Una pistola para un cobarde

It is a small budget and very intelligent psychological western, speaking of cowardice and the elements in relation of this. But I guess it could have been a bit better though, more gritty, poignant, with a different ending. The director Abner Biberman offered us good stuff, but not too many films, unfortunately. This one is also a family - brothers - story, with the good tension that supposes. I did not expect to see Jeffrey Hunter in this movie, besides Fred McMurray. His character is riveting, and only for this, this western is worth the watch. Universal Studios really made interesting westerns.

This is one rather unusual western with themes explored that are not normally reserved for western films. Gun For A Coward did come out in the Fifties the decade when the western finally did become adult.

Fred MacMurray, Jeffrey Hunter, and Dean Stockwell are the Kehoe Brothers who have the local Ponderosa spread courtesy of their father. Unlike the Cartwrights the Kehoes still have their mother Josephine Hutchinson still living with them.

MacMurray is the older and most sensible brother and he's in charge of the place. The youngest is Dean Stockwell who's a hotheaded kid. It's the middle brother Jeffrey Hunter. He's the one that mom kind of reserved for her own. The frontier life isn't for him, she wants him to go east possibly take up the law as a profession.

Hunter as per mom's raising always tries to talk his way out of all situations. That doesn't always work and older brother MacMurray is forever trying to both explain him and figure him out and younger brother Stockwell is impatient with his pacifism. Is Hunter really the coward of the family?

Some of the situations that normally come up with Ponderosa owners who are the good guys come up in this film. It's how they're dealt with and the attitudes expressed that are what makes Gun For A Coward a different kind of western.

One I think you'll enjoy.

This very enjoyable and rather surprising Universal western form 1957 has 5 terrific actors and a very good script. Even Fred MacMurray was good, but Chill Wills as the 'greek chorus' to Jeffrey Hunter's ethical dilemmas is an entertaining standout. However it is Jeffrey Hunter and Dean Stockwell's movie. Stockwell, just 20 and Hunter just 30 are magnetic in their conflicted brotherly dramas. A bit of pre-Psycho mother smothering sets the tone for some emotional blackmail by Mama who gratefully drops dead by reel 2. Then we get on with the girlfriend dilemma and the worry between two of brothers. It is all beautifully realized by Janice Rule, gorgeous and well cast as Audrey, the love interest that fractures brotherly love after the cattle stampede. I loved the music score and appreciated the production values. It is a good western, unusual and edited to just the right length.

More a domestic family drama than a Western, "Gun for a Coward" explores sibling rivalry among three cattle-rancher brothers. The three Keough brothers work the spread left by their deceased father, while jockeying for their widowed mother's affection and the love of a neighboring rancher's daughter. Directed by Abner Biberman, the film has little new, although an attractive cast offers passable entertainment.

In a rare Western role, Fred MacMurray is Will, the eldest son, who wrestles with his siblings for his mother's love, while procrastinating on intended marriage to Aud Niven, played by Janice Rule. The Keough matriarch, Josephine Hutchinson, is cold towards Will, but possessive and manipulative with blue-eyed Jeffrey Hunter, who is mom's favorite son, Bless. Gentle, peaceable Bless does his own wrestling to break free from his mother's grip and to salvage his reputation as a coward. Dean Stockwell as the youngest Keough, Hade, has little screen time as the rebellious little brother. Add Chill Wills to the mix as Loving, a wizened ranch hand with a long family association, and the six central performances hold the film together.

Beyond a few brawls, a shooting or two, and some bronco riding, "Gun for a Coward" is short on action and long on drama, with overtones of "East of Eden;" Janice Rule has the Julie Harris role, promised to Will, but drawn to Bless. Fred MacMurray in the James Dean part seeks his mother's approval, but she spurns him and dotes on Bless. Poor Hade, meanwhile, is neglected all around. Not a great film, nor a particularly bad one, just fodder for a lazy afternoon and rewarding for fans of Fred MacMurray and Jeffrey Hunter.

This saga of Western Gun-Justice stars after the death of a father and whose three sons go on to run the family ranch , as a very young brave cowboy (Dean Stockwell) , a peaceful quiet youngster called Bless (Jeffrey Hunter) who has aversion to violence and the eldest (Fred MacMurray) who is the strict boss of the strange family . Bess usuallly finds his eldest brother often doing his confrontation for him , as in duels as fighting , and he begins to earn a reputation as a coward . Their mummy (Josephine Hutchinson) dotes on the middle son , attempting to protect him from the world and get him to move back east with her , towards St. Louis , Missouri . Things go awry when some squatters occupy countryside farms . Then Bless is really considered as a coward for not joining in a foolhardy gunfight in which a member is murdered. Challenge one brother...you answer to all!.

Classic and traditional western deals with three motley brothers who run a prosperous ranch after the death of a rancher , but one of them is seen as a coward because of his reluctance to gunfight ; it is plenty of psychological motives , family conflicts , thrills , emotion and crossfire . It is a medium budget movie with a triangular love story , noisy action , shootouts , stampedes as well as fine players, nice production design and pleasing results. It is still a run-of-the-mill entry in Western genre . Fred McMurray is adequate as elder brother who unjustly censures his youngest brother , this is one of a clutch of acceptable horse operas he made in the forties , in the late 50s and the early sixties , such as ¨Texas Rangers¨, ¨The trail of the lonesome Pine¨, At gunpoint¨, and ¨Good day for a hanging¨. Although MacMurray also played other genres as drama , adventures , wartime , children films , such as : The happiest millionaire , The shaggy dog , Son of Flubber , The absent-minded profesor , The princess come across , The Caine mutiny , Dive bomber , Above suspicion , Murder he says , The miracle of the bells , Alice Adams , The apartment , and Noir film as the classy : Double indemnity . He is accompanied by Jeffrey Hunter who gives a decent acting as the peace-loving young whose dedication to the principles of peace and reason has earned him a reputation for cowardice .The movie contains a great support cast , plenty of familiar faces from vintage Westerns such as : Iron Eyes Cody ,John Larch , Kevin Corrigan , Bob Steele , Paul Birch , Chuck Hayward and all of them are outscored by a peach of acting from the veteran Chill Wills .

Atmospheric cinematography in glimmer Technicolor by George Robinson. Evocative and thrilling musical score from Irving Gertz , Henry Russell and Frank Skinner , though uncredited . Well produced by William Alland , the motion picture was professionally directed by Abner Biberman . He directed in sure visual style and he made all kinds of genres, especially Westerns , as in cinema as TV especially . As he directed some films such as : The Night Runner, Behind the High Wall , The Price of Fear , Running Wild , The Looters , The Golden Mistress and a lot of Television episodes from known series as The Virginian , Ironside , Hawaii 5.0 , Laredo , The fugitive, Gunsmoke , Zane Grey , Tightrope, Lloyd Bridges show , Imperium , The outer limits , 77 Sunset Strip and many others . Rating :5.5/10 , decent , acceptable and passable Western , as well as enough entertaining and interesting . Well worth seeing