Up until the 1960s, westerns were a HUGE genre for Hollywood-- particularly the 1930s-50s. Thousands of westerns were made...so many that no one could possibly see them all. However, if you've seen a bunch there are certainly some common themes...and the theme in "Star in the Dust" has been seen before...quite a few times. However, there is nothing to set this one apart from the rest...and I would recommend you first see "Rio Bravo"...with a similar theme but simply a better film.Sheriff Jorden is set to hang Sam Hall (Richard Boone) but has a problem....one group of folks wanna string him up and not bother waiting until the court appointed time...and another group wants to rescue him. Jorden (John Agar) and his two deputies (James Gleason and Paul Fix) are deputies on hand to try to carry out his orders.Aside from an insanely vivid and crazy stunt at the end (I still can't believe they did this!) and an appearance by Mamie Van Doren, I can't see much to set this apart from a bazillion other westerns. More a time-passer than anything else.

"Showdown in Abilene" director Charles F. Haas' western "Star in the Dust" qualifies as routine in several respects and is largely predictable. This is the yarn about the lawman sworn to protect his murderous prisoner until he can slip a noose around his neck. Cowboy stalwart John Agar of "Fort Apache" stars as Sheriff Bill Jorden, the grim son of a sheriff determined to see justice carried out despite what his father would have done in similar circumstances. The desperado in his custody is Sam Hall (Richard Boone of "Man without a Star"), and he has been sentenced to swing for killing three men. The town of Gunlock, where Jorden wears the star, is divided between the opposing forces of ranchers and farmers. Roughly speaking, the Oscar Brodney screenplay, based on Leigh Leighton's novel, draws on the historical demise of Tom Horn. Haas isn't adept as building up tension, but he has assembled a sturdy cast, with a young Clint Eastwood walking on in one scene, about seven minutes into the action, to chat briefly with our hero. Paul Fix is excellent as Jorden's deputy, and career character actor James Gleason is lively as the man who built the gallows. The mystery behind everything that our badge-totting protagonist wants to resolve is the identity of the man who hired Hall. Obviously, Haas took some cues from the Gary Cooper classic "High Noon." Unfortunately, Haas isn't as adept at scaring up suspense the same way Fred Zinnemann did in "High Noon." Mamie Van Doren spices up the cast. "Star in the Dust" appears to have been lensed on the Universal Pictures' backlot. Production values are good.

This wasn't bad at all, apart from the fact that the sheriff must have been naively optimistic in thinking that he, a deputy and an old-timer could prevail against two different factions each consisting of a score or so men; in the event, he leaves it far too late when it comes to asking for outside help. And I thought both factions were somewhat overheated about the situation.There's a touch of "High Noon" about the film, in that the action takes place in a short time-span, with a clock occasionally showing what hour it is. In both films the sheriff doesn't have much support when it comes to conscientiously doing his duty.The suspense mounts through both films, though John Agar doesn't match Gary Cooper when it comes to re-acting to it.I see from other comments that I'm not alone in finding the repetitive ballad-singer an irritation; I almost cheered when he dashed for cover during a shoot-out; what a pity he didn't get in the way of a bullet.The best fight is between two women, one of whom ends up with blood on her, which is more than can be said for the men who get shot; they just clutch at unmarked shirts. And when someone gets knocked on the head it's out of camera shot, which I thought was a convention that had been done away with some years before the film was made.Trivia fans may like to note that this is the second Western in which Delmonico's famous restaurant is mentioned in some Agar dialogue; Harry Carey jnr taunts him about eating there in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon".

For a Western movie this was very boring and had very little going on. There is no real plot and only a couple of muddled and drama-free sub-plots.The movie is about some hit-man in a cell who is awaiting hanging for the killing of some cattleboys. The sheriff wants a peaceful hanging (!) without having to prove that he's as good a Sheriff as his father was. And a couple of other minor characters serve no purpose other than to complicate matters for petty reasons.There are a few silly fight scenes that remind of the A-Team with the wooden furniture falling apart very easily. And, as always, there are embarrassingly fake fights in which there is no penetration seen or any shown. Were there any R-rated movies in the 50's? But the most annoying thing about this movie is the songs but the 'singing narrator' who only ever uses the same tune but uses marginally different words each time. Ugh! If this is on TV on a Sunday afternoon…miss it. Go out for a walk, even if it's raining.