Tension at Table Rock

Tension at Table Rock
Tension at Table Rock
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Marquis Warren
Screenplay by	Winston Miller
Based on	Bitter Sage; 1954 novel; by Frank Gruber
Produced by	Sam Wiesenthal
Starring	Richard Egan; Dorothy Malone; Cameron Mitchell; Angie Dickinson
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc
Edited by	Doane Harrison; Harry Marker
Music by	Dimitri Tiomkin
Production; company	Sam Wiesenthal Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	October 3, 1956;
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.4 million (US/Canada rentals)

Tension at Table Rock is a 1956 American Western drama film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Richard Egan and Dorothy Malone. The film stars Richard Egan as a man vilified after killing a famous gunslinger who was a public hero.^[2]

Plot

After killing a man whom many thought was his friend, Wes Tancred is assaulted and immortalized in an uncomplimentary song about one man shooting his best friend in the back; when in fact Wes' friend was reaching for his gun to shoot Wes in the back as he started out the door. Wes leaves town and winds up working as a hostler at a Stagecoach Outpost. He adopts an alias and befriends the father and son who run the outpost. Three outlaws arrive with plans to rob the stagecoach when it arrives. The father is killed in a showdown with the three outlaws. Wes kills them and takes the boy to live with his aunt and uncle, who is the Sheriff in Table Rock. A reckless band of herders that are running a cattle drive come to town with revelry and kill a sodbuster. In court there is testimony presented that the murder was self-defense because the ramrodder had placed a weapon in the victim's hand. Both the Sheriff and Wes are aware of this; however, the Sheriff who was traumatized from a previous beating, states in his report, that it was self-defense. He revises his report when Wes steps forward with testimony to the contrary, challenging him to overcome his fear. Wes shoots down a hired gun that comes to town to kill the Sheriff and the Sheriff, in turn, shoots the man who hires the gunman when he attempts to shoot Wes in the back.

Cast

Richard Egan as Wes Tancred
Dorothy Malone as Lorna Miller
Cameron Mitchell as Fred Miller
Billy Chapin as Jody Burrows
Royal Dano as Harry Jameson
Edward Andrews as Kirk
John Dehner as Hampton
DeForest Kelley as Jim Breck
Joe De Santis as Ed Burrows (as Joe DeSantis)
Angie Dickinson as Cathy
Paul Richards as Sam Murdock
Lauren Chapin as Little Girl (uncredited)
Charles H. Gray as Zecca (uncredited)
Joyce Jameson as Singer (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Jeanne Bates as Mrs. Brice (uncredited)

Production

Sterling Hayden claimed he had been hired for six weeks to appear in the film but RKO Pictures disclaimed the agreement so he sued them for $35,000. RKO settled out of court.^[3]