The Sundowners | 1950 | Drama | Western

The Sundowners (1950) Director: George Templeton Studio: Le May‑Templeton Pictures Starring: Robert Preston (James “Kid Wichita” Cloud), Robert Sterling (Tom Cloud), John Drew Barrymore (Jeff Cloud), Chill Wills, Cathy Downs, Jack Elam Release Date: February 2, 1950 (premiered in Amarillo, TX Jan 30 1950) Runtime: 84 minutes (1 h 23 m) Format: Technicolor | Mono | Sound | Western | Drama Country: United States Language: English Genres: Western | Drama | Action | Family --- Summary: On their Texas Panhandle ranch, brothers Tom (Robert Sterling) and Jeff Cloud (John Drew Barrymore in his debut) discover their foreman’s body and report it to the sheriff. Their outlaw brother, James (“Kid Wichita,” played by Robert Preston), arrives unannounced and offers help tracking down the killer. Wichita’s motives remain ambiguous—he’s both a killer and a surrogate hero, stirring tension and distrust as range war violence escalates. The film explores themes of loyalty, justice, and blurred morality amid frontier lawlessness. --- Background: Directed by George Templeton in his feature debut for Eagle‑Lion Films Written by Alan Le May, based on his novel Thunder in the Dust (serialized in Collier’s in 1933‑34) Filming took place entirely on location around Amarillo, Canyon, and Palo Duro Canyon, Texas—no studio interiors were used, grounding the story in authentic landscapes John Drew Barrymore made his screen debut here, billed as John Barrymore Jr. --- Trivia: Kid Wichita is an early example of an antihero: tough, morally ambiguous, and charismatic. As one viewer put it, "usually cast as a villain... Wichita is a bold gunslinger... you all understand his stifled rage." Jack Elam, typically cast as a creature in later decades, appears here in an early sympathetic role as Earl Boyce. The film was shot in Technicolor at authentic Panhandle locations—scenes like the canyon shootout benefit from the dramatic natural lighting. --- Hashtags: #TheSundowners1950 #WesternDrama #RobertPreston #RobertSterling #JohnDrewBarrymore #ChillWills #JackElam #TexasWestern #KidWichita #EagleLionFilms #AlanLeMay #RangeWar #Antihero #PublicDomainWestern #OldHollywoodWesterns #VintageCinema Let me know if you’d like a formatted YouTube description version or information on the 1960 Australian drama with the same title!