1957 Classic, Originally a Box Office Flop, Named Among Greatest Westerns of All Time
Budd Boetticher is an American filmmaker best remembered for his series of low budget Westerns made during the 1950s - several of which went on to critical acclaim.
Among them are Decision at Sundown, which the director considered easily the worst of the catalogue featuring Randolph Scott.
"Decision at Sundown was the only Scott picture I have honestly considered - well - 'so-so.' My pal, [screenwriter] Charlie Lang, did the best he could with the story Columbia had bought. I didn't enjoy the sequence with Randy being drunk and, although we had a wonderful cast with John Carroll, Noah Beery, John Archer and Andrew Duggan, for me it was just another picture," he said.
"But Karen was sensational! She looked like a million dollars; played the secondary part to perfection, and I really had her costumed to show off that unbelievable figure."
'Decision at Sundown' Named One of Greatest Ever
While Boetticher may not have loved the film, Timeout certainly did. The magazine listed the film at No. 7 on its list of the greatest Westerns of all time, one spot ahead of iconic Spaghetti Western The Good, The Bad and Ugly.
"In the relentlessly grim ‘Decision at Sundown', Charles G Lang's script ramps up the moral ambiguities in Randolph's Scott's quest for reprisals. He's typically out to find the varmints what shot his wife (‘Ride Lonesome') or who left buckshot in some cheeky scamp who asked him to pick up some taffy from town (‘The Tall T'), but here the stakes are less easy to fathom," Timeout wrote.
"Conventional notions of heroes and villains are thrown out. Good has the capacity for evil and evil the capacity for good. Bart Allison (Scott) has got his crosshairs fixed on Tate Kimbrough (John Carroll), the dandy gang boss and head honcho of the grubby border town Sunrise."
Last-Minute Casting Change Impacted 'Decision at Sundown'
Boetticher became head-over-heels for Steele - so much so that he put her in the cast in the place of June Lockhart, whom he initially put in the role, according to Turner Classic Movies.
His alleged affair with Steele, and his marriage, eventually ended within three years, proving a life lesson for the director.
"I guess it takes a young director a good while before he begins to understand that the girl he sees every evening up there on the screen is his version of what he wants from a woman. She's not for real. There you are, holding hands in the dark projection room with your leading lady, and simply adoring that gal in the film," he said.
"Of course you are. You put her there! Everything she is doing up there is what you like... Well, brothers, grow up.... I ended up getting exactly what was coming to me - a bellyful of misery, absolutely ill about my family, and thoroughly disgusted and angry at my own stupidity. A motion picture director should only become involved with an actress in spite of her profession, not because of it."
His film made just $2.6 million.
The film is available to stream for free on Xumo Play.
Related: 1973 Classic, Originally a Box Office Failure, Named Among Greatest Westerns of All Time
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 4:50 AM.