The Iron Sheriff

{{Infobox film

| name = The Iron Sheriff

| image = The-iron-sheriff-movie-poster-1957.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Sidney Salkow

| producer = Edward Small (executive)
Jerome C. Robinson

| writer = Seeleg Lester

| based_on =

| starring = Sterling Hayden

| music = Emil Newman
Ernest Gold (uncredited)

| cinematography = Kenneth Peach

| editing = Grant Whytock

| distributor = United Artists

| studio = Grand Productions

| released = {{Film date|1957|04}}

| runtime = 73 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

The Iron Sheriff is a 1957 American Western film starring Sterling Hayden.

Plot

A stagecoach is robbed in South Dakota and its driver is killed. A dying man, Gene Walden, tells the sheriff, Sam Galt, that Sam's son Benjie shot the driver. Benjie is engaged to be married to Walden's daughter. Benjie is placed under arrest. Newspaper publisher Phil Quincy demands to know what Walden said, but Sam will not say. Quincy and the sheriff are in love with the same woman, Claire, whose father was a lawman killed in the line of duty.

Sam brings in a prominent lawyer, Roger Pollock, to defend his son, and hires a detective, Sutherland, to help find the real culprits. In time, all evidence points to Benjie being the killer; against his lawyer's wishes, Sam testifies to what Walden told him. Benjie is found guilty and sentenced to hang.

Coins from the robbery are found in Kathy's hope chest. Kathy's father, Walden, robbed the stagecoach because his health was failing and he wanted his daughter to have enough money to support herself. Leveret, a telegraph operator who knew the stage's schedule, ambushed it and murdered the driver shortly afterward, not knowing that the money had already been stolen. Walden honestly thought Benjie had committed the murder. Sam manages to bring Leveret to justice in time to save his son.

Cast

Sterling Hayden as Sam Galt
Constance Ford as Claire
John Dehner as Pollock
Kent Taylor as Quincy
King Donovan as Leveret
Kathleen Nolan as Kathy
Darryl Hickman as Ben Galt
Mort Mills as Sutherland
Walter Sande as Marshal Ellison
Peter Miller as Jackson Gallagher
I. Stanford Jolley as Eugene Walden

Production

The film was originally known as The Trial of Benjie Galt. Filming started 22 October 1956.{{Cite news |title='OSCAR' CREATED FOR FOREIGN FILMS: Award Henceforth to Be Made on Regular Rather Than a Discretionary Basis Trading Joke for Joke Of Local Origin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/02/archives/oscar-created-for-foreign-films-award-henceforth-to-be-made-on.html |url-access=subscription |first=Thomas M. |last=Pryor |date=October 2, 1956 |work=The New York Times |page=39}}