Backlash (Blu-ray)

From John Sturges, the legendary director of Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Satan Bug and Ice Station Zebra, comes this top-notch western starring Richard Widmark (Yellow Sky) and Donna Reed (It’s a Wonderful Life). Hard-bitten wanderer Jim Slater (Widmark) rides the range seeking to avenge his father’s death. Along the way he meets frontier widow Karyl Orton (Reed), who is being hunted by gunslinger Johnny Cool (William Campbell, Man Without a Star). The unlikely duo endures various hardships as Slater comes to suspect his father died from something more sinister than an apparent Apache ambush. Irving Glassberg’s (Bend of the River, The Tarnished Angels) superb cinematography lends this serpentine tale of revenge a heavy dose of atmosphere. Backlash also boasts a screenplay by the great Borden Chase (Red River, Winchester ’73) and a strong supporting cast that includes John McIntire (Apache), Barton MacLane (The Maltese Falcon) and Harry Morgan (The Ox-Bow Incident).