The quiet loner who emanates raw danger by mere presence has never been portrayed as well until JC takes the role of Abe Cross. Cashs performance alone merits a 'must see' rating for this movie. Kirk Douglas is a natural pick for the role of a flashy, boastful, gunslinger who feels trapped by his retirement as saloon owner and family man in a small town. Will Tenneray(Douglas) yearns for the glory of his past as a feared and known name amongst gunfighters of the West. Abe Cross, his deeds and past are shrouded by a persona that shuns gossip and towns while Will Tennerays' exploits are well known and self-promoted. When Cross rides into town and has a drink in Tennerays' saloon, the tension is immediate and keeps climbing as every townsman whisper their expectations each time the two meet. The inevitable confrontation is a twist on the usual 'meet you at noon duel' that sets this Western apart.

The old shooting times are over, the gunfighters are just a live legend - perhaps only a curiosity - for borrachos and mean people. Unable to fit into the new times, all they can do is killing each other, to feed their own legend or to be buried with it. In this complex, sober, highly undervalued movie, Douglas (the real one, not Michael) and Cash accomplish with their destiny, it does not matter who will be the winner, who will be the loser: both are doomed and they know it. But they are not the worst in town: this role is left to the bloodthirsty people who do not even have the guts to run personally the risk but enjoy the killing. Too late they realize what they have caused and supported, ant silence fall on them. But the'll forget, and next time it will happen again.

I think I just enjoy this movie because of the actors. The story isn't the best and if you're looking for great art, go elsewhere. But, if you're a fan of Douglas and Cash and would like to see a few other notables on screen, sit back and enjoy the flick with a few beers.

The Western showdown is a duel, a matching of gunplay skills in which the faster, more professional gunman wins... The logical extension of the show is without doubt a gladiatorial Roman circus combat between two fighters and such is the elemental structure of Lamont Johnson's film...Kirk Douglas is a retired gunman sick enough of his life, and Johnny Cash is a weary gunslinger who knows that even if he wins, he will eventually lose... Both are famous, veteran gunfighters who provide their talent as the quick and the fast... The auditorium chosen is a bullfight ring...Whether the two men are considered as gladiators or bullfighters, the film deplorably smashes the traditional conception of the showdown, twisting it from a clash between good and bad into a show of a very poor quality...The situation exposed is certainly ambiguous, implausible and anti-climactic against popular blood lust...The film captures the viewer with a double-ended showdown... One with Douglas as the winner, and the other with Cash...Our feeling is that the strands of myth and honest re-creation which connect the American Western to the real American West are being cut by those whose roots are far removed from the actual frontier... To the Western purist, such tendency can only be seen with alarm... The screen showdown has been undermined and ruined... There are no white hats and black villainy anymore...