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Decision at Sundown

Decision at Sundown

Western · 1957

A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.

Movie details

Decision at Sundown

“At last the search was over...”

1957 Western 1h 18m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.8 / 10

3.6K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

100 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Decision at Sundown?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.

Dodge City

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A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

True Grit

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Rancho Notorious

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Frontera

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After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Budd Boetticher

Written by

Charles Lang · Vernon L. Fluharty

Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott

Bart Allison

John Carroll

John Carroll

Tate Kimbrough

Karen Steele

Karen Steele

Lucy Summerton

Valerie French

Valerie French

Ruby James

Noah Beery Jr.

Noah Beery Jr.

Sam

John Archer

John Archer

Dr. John Storrow

Andrew Duggan

Andrew Duggan

Sheriff Swede Hansen

Court is in session

Put Decision at Sundown on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.