Man with the Gun

A gunman (Robert Mitchum) strolls into town in the Old West and is hired as a town-tamer. Henry Hull plays the aged and cautious marshal while John Lupton and Emile Meyer appear as citizens. Leo Gordon and Claude Akins are on hand as heavies.

"Man with the Gun" (1955) is a quality town-bound Western with Robert Mitchum towering as a laconic righteous gunfighter. The stock plot is standard, but the cast, the writing, the performances and the convincing town set make it compelling.

Another highlight is the stellar cast of women, including Jan Sterling (Nelly), Barbara Lawrence (Ann), Karen Sharpe (Stella) and Angie Dickinson (Kitty), all stunning.

The only issue is the lack of color unless you don't mind B&W. I had no problem acclimating.

The film runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and was shot at Samuel Goldwyn Studios in West Hollywood, California.

GRADE: B+

there should be a sub-genre in the Western called 'the Robert Mitchum Western'. Mitchum's brilliant, idiosyncratic, usually undervalued Westerns import his film noir persona to etch some compellingly dark character sketches, and bring an elegiac world-weariness more familiar from the films of Sam Peckinpah. 'Man with the gun' is one of his best. Directed by Orson Welles protege Richard Wilson, it is a stark, monochrome beauty, full of chilling silhouettes and terrifying outbursts of savage violence, as Mitchum comes to tame a town terrorised by a monopolist with a private army. Mitchum's regression from soft-spoken stranger to deranged murderer, with a host of dark emotions in between, is a marvel of expressive, physical acting.

There are westerns and there are westerns with many actors and then there is a Robert Mitchum western....in this film Mitchum plays a no nonsense, hard as nails character as a so called "town tamer"....he follows his estranged wife played coldly by Jan Sterling as she is the madame of a group of dance hall girls...Mitchum wants to make amends with his ex-wife Sterling but she is cold as ice toward him. Mitchum accepts the job as a combo sheriff and "town tamer" and then manages to shoot up the whole place and fight with anyone who gets in his way....he does not believe in taking any so called prisoners. Along the way Mitchum defends a local young man and his wife who are being terrorized by the local hoodlum who runs the town from his distant ranch. The town council soon gets very wary of Mitchum and wants to see him kicked out of the job...Mitchum in his normal, cold and calculating way tells the town to take a hike - that he wants to continue in his job. Check out a very young Angie Dickinson who plays a dance hall girl...must have been one of her first roles. In the end a good gun fighting scene with a set up dance hall girl and a town misfit played by Leo Gordon who along with the local kingpin rancher tries to wipe out Mitchum. Mitchum handles this role like a pro - cold and calculating, always looking over his shoulder for the next confrontation. One is never far away. A very young Karen Sharpe has a good role as a young housewife infatuated with Mitchum. In the end Mitchum is shot up and winds up in the arms of his estranged wife Sterling. Solid western, very enjoyable....Mitchum up to top standards as a hard charging sheriff. One of Mitchum's best B westerns.

In the Old west there are always the men who live breathe violence and the women who hold their breath. A famous ¨town tamer¨ named Clit Tollinger (Robert Mitchum) comes hired by the citizens to rid the gunslingers (Leo Genn, Claude Atkins, among others), Land Baron's hoodlums . There he meets the blacksmith (Emile Meyer) , his daughter (Karen Sharpe), her boyfriend(John Lupton), the marshal(Henry Hull) and Saloon owner (Ted De Corsia). Clint as lawman is appointed deputy to bring peace and puts some posters saying the following one : ¨ Warning , wearing of guns or other weapons in town is banned. Check all hardware at the marshal's office ¨. Clint finds his ex-girlfriend, a local madame (Jan Sterling) in charge of the Saloon girls (Angie Dickinson, Barbara Lawrence, among them). But the town council afraid of the raw methods carried out by Clint . At the end the kingpin landowner appears and attempts to murder Tollinger with his own hands.

This is a tremendously exciting story of a sheriff-for-hire who had only one more killing to go . It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and solid plot. The tale is almost grim , a pacifier comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . The highlights of the movie are the burning at Saloon and the climatic showdown at the ending. Phenomenal , great role for Robert Mitchum as avenger angel and bittered gunfighter, he's the whole show. It contains vivid and lively musical score by Alex North (Spartacus, Cleopatra). Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Lee Garmes. The motion picture was stunningly realized by Richard Wilson (Al Capone , Three in Attic) who made good Westerns as ¨Invitation to a gunfighter and ¨Zane Grey¨ episodes. Watchable results for this offbeat Western.

A western that makes many contemporary film directors blush with envy: perfect setting, intelligent dialogues, socio-psychological soundness in the script, good acting, camera direction and music without errors. A semi-unknown jewel that delights the intelligent viewer.