Terror in a Texas Town

Joseph H. Lewis’ Terror in a Texas Town may not be the only noir whose story prominently features a harpoon (see 1955’s Shack Out on 101) but it’s the only one in which a harpoon is used in a duel. The fateful whale-hunting spear is a souvenir once owned by farmer Sven Hansen (Ted Stanhope), who’s murdered by hired killer Crale (Nedrick Young) at the behest of the wealthy McNeil (Sebastian Cabot), the town villain illegally seizing the Hansen land because he suspects it’s rich with oil. When Hansen’s simple-minded son George (Sterling Hayden) returns home after nearly 20 years and learns of his father’s recent murder, he makes it his mission to find out the truth and exact justice. Lewis uses a variety of novel angles and compositions — extreme close-ups, asymmetry, elaborately blocked wide shots — and a musical score that shifts from Mexican cool (Spanish guitar) to light patriotism (trumpet, snare drums). Cabot plays an exceptional elitist scumbag attempting to stay above the fray, and Young is outstanding as the sneering, combustible hit man; one wonders why these two men didn’t snag more and bigger film roles. Hayden does fine, but his performance is weighed down by an unbelievable — some might even say atrocious — Swedish accent that seems to come and go with the Texan breeze.