THE LONELY MAN lays out a downbeat tone from “Howdy” on, with a mournful title tune sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. It doesn’t get any cheerier over the 88-minute running time, unless snorts of derision count over being asked to accept Anthony Perkins as the whimpering drunken son of glum gunfighter Jack Palance. ‘Adult’ westerns of the 50’s went in for saddle bags that toted neuroses and guilt along with beans and coffee; this 1957 downer packs enough morose woe-are-we to hobble a mule team.

Town wastrel ‘Riley Wade’ (Perkins) is more miserable than usual when long-gone father ‘Jacob’ (Palance) turns up. Riley blames Jacob for abandoning his mother, who killed herself. Out to settle a score, local varmint ‘King Fisher’ (Neville Brand) aims to plug Jacob. That might be easier since Jacob’s eyesight is failing. Local lady (of the kinda fallen variety) ‘Ada Marshall’ had a thing for Jacob but that looks to be transferred to the son. That’s because bitterness, blame, vengeance and disability aren’t enough: toss in some Oedipus angles for extra angst.

After scoring the year before as Gary Cooper’s gangly son in the excellent Friendly Persuasion, Perkins was given a big publicity push and along with this property he was also showcased in Fear Strikes Out, which won him good reviews as stress-pasted baseball player Jim Piersall, as well as another pensive western, The Tin Star, as a skittish lawman who seeks father-figure help from bounty hunter Henry Fonda. The trio of nervous, quirked-up characters threatened to pigeonhole Perkins, and then they were followed by several unconvincing match-ups as a romantic lead. Waiting in the wings was Psycho.

                              Brand, Neville Brand

When this limped at the box office—$2.300,000, 106th place—Palance’s four-year run as lead in  second string Hollywood productions wrapped and he shifted to toiling in Europe until 1965 when he returned to the States and colorful supporting roles. With Tony dodgy, Jack brooding and the picture’s female interest uninteresting (Eileen Aiken, an acting coach who didn’t click on screen) the movie squeaks by thanks to the supporting cast. Brand, always worth watching, keeps good bad company with Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins, Elisha Cook Jr., Adam Williams and John Doucette. More reasonable types are handled by Robert Middleton, Denver Pyle, Harry Shannon, Russell Simpson and Milton Frome.

                                         Lee lookin’ shifty

Directed by Henry Levin, (over)-written by Harry Essex (Kansas City Confidential, Creature From The Black Lagoon) and Robert Smith (Invasion U.S.A., 99 River Street). *

* Henry Levin was a hit & miss director. His 52 feature credits between 1944 and 1979 include winners (Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Where The Boys Are, The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm), fun stuff (The President’s Lady, Genghis Khan) and dogs (Murderers’ Row, The Ambushers).

                           Good old Claude in his bad guy days