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Tension at Table Rock

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Tension at Table Rock
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Marquis Warren
Screenplay byWinston Miller
Based onBitter Sage
1954 novel
by Frank Gruber
Produced bySam Wiesenthal
StarringRichard Egan
Dorothy Malone
Cameron Mitchell
Angie Dickinson
CinematographyJoseph F. Biroc
Edited byDoane Harrison
Harry Marker
Music byDimitri Tiomkin
Production
company
Sam Wiesenthal Productions
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • October 3, 1956 (1956-10-03)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.4 million (US/Canada rentals)[1]

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

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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

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Production

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Top Film Grossers of 1956". Variety. January 2, 1957. p. 1.
  2. ^ "Tension at Table Rock (1956) - Charles Marquis, Charles Marquis Warren - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. ^ "Sterling Hayden Settles". Variety. January 1, 1958. p. 2. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via Archive.org.
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