Great Day in the Morning

1956

Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance / Western

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 12% · 2 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 12%
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 1204 1.2K

hotel gunslinger card game love triangle self-defense denver, colorado

Plot summary

After a card game, Southerner Owen Pentecost finds himself the owner of a Denver hotel. Involved with two women, he then has to make even more fundamental choices when, with the start of the Civil War, he becomes one of a Confederate minority in a strongly Unionist town.

Director

Jacques Tourneur Photo
Jacques Tourneur

Top cast

Regis Toomey Photo
Regis Toomey as Father Murphy
Carleton Young Photo
Carleton Young as Col. Gibson
John Roy Photo
John Roy as Townsman
Leo Gordon Photo
Leo Gordon as Zeff Masterson
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
843.99 MB
1280*640
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 31 min
Seeds ...
1.53 GB
1920*960
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 31 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 7 / 10

Great , stand-out Western , perfectly acted and compellingly shot by a nice craftsman , Jacques Tourneur

¨Great day in the morning¨ is well starred by Robert Stack dealing with facing off between Union and Confederation . This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot , thrills , brawls , shoot'em up and turns out to be quite entertaining . This outstanding Tourneur Western balances action , suspense and drama . Set in Colorado territory , during the early days of the American Civil war (1861-1865) . Circa 1861 , a stranger Southerner named Owen Pentecost (Robert Stack) arrives in a town , Denver , (Colorado) where he takes on a real villain and falls in love for two women . There the powerful owner (Raymond Burr) gives him an opportunity to a big card game and our Southern gunslinger finds himself equally interested in the two local ladies . The former gunfighter turned hotel manager meets a motley group of characters : Ann Merry Alaine (Virginia Mayo) , one newly arrived from the East to open a dress shop , ¨The wildcat¨ (Ruth Roman) , when she couldn't outshoot a man she used other weapons , a Northern spy (Alex Nicol) and the relentless killer (Leo Gordon) who liked to play with lives . And of course , ¨The land baron¨ (Raymond Burr) , the owned the town hotel , hardware , lock , livestock and gun barrel . And Pentecost , then , has to make even more essential choices when , with the start of the Civil War , seeks justice and at the same time attempts to transport some supplies to Confederation . As the rebel sympathizer and two Northern spies -Col. Gibson (Carleton Young) , Captain Stephen Kirby (Alex Nicol)- are both after Colorado gold to help finance the Civil War . At the end takes place the bugle blast that echoed thru history , including a pretty spectacular pursuit between Union cavalry and Confederated wagons .Rip roarin' and moving Western set in Denver in which a Southern adventurer turned hotel manager and gets into many problems . This grand Western in the tradition of ¨Red River¨ and ¨High Noon¨ contains an intelligent writing , emotion , violence , go riding , double crosses , crossfire and results to be quite enjoyable . It's a classic recounting about an upright man seeking justice and attempting to execute the Confederate purports , as he becomes one of a small minority in a strongly Unionist town . The public likes big Westerns and here to satisfy them is a big adventure , starring big box office favorites of the 50s , Virginia Mayo , Robert Stack , Ruth Roman , with the kind of high pitched excitement that pay off . The traditional story and exciting screenplay by Lesser Samuels being based on the novel written by Robert Hardy Andrews . Here filmmaker Tourneur gets a good Western by showing a great command of mood and atmosphere . Top-notch Robert Stack as Pentecost who finds himself the owner of a Denver hotel and becomes involved with two women , as well as magnificent Raymond Burr as a proud baron land who seeks vengeance . Support cast is frankly excellent such as Alex Nicol , Leo Gordon , Donald MacDonald , Carleton Young and Regis Toomey . Thrilling and atmospheric musical score by Leith Stevens . Colorful cinematography in Technicolor -photographed in Ansco Color by Pathe- by director of photography William Snyder . This is another superbly powerful triumph from RKO and producer Edmund Grainger who brought other Westerns as Cimarron , The Sheepman , The Treasure of Pancho Villa , The Fabulous Texan and Wild Bill Hickok Rides . It is probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . The motion picture was decently directed by Jacques Tourneur . Born in Paris , Tourneur went to Hollywood with his father , director Maurice Tourneur around 1913 . Jacques directed all kinds of genres , he was an expert on Noir cinema , such as the classic ¨Out of the past¨ and ¨Nightfall¨(1956) ; Suspense : ¨Experiment perilous¨(1945) , ¨Berlin Express¨ (48) , ¨The Fearmakers¨ (1958) ; Peplum : ¨The giant of Marathon¨ (60) ; Wartime : ¨Days of glory¨ (1943) and adventures as ¨Flame and the arrow¨ , ¨Timbuktu¨ , ¨Appointment in Honduras¨,¨Way of a Gaucho¨ , ¨Anne of the Indies¨, ¨City under the sea¨ ; but he was best known for his terror cinema with producer Val Lewton such as ¨Cat people¨ , ¨Leopard man¨, ¨I walked with a Zombie¨, ¨Night of demon¨ and an amusing horror/comedy : ¨The Comedy of Terrors¨. He went on to direct masterpieces in many different genres and in Western he made various films : The masterpiece titled ¨Canyon passage¨(1946) , ¨Mission of Danger¨ , ¨Frontier Rangers¨ , ¨Strange on horseback¨ (1955) , ¨Star in my Crown¨ (1956) with Joel McCrea , ¨Wichita¨(1955) equally with Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp formerly to OK Corral duel and this one . He finally directed episodes of ¨Norhwest passage¨ (1958) titled Frontier Rangers , Fury River and Mission of danger . ¨Great day in the morning¨ rating : Well worth watching and it will appeal to Virginia Mayo fans .
Reviewed by Nazi_Fighter_David 7 / 10

Solemn semi-Western without much excitement...

"Great Day in the Morning" had one main point: While the Indians are fighting for the possession of the land, the white men are taking part in the events leading up to the Civil War for the same land...Robert Stack acts with considerable force, humor and salty flavor since his arrival to Denver at the outbreak of the Civil War... In a Poker game, he wins a 'big hand' from a 'little lady.' Barbara Rush deals out a surprising twist of fate impossible to beat!The glamorous blonde beauty Virginia Mayo plays, with just, the right romantic woman and adventurous spirit... And Ruth Roman proves to be a genuine strong-willed character... Unfortunately she is Raymond Burr's victim...All the characters help disguise the weaknesses and lack of the originality of the gold rush fever... But Jacques Tourneur's camera-work on the great outdoors deserves top mention... His shots are so nice to watch... Raymond Burr, who stakes his money and his saloon on the turn of the cards, appears fascinated in his heavy role...
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