Thursday, April 05, 2012

The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter is a 1950 Western starring Gregory Peck as the title character. Also in this are Alan Hale, Jr., Karl Malden, Millard Mitchell, Jean Parker and Ellen Corby. It's directed by Henry King. I had never heard of this film before I came across it on youtube, but I'm glad I've seen it. It deserves wider attention.



Time Out has a glowing review, opening by calling it "superb" and closing with this:
Magnificently directed and shot (by Arthur Miller), flawlessly acted by Peck and a superb cast, governed by an almost Langian sense of fate, it's a film that has the true dimensions of tragedy.
The Examiner says, "Strong performances from the assembled cast and Oscar-nominated writing make “The Gunfighter” a must-see film for serious fans of the classic Western." EW recommends it, describing it as "a ruthlessly heartbreaking tale of a famous gunslinger ... grown weary of facing down an increasingly young bunch of challengers to his quick-draw supremacy." Images Journal has it on their list of 30 great Westerns. It gets a 100% rating from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes.

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