Pistolero de buena ley

Ben Wyatt , an ageing gunfighter, reluctantly answers a call for help from his old friend Luis Domingo , whose land is threatened by a greedy cattle baron. Arriving at the ranch to find Domingo and his wife dead and their daughter Anisa gone, Ben sets off in search of Anisa and the killers

Return of the gunfighter is Robert Taylor's last western, a genre he loved starring in, and what a way to bow out. A well-plotted, well-paced western with thoughtful performances, especially from Robert Taylor who imbues a gun weary character, who is fed up of killing, but has to do the right thing, and help his late friend's daughter bring her father's killers to justice. Things get a bit more dramatic when it's revealed that Chad Everett, who has feeling for the girl, is the villain's brother. Lyle Bettger is the main villain, but it's John Davis Chandler as Sundance, his hired thug, who steals the scene in the villainy stakes with his snarling face.

The Return of the gunfighter is an excellent western, with some exciting action, and great location. In my eyes, a western tale of the good guys overcoming the bad hombres never gets old. Seen this film many times on the BBC in my teens.

Robert Taylor aged more strangely than any of the stars. From the beautiful young man that ravished Garbo in "Camille", he emerged from World War 2 ravished himself. I don't know a lot about him, but I suspect his war experiences had a major emotional effect on him that really showed in his face. Not only did he look worn, he also became far more interesting as an actor. Here he is 56, in the last two years of his life, and his craggy face and striking blue eyes portray a world-weariness that carries tragic weight. He is that often seen Western character, the famous gunfighter tired of killing. I believe Clint Eastwood must have based his character in "Unforgiven" on Taylor's performance here. Taylor makes this fairly ordinary Western extraordinary.

Miss Mexico at only 16 years old? Why hasn't this been brought up? Maybe no Oscars, but we'll worth mentioning...😊

Return of the Gunfighter is directed by James Neilson and adapted to screenplay by Robert Buckner from a story by Burt Kennedy. It stars Robert Taylor, Chad Everett, Ana Martín, Mort Mills, Lyle Bettger, John Davis Chandler and Michael Pate. Music is by Hans Salter and the Metrocolor cinematography is by Ellsworth Fredericks.

Aging gunfighter Ben Wyatt (Taylor) receives a request to go aid an old friend who's in trouble. Upon arrival at the family ranch he finds that both his friend and his wife have been killed. Locating the surviving daughter, he teams up with hot headed drifter Lee Sutton (Everett) and sets about avenging the murder of his friend and the girls parents.

By this time Robert Taylor was winding down his career and his life, 1967 would see him depart from the Western genre of film, how splendid to find he doesn't in the slightest disgrace himself here.

His character is weather worn, a gunfighter tired of all the killing, of looking over his shoulder all the time. This proves to be perfect for Taylor, who gives the role a believable sense of pathos, the passing of time and that fate will not leave him alone hangs heavy. Breaking it down it's a straight forward narrative, where the one time bad guy is called on to use his deadly skills for some good, to rid the plains of some nasty sorts. The relationship with the young upstart (Everett the whitest teeth in the west) builds nicely, leading to a finale that attacks the emotions of the major players.

There's a healthy quotient of action, decently staged by the tech crew, the Old Tuscon locations are nicely photographed, while support players impact with credit on the story. It's not all plain sailing, Salter's score is sometimes well in keeping with the era, but at other times it comes off like a Sccoby-Doo piece. Susension of disbelief is of course required, none more so than when Ana Martín goes about the town pretending to be a boy and everyone falls for it - she is simply too pretty to remotely pass as male, and the appearance of Butch and Sundance in the plot is most odd.

Yet it's a lovely Oater this, feeling more like one from the 1950s than the tail end of the 60s. Highly recommended to Taylor fans and fans of traditional Western fare. 8/10

This film begins with a young woman named "Anisa Domingo" (Ana Martin) witnessing the cold-blooded murder of her parents by a ruthless rancher by the name of "Clay Sutton" (Lyle Bettger) and his henchmen. Not knowing what else to do, she seeks help from an old family friend named "Ben Wyatt" (Robert Taylor), who has a reputation for being an extremely fast gunfighter. Given that Anisa's father saved his life during the Mexican Rebellion, Ben feels obligated to help her find those responsible and bring them to justice. The main problem, however, is the fact that the local town marshal, "Will Parker" (Mort Mills), is working for Clay Sutton and doesn't particularly care for Ben Wyatt anyway. Complicating matters even further is the fact that an aspiring gunman named "Lee Sutton" (Chad Everett) has developed an attachment to Anisa, but considering that Clay Sutton is his brother, things may become even more difficult for all concerned. Now, rather than revealing more, I'll just say that, although it had a fairly standard Western feel, this was still an enjoyable movie, largely due to the strong performance by Robert Taylor. Similarly, I also liked the performance of John Davis Chandler as the gunfighter "Sundance" as well. On the other hand, I must admit that I thought Chad Everett was miscast in his role and, along with the rather formulaic plot, I found it difficult to rate this movie any higher than I have. Slightly above average.