During the first fast moving 20 minutes of "One Foot in Hell," I was treated to a terrific performance by Alan Ladd. Ladd, one of the most underrated leading men of the 40s and 50s could easily carry a movie. Like the underrated Glenn Ford, it's uncanny how Ladd does it. Ladd's a better lead than ensemble player; his performances in "Shane" and "The Carpetbaggers" are practically colorless. However, in "One Foot in Hell," Ladd's performance hearkens back to his pre-alcoholic days of "This Gun For Hire" and "Chicago Deadline". Too bad the movie shifts gears till, by two-thirds of the way through, Ladd has become a supporting player in his own movie. Instead of Ladd, we are now subjected to the hammy dominance of Don Murray, one of the worst over-actors of the 50s. This decision seems to have been made mid-production, as the story could have certainly gone another way.

Ladd plays a husband whose life is irrevocably changed by the cynicism, suspicion and downright stupid actions of four prominent citizens of a small town over a 20 minute period. These actions collectively result in the death of Ladd's wife. While appearing to stoically accept this tragic situation, Ladd plots revenge against the citizens and the town.

WARNING: SPOILERS Instead of opting for the relatively predictable "good man turns bad" plot device, and making Ladd thoroughly reprehensible, a far better decision would have been for Ladd to have discovered at a late date from the doctor that the medicine denied his would wife would have only relieved her suffering, rather than saving her. This would have been more realistic, even given today's technology, and it would have left Ladd with a moral dilemma: should he go through with the gang's plans or save the town which had tried so hard to gain his forgiveness. Had the producers allowed such a storyline, "One Foot in Hell" would be remembered right up there with "Red River," "The Searchers," "High Noon" and "3:10 to Yuma," rather than dismissed as a run-of-the-mill western."

END OF SPOILERS

Dan O'Herlihy, another great 50s actor is wasted in what should have been a much more interesting role. The last third of "One Foot in Hell" appears rushed, again leading to suspicions the ending was not the one originally intended. Who knows? Maybe Ladd's alcohol demons were becoming too much of a problem.

Even as presented, "One Foot in Hell" has too many good elements to be casually dismissed. Rather than remaking "3:10 to Yuma" I'd much prefer they do this one with the ending I have suggested. Russell Crowe would be perfect in the Ladd role.

I give "One Foot in Hell" a strong "6".

As Mitch Barret : Alan Ladd exacts a merciless vendetta on small town inhabitants by becoming a sheriff. As Mitch manages to turn an implacable sheriff . Along the way , he joins forces with other people : Don Murray , Dan O'Herlihy , Barry Coe , Dolores Michaels to carry out a twisted plan. One Foot in Hell one Hand on a Gun one day a town would never forget . One Foot in Hell is one whale of a Motion Picture ! It is one of the most exciting , one of the most powerful human epics in the story of the West !

This is the thrilling story of the day hell came to town wearing a badge well starred by Alan Ladd , being one of the last movies , actually the last was The Carpetbaggers 1964 and subsequently dying of alcoholism. Alan Ladd starred some notorious Westerns as Branded , Drum Beat , The Proud Rebel , The Iron Mistress , Badlanders and his big hit : Shane . Based on a Playhouse story , called The last man with interesting script from Aaron Spelling and Sydney Bohem who produced , too . There is a good studio character , including a large plethora the roles with especial peculiarities , such as a drifter , a pickpocket , a Saloon girl and a drunkyard . Along with Ladd there appears a lot of familiar secondaries providing nice interpretations such as : George Coe , Dan O'Herlihy , Don Murray Larry Gates , John Alexander , Robert Adler , Karl Swenson , among others.

It displays colorful and glimmer cinematography by William C Mellor . As well as evocative and stirring musical score by Dominic Frontiere . The picture was well directed by James B Clark . This good filmmaker was an artisan who usually shot episodes for popular TV series as Batman, High Chaparral, Lassie , Daniel Boone The Monroe , Voyage to the bottom of the Sea , Firehouse , Loner and occassionally making feature films as A Dog of Flanders , Villa ! , Sierra Baron , Under Fire , Misty and My side of the Mountain. One Foot in Hell rating : 6,5/10 . Notable . The flick will appeal to Alan Ladd fans . Well worth watching .

This is one of the last performances in Alan Ladd's career and it shows. The effects of alcoholism have left him puffy and only a shadow of his former self. In a few scenes, his acting was lethargic and poor (particularly in the beginning when Ladd should have played it much more emotionally charged), though at others he did look like the old Alan Ladd. However, despite this less than stellar performance, the film still is well worth viewing because the story idea is so unique. While NOT always executed well and having a few lulls here and there, there are enough twists and turns and surprises to make it rise above the glutted Western genre. In fact, in general I don't like Westerns because so many seem formulaic and routine--but this one has a few nice and unique twists.

The film begins with Ladd and his pregnant wife arriving late at night in a small town in the old West. Despite the woman being in obvious pain and being on the verge of dying, Ladd is amazed to see how indifferent most of the men are who he appeals to for help. The motel clerk, the druggist and the sheriff all expend no effort to help and in fact hinder Ladd getting needed medicine to his wife, who subsequently dies. Ladd appears grief-stricken but accepting of this as an accident and agrees to stay on as the town's deputy sheriff--though beneath it all he has a plan for exacting his revenge upon the townsfolk.

While covertly assembling a motley group to rob the town, it becomes clear that Ladd is indeed crazed--sort of like a land-bound Captain Ahab. And, it also becomes clear that the town isn't that bad--just a few jerks who initially tainted Ladd's view of the place. How all this is resolved actually surprised me, as by this point in his career, Ladd always seemed to play a good guy--here he was rather terrible and conniving.

As I said above, Ladd's performance is the biggest weakness in the film. However, if you get past this and a couple lulls here and there, there are enough good moments and plot ideas to make this a keeper.