“Day of the Outlaw was something new in Western fare in that its hero, played by Robert Ryan, is not cast in the typical heroic Western mold, which audiences had come to expect. Not only is he having an affair with a neighboring homesteader's wife in snow-clad Wyoming territory, but he is also out for a showdown gunfight with the man. However, the invasion of the town by a gang of outlaws, led by renegade Army captain Burl Ives, changes Ryan's plans. Philip Yordan's script is suspenseful, but a little too wordy for de Toth to satisfactorily pace the drama. De Toth does make good use of sound and of his wintry setting--with the bleak mood well captured in black-and-white by cinematographer Russell Harlan--and builds up the menacing aspects of the plot.” Anthony Slide