Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Backlash

Play trailer Poster for Backlash 1956 1h 24m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 42% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Jim Slater (Richard Widmark) never knew his father, who died in an Apache ambush in Arizona. After hearing that someone may have survived the ambush and escaped with a stash of gold, Slater sets out to discover exactly what happened. Along the way, he meets Karyl Orton (Donna Reed), widow of one the men killed in the ambush, and attracts the unwanted attention of local hotshot Johnny Cool (William Campbell). A chance encounter offers answers, but Slater isn't so sure he wants to know anymore.

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A lesser albeit still watchable Western from director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral). Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 22, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews
lanfranco c Unconventional Western. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Classic Western That Doesn't Go For Too Long. Has Some Good Performances & Reminded Me A Bit Of Star Wars (Ep 4)...Story Is Incredibly Similar. A Mean Father Verses A Son's Redemption As He Joins The Rebels..Runs Him Out Of Town. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member It's not the best western film ever made...but, it's worth watching at least once. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Extremely mediocre for John Sturges. Lots of gunfire, lots of Apaches hollering 'wo-wo-wo' rather loudly and the brass section sounded like they worked harder than the horses who were tripped at every opportunity :-/ Behind all the noise, there was a watery plot not dissimilar to that of Star Wars in places and not a whole lot else. At 81mins, Backlash was fairly short, but I couldn't have lasted much longer. 6.25/10 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member amazing technicolor cinematography in this engaging western Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Decent but overly convoluted story involving lost gold, missing fathers, and a range war. Not one of John Stuges' better movies, but Richard Widmark is excellent as always and Donna Reed plays an uncharacteristically tough and liberated woman, which is kind of fun. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Backlash

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew
View All Backlash photos

Backlash

Backlash (1956) Backlash (1956) Backlash (1956) Backlash (1956) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Jim Slater (Richard Widmark) never knew his father, who died in an Apache ambush in Arizona. After hearing that someone may have survived the ambush and escaped with a stash of gold, Slater sets out to discover exactly what happened. Along the way, he meets Karyl Orton (Donna Reed), widow of one the men killed in the ambush, and attracts the unwanted attention of local hotshot Johnny Cool (William Campbell). A chance encounter offers answers, but Slater isn't so sure he wants to know anymore.
Director
John Sturges
Producer
Aaron Rosenberg
Production Co
Universal International Pictures
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2021
Runtime
1h 24m