Although well reviewed, the movie wasn’t a big hit. The Criterion Collection 1053 Video: Excellent The show overflows with expressive bits — the hooky-playing kids in the street, a pair of old drunks that Strett must indulge, the hayseed locals eager for the excitement of a shooting. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2020 / 39.95 Produced by Nunnally Johnson YES; Subtitles: English (feature only) But Ringo doesn’t have Strett’s patience or understanding of people. Considered a top romantic heart-throb, Peck was in high demand to play opposite any number of leading ladies — Ava Gardner, Virginia Mayo, even Ann Blyth. He’s just happy that he’s got a few cattle and he and his wife and kid are making a go of it. Through his long string of simply great characterizations, Mitchell raised the entertainment level every time: A Foreign Affair, Thieves’ Highway, Winchester ’73. Noting the rumors about Disney cutting off hard-media dissemination of 20th-Fox library titles, let’s hope that more great Fox titles are in Criterion’s Blu-ray pipeline. Ringo has the opportunity to officially pass along his curse. The character complexity is more than a way to keep things interesting between chases and shoot-outs. Strett possesses the patience and tact to keep the peace as well as placate the local nosy biddies, led by Mrs. Devlin (Ellen Corby). Supplements: Featurette with Gina Telaroli about director Henry King and The Gunfighter; video essay by J. E. Smyth on editor Barbara McLean; audio excerpts of interviews with King and McLean from 1970 and 1971. Also, the ‘cowardly deputy’ cliché gets a righteous reversal with Strett’s reluctant aide Charlie Norris (Anthony Ross of On Dangerous Ground). Movie: Excellent The Gunfighter Norman) won’t be tainted as the son of an outlaw. The screenplay and direction are so pleasing that the downbeat finale isn’t a drawback — it doesn’t strain to enforce an irony, or to sell a deep-dish ‘author’s message.’ This one’s just a winner in all categories. Smyth). Editrix McLean has the perfect editorial solution for Johnny Ringo’s quick-draws… they’re so fast, we don’t see them! Reviewed: November 18, 2020 Written by William Bowers, William Sellers from a story by Bowers and André De Toth The Gunfighter is exactly the kind of great, fondly remembered movie that seldom makes lists of favorites. He called out this screenplay to his superior, who hogged all the credit when it was put on the production schedule. The solid performer Millard Mitchell was never better. Barkeep Mac (Karl Malden) lets him wait in his saloon. For all we know, a less generic title might have done the trick. Trailers From Hell. His Hunt Bromley is as nasty a punk as there ever was in a western suitable for family attendance. But forget flashbacks, unless you want to make ‘Citizen Ringo.’, The same problem became more of an impediment in Anthony Mann’s later Man of the West — Gary Cooper’s screen image is far too ethical for average audiences to ever believe that his character was a savage thief and murderer. Somewhat like High Noon, Henry King’s The Gunfighter takes place in little more than a single day, although not strictly in real time. Finally there’s Skip Homeier, an actor beloved in the profession. My theory is that no matter how tough Peck talks, his screen persona inhibits our believing that he was ever a reckless criminal. Ringo looks at this Ordinary Joe with great envy. We really admire the work of King and Miller, a flow of perfect images that pull us into the narrative. The actual personage on which Ringo was based on reportedly committed suicide. Beneath the fine performances, Stanley Kramer’s film seems schematic and preachy. The Gunfighter’s finale works extremely well — the solution to Ringo’s dilemma doesn’t feel imposed by a writer with a moral to deliver. Kudos to Criterion for choosing it. When Hollywood from time to time reinvented the western the results were sometimes sensationally good, as attested to by this superior neglected classic. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? A tight drama on any terms, The Gunfighter would play well on the radio (which it did) yet director Henry King and cameraman Arthur Miller make it a highly cinematic item. Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: cinesavant@gmail.com. The story moves to a tragic end, but without heavy-handed ironies beyond the pointed adage about ‘Those that Live by the Sword.’ The film doesn’t feel grim, either. Directed by Henry King. But he’s most proud of finding the lost ending for a famous film noir, that few people knew was missing. I’ve seen it four or five times over the years and each time it’s been the kind of show I don’t want to walk away from. Glenn Erickson left a small town for UCLA film school, where his spooky student movie about a haunted window landed him a job on the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS effects crew. He wouldn’t win until To Kill a Mockingbird came his way years later. (6388gun), Visit CineSavant’s Main Column Page Yes, I’ve seen him not quite hack a lighter part, as in the comedy Designing Woman, but the only thing that defeats him is an occasional dull screenplay. Strett insists that his old pal move on right away, for obvious public safety reasons. Cinematography: Arthur C. Miller The Gunfighter Disc producer Jason Altman gives us two new featurettes extolling the contributions of the under-acclaimed Henry King (by Gina Telaroli), and editor Barbara McLean (by J.E. We’d call it the first psychological western if the term weren’t so limiting. The opening desert location scenes keep the show from feeling small-scale and the emphasis on character rather than genre conventions keep the drama at the forefront. The Gunfighter might have a bigger reputation if it weren’t bracketed by bigger box offices successes: Twelve O’Clock High, David and Bathsheba. But The Gunfighter is no sentimental fairy tale. Gregory Peck was so hot at the start of his career that he negotiated several non-exclusive studio contracts as well as an overall deal with talent broker David O. Selznick. Blu-ray rates: Glenn is grateful for Trailers From Hell’s generous offer of a guest reviewing haven for CineSavant. Fox executives may have been joking when they said the picture failed because women didn’t like Gregory Peck’s historically-appropriate handlebar mustache. Gregory Peck once again proves how good he can be when well cast and he’s surrounded by fine characterizations, not typical oater walk-ons. He’s perfect casting as a doofus spaceman that goes nuts and jeopardizes the lives of his fellow astronauts.). Music is heard only under the titles and at the end, and Alfred Newman reportedly recycled them from another western. Gunslinger Johnny Ringo (Peck) must make a quick exit from a tiny town after killing a young hotshot who forces a gunfight. Ringo’s story holds our attention so tightly that no music score is needed — take THAT, High Noon. But who cares now that The Gunfighter wasn’t a smash success? Charlie’s un-glamorous competence saves Johnny’s skin, without fanfare. Here’s yet another opportunity to name-check Roger Corman while writing about someone else’s movie: one of Roger’s first Hollywood jobs was as a script reader. That movie needed a better representation of an ‘evil Coop.’. We really admire the work of King and Miller, a flow of perfect images that pull us into the narrative. It’s not an action western but a character drama, and it could be called the first psychological western of the 1950s. We also get audio interviews with the director and editor. The script keeps a lid on what Raymond Durgnat called ‘mythomania’ — the hyping of glorious details to raise our emotional investment in bad men doing questionable things. All trailers appearing on TrailersFromHell.com are the property of their respective owners. The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray of The Gunfighter is a splendid 4K digital restoration, with clear visuals that make one want to go out and shoot some B&W stills. He determined to find his own way, no matter how humble. Pursued by the dead man’s brothers, he arrives in the next town and finds that his fellow former outlaw Mark Strett (Millard Mitchell) is now the respected town marshall. Mac even offers to split the profits from the expected influx of customers who’ll want a drink where the famous killer Johnny Ringo drank. We might see this more clearly if there were a flashback to young Johnny Ringo behaving as a villainous bastard, a Lewt McCandless type. Johnny can’t shake himself of punks who want to become famous by killing him, and Bromley is less reasonable than most. Blu-ray Skip was a UCLA grad too, which automatically gives him a pass. All Rights Reserved. Do such men still exist? Hunt Bromley will find out what it means to have no friends, with every hotshot he meets eager to make a reputation by killing him. I sure wanted to be one (Ha, ha ha!). Johnny agrees to keep moving, but he’s desperate to talk to Peggy, to see if she’ll consider a reunion if he goes West and shakes free of his notoriety. Ringo’s meeting with Peggy is beautifully written and handled — she’s neither forbidding nor a pushover, and he doesn’t make any unrealistic promises. By comparison, 1952’s far more popular and famous High Noon is an author’s political manifesto. 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