The Peacemaker (1956 film)

The Peacemaker is a 1956 American Western film directed by Ted Post and starring James Mitchell and Rosemarie Bowe. Hal Richards based the script on the novel of the same name by Richard Poole.

The Peacemaker
Directed byTed Post
Screenplay byHal Richards
Jay Ingram
Based onThe Peacemaker
by Richard Poole
Produced byHal R. Makelim
StarringJames Mitchell
Rosemarie Bowe
Jan Merlin
Jess Barker
Hugh Sanders
Taylor Holmes
Philip Tonge
Dorothy Patrick
CinematographyLes Shorr
Edited byWilliam Shea
Music byGeorge Greeley
Color processBlack and white
Production
company
Hal R. Makelim Productions
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • November 1956 (1956-11)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Producer Hal R. Makelim intended The Peacemaker to be the first of a series of low-budget productions. According to Merlin, who played the villain, shooting took only "seven or ten days."[1]

Although the film featured some successful character actors like Hugh Sanders in supporting roles, none of the performers qualified as marquee names; in fact, at this point in his career, star James Mitchell was known only as a dancer (despite some dramatic roles at MGM). While Makelim tried to compensate for these problems by marketing the film to a religious audience—the local clergymen were invited to the film's premiere in Wichita[2]--The Peacemaker enjoyed only sporadic distribution and was not widely reviewed. Makelim managed to produce only one more film, Valerie (1957), and Mitchell would not make another film appearance until The Turning Point (1977).

Plot

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A former gunfighter who went to prison but then took up religion arrives in a western town as the new preacher. There he finds a feud between the ranchers and the farmers. The Railroad Agent is after the ranchers land and has his men causing all the trouble. The new preacher sets out to bring the two sides together and he says he will not need a gun.

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2006 Williamsburg Film Festival--Thursday: Jan Merlin on the Peacemaker". Retrieved July 5, 2007.
  2. ^ "Makelim First Film, 'The Peacemaker,' in Successful Premiere in Wichita". Boxoffice. 68 (16): 27. February 11, 1956.
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