Luft bought out
the rest of their contract with Warners.

Filmed in 3D, but released only in standard 2D version.

Opening credits: Forward During the early days when civilization was pushing
its frontiers farther and farther West, there roamed a special breed of men...
neither outlaws nor officers of the law, yet more feared than either.
For reward money...they tracked down criminals, wanted Dead or Alive,
and made themselves both judge and executioner in some lonely court of no appeal.
They were called "Bounty Hunters".

Goofs
Continuity
In the opening scene, Randolph Scott is shot at by an ambusher, and rides away,
climbs a very tall hill, where his clothing appears very dirty from the climb.
After he shoots the ambusher in the next shot Scott's clothes are clean.

Filming Locations
Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA
Mojave Desert, California, USA
Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

The Bounty Hunter is a 1954 western film, the last of six
Randolph Scott Westerns directed by Andre DeToth
and the first film to feature a bounty hunter as its hero.
It was released by Warner Bros. Pictures.
It was filmed in 3-D but released in standard format, though a 3-D print exists in the Warner archives.
Stock footage from Carson City is used at the beginning of the film.

User Review

Scott Showcase, But Not Much Else
28 August 2014 | by dougdoepke (Claremont,USA)

Quote from doug

Plot heavy western that should please Scott fans, even if the film doesn't. In fact, the lantern jaw actor carries the 80-minutes, at the same time supporting players drift in and out rather aimlessly. Bounty hunter Kipp (Scott) is on the trail of three baddies who've blended into Twin Forks, so that their identities are now hidden. As a result, Kipp has to figure out who the guilty ones are. Trouble is the townspeople don't take kindly to being under suspicion, so he's got his work cut out for him.

A plot like this relies greatly on script, which I found pretty loosely structured. Except for Kipp, none of the other many characters are sharply etched. Thus the mystery element never really gels, and with that goes much of the suspense until the last ten minutes. As you might expect this is not a scenic western, with most of the action taking place in a studio town. What the film does have going for it--in addition to Scott-- is the great Marie Windsor as, surprise, surprise, a dancehall girl. I just wish they had given her more to do. Some verbal face-offs between her and Scott would be explosive. Looks to me also like director deToth couldn't really engage with the script, despite his proved record with outstanding westerns—Ramrod (1947), Day of the Outlaw (1959).

Overall, the oater shows off Scott's powerful presence, but, I'm sorry to say, not much else.

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