bsmith5552 "Rebel in Town" was an unusual low budget western for its time. It contains two graphic scenes which were not normally seen in the westerns of the day.Following the Civil War, John Willoughby (John Payne) and his wife Ruth (Ruth Roman) and son Peety (Bobby Clark) live on a small ranch where Peety likes to play soldier (Union of course). A gang of ex-Confederates is roaming the area robbing banks in order to survive.The gang is led by Bedloe Mason (J. Carroll Naish) who along with his four sons: Gray (Ben Cooper), Wesley (John Smith). Frank (Ben Johnson) and Cain (Sterling Franck) is looking for its next score.One day Frank Wesley and Gray ride into town for water. Young Peety, who has just received a pair of cap pistols for his birthday, sneaks up behind the men and is shot (in a gruesome realistic scene) by the trigger happy Wesley. Wesley and Frank flee but Gray is shocked and feels remorse, but he too is forced to flee.Willoughby and his wife are devastated by their loss and he vows revenge on the killers. Back in the rebel camp dissension among the gang develops as Gray decides to leave and go back to town to see if the young boy was killed or not and to try to atone for the tragedy on behalf of his family.Before he can go, Wesley confronts him, stabs him in the back and takes Gray's share of the loot. Believing Gray dead, Wesley ties him to his horse and drives them off. Willoughby comes upon the wounded Gray and takes him home to be treated for his wound unaware that Gray is one of the gang who murdered his son. But Ruth had met Gray briefly on that fateful day and recognizes him.Eventually, Willoughby finds out who Gray really is and becomes enraged to the point of taking an ax to him only to be stopped by Ruth. Gray tries to convince Willoughby of his remorse and desire to return to town to take his medicine. The two proceed to town where Gray is immediately arrested by Sheriff Adam Russell (James Griffith). A lynch mob forms led by Willoughby but the Masons arrive and......................................................John Payne, in my opinion, gives one of his best performances as the vengeful father out to bring down his son's killer(s). The scene where he attempts to take an ax to Cooper is unexpected. He goes from a peace loving farmer to a man filled with hate seamlessly. Ruth Roman is also good as the wife who tries to clam her husband down in spite of her own sorrow.J. Carrol Naish, complete with southern accent, makes a fearful leader of the confederates. Ben Cooper also stands out as the sympathetic and remorseful Gray. John Smith as the trigger happy "Cain like" brother also stands out. Unfortunately, Ben Johnson, whose performances I always personally liked, has little to do in this one. Sterling Franck, for some reason, is billed as his character Cain Mason. Watch for sagebrush veteran Kermit Maynard as a Deputy.Great cast, grim humorless story well mounted.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film show us a war that is supposedly over but some non conformed rebels are still using their uniforms and becoming bandits to survive. When a misunderstanding happens and a boy is killed there seems to be no way out for them. The importance of a woman, Nora (Ruth Roman), who even though her son is dead, makes all efforts for a peaceful solution, is the remarkable aspect of this western. What looks like a plain B movie at the beginning gradually becomes more meaningful, directed by Alfred Werker (Three Hours to Kill, The Last Posse). John Payne (Willoughby) and John Carrol Naish (Mason) are the heads of family and Ben Cooper (Gray Mason) is excellent as the son with good feelings. The tragedy of the film is caused by a boy using toy guns. In the fifties toy guns used to be popular, probably even more in the years before. Good thing you do not see them anymore.

matchettja In postwar Civil War, a father and his four sons, all former Rebel soldiers, eke out a living robbing, always on the run. When three of the brothers ride into town to get water, tragedy occurs when one of them guns down a young boy who has fired at them with his cap pistol. Most of the focus is on five main characters: Bedloe Mason, his sons Gray and Wesley, John Willoughby and his wife, Nora.Bedloe, the patriarch of the Mason clan, and his four sons were forced to leave their burned out home in Alabama after the Civil War. Bedloe's main concern is to keep his family together, so whenever the family faces trouble, they vote on what they should do. After the boy is killed, the vote is to keep on the run, leaving the trouble behind them.Gray, the youngest Mason son, is uncomfortable with the idea of running away. After long introspection, he decides the only honorable thing to do is to return to the town, regardless of consequences. Gray's decision disturbs Wesley, the unrepentant killer who is afraid this will result in him being implicated.After the killing, John Willoughby, father of the unfortunate youngster, loses grip with reality as he wrestles with grief and desire for revenge at any cost. Recognizing this and not wanting any further bloodshed, Nora struggles to keep her man rational and sane. For that reason she refuses to identify a wounded man John brings home as one of the Rebels she saw in town on that fateful day.Though a "B" western, "Rebel in Town" benefits from good acting, competent direction and an intelligent, well-written script with lots of things for us to think about. Bedloe, a religious man, tries to comfort his troubled son with the thought that sometimes there is no answer so it is better just to let things be, further suggesting that since we are all the children of God, He is responsible for what we do, whether good or bad. Gray counters that he cannot consider his brother an agent for God. Such kind of writing is hardly the stuff of usual westerns.

bkoganbing Rebel In Town is set in the post Civil War west where the surrender at Appomattox hasn't ended conflict in the minds of some. One of those is John Payne who was a Union Army major in the war, but now has settled back on his ranch with wife Ruth Roman and son Bobby Clark. Payne feels we've got a big law and order problem with a lot of former Confederates turning outlaws to survive and is the first to volunteer for any posse to track them down.But when the Mason family, J. Carrol Naish and his four sons come riding into town for supplies it's a recipe for trouble. When little Bobby Clark shoots at the family from behind with a cap pistol, one of the Masons turns and returns fire killing the kid instantly. The Masons beat it out of town.The rest of Rebel In Town concerns the actions of Payne and the rest of the town in apprehending the criminals and the Mason family who are torn with what to do.The Masons are a whole lot like the Hannesseys in The Big Country. The budget for the B western Rebel In Town is a fraction of what The Big Country was, yet William Wyler seems to have been influenced by the relationship of family patriarch Naish with the most reckless of his sons John Smith in creating the characters that Burl Ives and Chuck Connors played in The Big Country.As for Payne, he's in his vengeance quest persona, something not seen in him since his highly rated performance in the noir classic Kansas City Confidential.Rebel In Town is no frills B western with some nice performances from the cast. John Payne's fans will like his work here.