Raetsonwe
Redundant and unnecessary.
CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
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.
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.
Stormy_Autumn
I was able to watch "Rebel in Town" (1956) & gave it 8 out of 10. I have looked for this movie for ages.I remember when the Bedlow Mason (J. Carrol Naish) family showed up in town to water the horses, get supplies & check into staging a robbery.It was there that John & Nora Willoughby (John Payne & Ruth Roman) lost their only child Petey when he startled outlaw Wesley. Wes turned & blew Petey away. This becomes bad for the baby brother of Wes & worse for John & Nora.John was filled with grief, anger & revenge. Nora's was grief, loneliness & sorrow. Her forgiveness became stronger when she realized John had brought home an injured young man, Ben...Ben Mason! The boy she saw at Petey's murder.There is so much that you will miss if you don't take time for this film. Will there be any peace between the Willoughbys & the Masons? Will the "sad", then, possibly, "understanding" emotions be overwhelming for all? If 'Pro' is the opposite of 'Con' then what is the opposite of Progress?
ccmiller1492
When an Ex-Confederate patriarch and his four sons stop for supplies on the run after robbing a bank, one of them gets nervous hearing a cocked pistol behind him and turns quickly, blasting a 9 yr old boy playing with a toy pistol. The murder of the child spawns hate and a blind rage for vengeance in the small western town. J. Carroll Naish has one of his best roles as the Bible-spouting sire of a brood of scum, trying to keep them in order. John Payne as the traumatized father of the dead boy gives an unnerving performance as a decent man who's become emotionally unbalanced. His uncertainty and mental disruption are almost palpable as his alarmed wife (Ruth Roman) desperately tries to stifle his increasingly homicidal personality. It's very unsettling to see Payne in this unheroic light...the difference from his usual demeanor draws a very convincing portrait of a severely unbalanced man. Ben Cooper (who usually plays a disturbed role) is uncommonly sympathetic here as the only member of the gang responsible enough to acknowledge guilt for the tragedy, even though his own life is at risk instead of his older brother's, the unrepentant perpetrator. This is definitely several cuts above your average western and sustains viewers'interest throughout. Highly recommended....
