John Chard

The Last of the Bad Men. Bad Men of Tombstone is directed by Kurt Neumann and adapted to screenplay by Philip Yordan and Arthur Strawn from the novel The Last of the Bad Men written by Jay Monaghan. It stars Barry Sullivan, Broderick Crawford, Marjorie Reynolds, Fortunio Bonanova and Guinn Williams. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Russell Harlan. Mightily as solid as it is macho, Bad Men of Tombstone is worthy of viewing investment by those with a bent for noirish Westerns. Story is standard fare, where a group of desperadoes live the criminal life but start to squabble and bicker as personalities clash and mistrust pulses away. There is a dearth of good people here, pretty much everyone is bad, tainted by bitterness or out for revenge. A romantic interest is inevitably perched on the plotting, and gunfights, brooding and a bleak finale are on the way. Script is a good one, allowing the characters room to breathe, Neumann keeps things brisk and Harlan's moody black and white photography is classy. 7/10