Rough Night in Jericho is a Western thriller that was directed by Arnold Laven and stars three screen legends in Dean Martin George Peppard, Jean Simmons. In this film, Dean Martin is the antagonist, which is the one and only time he played a villain. The movie was based on the 1965 novel The Man in Black that was written by Marvin H. Albert.
In this film, a former deputy Dolan (George Peppard, P.J.) and Ben Hickman (veteran actor John McIntire, Psycho, The Far Country) are on a stagecoach, heading toward the town of Jericho and are nearly killed by Alex Flood (Dean Martin, Rio Bravo). In Jericho, he meets and stays with widow Molly Lang (Jean Simmons, Spartacus), who is one of a few persons in town willing to stand up to Flood, the corrupt and ruthless boss of the town of Jericho. Flood owns most of the town of and has a group of gunmen to enforce his laws. She has refused Floods’s attempts to take her stagecoach line, the one thing in town he does not control, and also his sexual advances, which also frustrates him as he was a former lover and still wants her. Dolan observes what is happening in the town and is at first reluctant to get involved, staying out of trouble by minding his own business, but when he sees Molly get attacked by a pair of Flood’s fake lawmen, he finally decides to take a stand and do something about it.
I enjoyed Rough Night in Jericho. The film has a great all-star top of the line cast that performs well as one would expect. Dean Martin plays a vicious but also somewhat suave heel; this was a great departure for him in films, and I felt he pulled it off well. George Peppard’s character Dolan does seem a bit too nonchalant even when he starts to fight for Molly. There are also some great lines and dialog spoken throughout the film and unforgettable bloody, violent fight between Dolan and another of Flood’s men, Yarbrough (Slim Pickens, Blazing Saddles) that includes guns, whips and chains. Of course, as with many westerns, there is a great shootout during the final act.
Rough Night in Jericho arrives on Blu-ray, courtesy of Kino Lorber on a dual-layered BD50 disc. The movie looks fantastic in HD with sharp, vivid colors. The daylight scenes look phenomenal with fantastic shots of the countryside under the rich blue skies. Russell Metty’s breathtaking cinematography truly shines with great shots of the landscapes in Utah (where the film was shot) that are clear without any damages to speak of. The video quality remains consistent throughout the presentation. No detection of DNR or artificial enhancements were detected; the video quality alone made this movie a pleasure to watch!
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is rich and clear with no hissing or other audio issues detected. The dialog was clear with gunshots and action sounds being a bit more dynamic. English subtitles are available for this release.
Kino’s release includes a new audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan who provides her insight to the film. She of course reflects on how this movie was Dean Martin’s lone film as the bad guy and continues to discuss the cast and crew. She is always worth a listen.
There are a few trailers from other Kino Lorber catalog releases. Trailers for this release include Rough Night in Jericho, Texas Across the River, P.J., Showdown, Newmans Law, The Big Country, Elmer Gantry, The Monster that Challenged the World, and Sam Whiskey.
In all honesty I had not heard of Rough Night in Jericho prior to Kino Lorber’s announcement. Because it was a Western and had a great cast, I was highly interested in giving the movie a spin. Now that I have seen it, I am glad to have it my collection. With a robust transfer and a couple of worthwhile extras, this offering is 100% recommended!
Rough Night in Jericho
Director- Arnold Laven
Cast- Dean Martin, George Peppard, Jean Simmons
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-1/31/21