A Day of Fury is a superior Western that pairs Dale Robertson and Jock Mahoney as two outstanding leads. It is, in some ways, a lengthy character study of what happens to a town when a stranger moves in, literally tears away, and exposes the flaws and hidden secrets of many of the town’s prominent residents. John Dehner, Carl Benton Reid, and Jan Sterling are among the strong cast members. Mara Corday is the main female contributor. Crisp and natural dialogue as well as consistent plot twists and turns keep the reader’s interest. There is a lot of good, old-fashioned action in the movie along with its exploration of the darker aspects of character.
What About The Plot?
In A Day of Fury, the small town of West End, things are generally quiet. Oh sure, there are issues now and then, but Marshal Allan Burnett (Jock Mahoney) can handle them. Everyone in town is there to witness his nuptials to Sharman Fulton (Mara Corday). Then Dale Robertson’s character, Jagade, a gunslinger, rides into town. Burnett is hesitant to chase Jagade away because the outlaw alerted him to an impending ambush, saving his life. However, Jagade represents West End’s lawless past to the rest of the population, and their presence in the town signals a potential return to that lawlessness.
To stop Judge McLean from confronting Jagade and killed, the marshal shoots him when he attempts to take matters into his own hands. Sharman, an old flame of Jagade’s, approaches the shooter and offers to leave town with him as she watches trouble develop. She receives a scarlet letter for that. The town fathers prepared to expel her immediately and resolve the situation on their own. The marshal is the only person in town that Jagade cannot figure out, so he is attempting to find a way to get rid of him. Burnett has been imprisoned for shooting the judge, so getting rid of him might not be too difficult.
Plot Review:
In A Day of Fury Review, It’s a very strange little movie, but because it’s so unique, it’s worth watching. But it seems incredibly premature for West End to go into such a frenzy when Jagade rides into town. The preacher’s threat to set the saloon on fire, the judge’s threat to shoot Jagade if the marshal won’t, and Sharman’s offer to leave with him are all motivated by fears about what Jagade might do if he stays too long in West End.
What happens is that the residents of West End, who have just recently brought civilization to their community, demonstrate how simple it would be for them to revert to a life of savagery and violence. This story, features Robertson walking around giving another of his one-note, puffed-out-chest performances, that appear to be moral. Overall, It can be a good choice for anyone looking for top-notch Western action and entertainment from the mid-to-late 1950s.
