“How did you ever manage to live this long?”
Briskly
directed, leanly scripted, Diablo is
a high point among the early films that helped Murphy stand shoulder to
shoulder (metaphorically if not physically) with the B-western’s greatest
leading men. Here, he teams up with rambunctious co-star Duryea for the first
time. Their crackling antagonism would add spice to further westerns – Night Passage and Six Black Horses were to follow. Their caustic sparring in this
outing, however, makes for their most entertaining double act.
Murphy
plays another wholesome guy turned avenger after learning that his father and brother
have been murdered by cattle rustlers. Asking for information about the
suspects, Clay is handed a deputy’s badge by Sheriff Kenyon (Paul Birch) and
his father’s lawyer, Tom Meredith (William Pullen), and informed that Whitey
Kincade may have some answers. Little does Clay know that he is being set up
for a confrontation with one of the frontier’s most murderous gunslingers.
The
rocky alliance between these characters is forged in Diablo, a haven for
outlaws. In the cantina, Lowery (Jack Elam at his brutish best) tries to
intimidate him: “You lost, sonny?”[i]When
Clay responds that he’s waiting for Kincade, he is met with derision; the
cantina’s miscreants fix stares on him, anticipating the inevitable fireworks.
Kincade’s entrance is a showstopper – his louche bearing and sleazy arrogance
bursting over the screen. His unhinged cackling rises to a crescendo when he
sees the diminutive figure wanting to bring him to justice.
A
grudging respect is established, however, when Clay demonstrates his expertise
with a pistol, blasting the outlaw’s revolver from his palm. Surviving attempts
to do away with him, Clay’s coiled reflexes win out and he returns Kincade to
jail – but not before being told that Kenyon’s “played both ends against the
middle”. Clay is initially dismissive of the comment but, when he is placed in
the line of fire too many times, he begins to suspect that Kincade is perhaps
an unlikely guardian angel after all.
Diablo has been cited as a noir western. Stylistically it doesn’t
qualify, but its refusal to acknowledge conventional moral boundaries between
characters on opposing sides of the law makes it consistent with the more
adult-oriented genre offerings of the decade. Low-angle framing instils an aura
of isolation and menace, and the plot is laden with treachery and devastating
revelations. Traditional elements take precedence, however. Action scenes are
dynamically filmed – highlights include a frenzied punch-up between Clay and
Kincade and a breakneck horseback chase.
Cabot
lightens the tone as the sheriff’s niece, Laurie. Engaged to Tom Meredith, she
soon falls for Clay’s diffident charm. Her scenes with the star are less
awkward than the usual romantic exchanges Murphy was obliged to endure. He was
famously uncomfortable with such distractions. Despite his everyman appearance,
it was his relaxed demeanour, grace with guns and war-hero pedigree that made
it easy to accept him as a genre lead. Even so, Duryea’s bombastic approach
threatens to obscure Murphy and, indeed, all those around him. His tics, hyena
laugh and posturing are attention-grabbing. Nevertheless, he and Murphy
complement each other; the star effectively plays straight man to Duryea’s
colourful harlequin.
The
final confrontation sees Clay face Kenyon, Meredith and Kate’s beau, Jed
Ringer. Kincade, now loyal to his former foe, drops the sarcasm and mockery to
join Clay, all guns blazing, like a one-man Wild
Bunch. Though the film is tied up with one of those trite romantic bows
that would so often dampen the impact of Fifties genre films, it is the final
redemptive actions of Kincade, not the kisses, that leave a lasting impression.
Clark Hodgkiss
Clark Hodgkiss
[i] Elam developed a strong friendship with Murphy, centred
on their love of gambling. Elam
No comments:
Post a Comment