The Bounty Killer (film)
| Company type | Film |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion picture |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Spencer Gordon Bennet (director), Ruth Alexander and Leo Gordon (screenplay) |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Western motion picture |
The Bounty Killer is a 1965 American Western motion picture presented in Technicolor and Techniscope, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet with a screenplay by Ruth Alexander and Leo Gordon. The film stars Dan Duryea alongside Rod Cameron, supported by a cast including Audrey Dalton, Richard Arlen, Buster Crabbe, Fuzzy Knight, Johnny Mack Brown, and Tom Kennedy. Significantly, it marks the final screen role of Broncho Billy Anderson, recognized as cinema’s inaugural Western icon. This production was distributed by Embassy Pictures and premiered on July 31, 1965.
Plot
Willie Duggan, originally from Vermont, arrives in the town of Silver Creek via stagecoach. He quickly forms a friendship with a figure known as the “captain” but suffers a beating after speaking with Carole Ridgeway, a dance hall hostess. When Johnny Liam intervenes by killing Duggan’s attacker, Duggan secures employment transporting miners’ payrolls. Following an ambush from which he emerges alive and after killing an assailant, Duggan teams up with his aide Luther to become bounty hunters.
Their pursuit leads to capturing the outlaw Mike Clayman; however, Clayman’s gang retaliates by killing Luther and injuring Duggan. Carole Ridgeway, daughter of local rancher Ridgeway, tends to Duggan’s recovery. Motivated by vengeance, Duggan alters a shotgun into a pistol to hunt down criminals, including Johnny Liam and his sibling. His relentless quest results in the death of an innocent man, subsequently branding him an outlaw himself. While attempting to elope with Carole, Duggan is ultimately ambushed and killed by another bounty hunter.
Cast
- Dan Duryea as Willie Duggan
- Rod Cameron as Johnny Liam
- Audrey Dalton as Carole Ridgeway
- Richard Arlen as Matthew Ridgeway
- Buster Crabbe as Mike Clayman
- Fuzzy Knight as Captain Luther
- Johnny Mack Brown as Sheriff Green
- Peter Duryea as Youth
- Eddie Quillan as Pianist
- Grady Sutton as Minister
- Emory Parnell as Sam
- Norman Willis as Hank Willis
- Boyd Morgan as Big Jim Seddon
- Bob Steele as Red
- Dan White as Marshal Davis
- John Reach as Jeb
- Duane Ament as Ben Liam
- Michael Hinn as Mr. Weaver
- Dolores Domasin as Cantina Waitress
- Edmund Cobb as Townsman
- Ronn Delanor as Joe
- Dudley Ross as Indian
- I. Stanford Jolley as Sheriff Jones
- Frank Lackteen as Bartender in Cantina / Man in Audience
- Tom Kennedy as Joe
- Broncho Billy Anderson as The Man in the Cantina