Le célèbre tireur Jimmy Ringo se rend en ville pour trouver son grand amour, qui ne veut pas le voir. Il n'est pas venu chercher des ennuis, mais des ennuis le trouvent à chaque coin de rue.Le célèbre tireur Jimmy Ringo se rend en ville pour trouver son grand amour, qui ne veut pas le voir. Il n'est pas venu chercher des ennuis, mais des ennuis le trouvent à chaque coin de rue.Le célèbre tireur Jimmy Ringo se rend en ville pour trouver son grand amour, qui ne veut pas le voir. Il n'est pas venu chercher des ennuis, mais des ennuis le trouvent à chaque coin de rue.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Nommé pour 1 Oscar
- 2 victoires et 2 nominations au total
- Townsman at Funeral
- (non crédité)
- Townsman at Funeral
- (non crédité)
- Street Loafer
- (non crédité)
- Street Loafer
- (non crédité)
- Indian Woman
- (non crédité)
- Pete's Pal
- (non crédité)
- Townsman at Funeral
- (non crédité)
- Townsman at Funeral
- (non crédité)
Avis à la une
No ordinary genre film, "The Gunfighter" (1950) is both a hugely satisfying entertainment and a conventional studio film with surprising depths. The surprise comes from the nature of the western in the mid-century where, with few exceptions, the black-and-white morality plays are as plain as the gunfire. Not so here, where we get the treat of seeing Gregory Peck play an antihero who has stepped far outside of conventional morality and now wants readmission, even though the bloodstains won't wash out. Welcome to Ambiguiety Gulch.
It's tempting to say that "Gunfighter" looks forward to the spaghetti western, especially in its themes of alienation and social revulsion. Frankly, though, it feels less like a western and more like a film noir. The feeling of claustrophobia is always near, whether in Peck's fear of another violent summons or in subplots involving the closeted desires of various townspeople to kill him (one gritty sequence in a boarding room is more unsettling than anything in Hawks or Ford). Surfaces are untrustworthy, motivations questionable, psychological derangement hovers in the wings, the "law" is both more and less than it appears, and as characters make startling pacts with their bloody pasts you can almost sense the triumphalism of the post-war years turning to anxiety and dread.
I understand that this movie did not do too well at the box office but great films are not necessarily big money-earners, and vice-versa. This is one Western which is, like the roles Gregory Peck plays in films of such genre, is atypical in that the emphasis is more on the study of central character and his inner self rather than his deeds. The only flaw I found was the lack of a proper movie score especially for some of the more tense scenes like the confrontation with the 3 cowboys, which would have highlighted the moments. Otherwise, a great film in my opinion.
It is a deep dark western devoid of gunplay(until the conclusion)highlighted by a marvelous portrait painted by Gregory Peck as Jimmy Ringo, the gunfighter, trying to escape his past.
Ringo in his younger days was one of the "fastest guns in the west" who has survived to reach middle age. As he has matured he realizes you can't change what has happened.
Everywhere Ringo goes he is perceived as the "the fastest gun in the west" and everywhere he stops there is some young gun who wants to prove he is faster than the great Ringo. In fact when Ringo stops in a dusty town, he is being pursued by three brothers of his latest victim seeking revenge.
Ringo's arrival in this town is more than just co-incidence. We learn that the sheriff (what a performance by Millard Mitchell) used to run with the Ringo gang, the saloon singer was married to Ringo's best friend, and most importantly, Ringo's wife and son live there.
The bulk of the story is spent waiting to see if Ringo who lives by his wits as well as his guns, can survive.
The acting is uniform with Karl Malden as the saloon keeper and Skip Homeier standing alongside Peck of Mitchell for acting cudos
The script by Bill Bowers is taught and suspenseful. Henry King's in his second of 5 films with Peck(their previous collaboration was "Twelve O'Clock High") brings out the essence of a tired lonely tragic man without using any tricks(In fact there is no music except for the opening titles.
If you're looking for a shoot-em-up you won't find it here. If what you want is a top flight adult western, well pardner you've come to the right film.
THE GUNFIGHTER is another superb western from a director not normally associated with the genre. Falling squarely between the 1940s and 1950s, I was at first uncertain at to which camp this film fell into. It has all the incidents you'd expect in a 1940s oater, but overlaid with the kind of psychology and sensibilities you'd expect in a 1950s western. In the end, I decided this is a film about contrasts.
The first contrast you notice is the visual one. The movie is shot in black and white and it seems that those were the only two tones available to director Henry King. The exteriors are bright, bleached out and hard on the eyes. The interiors are dark, cool and gloomy. There doesn't seem to be much shades of grey going on (of course, I could have been watching a bad print, but work with me, here ...)
This visual contrast is echoed by the contrasts between the characters. The first of these we see is the contrast between Peck's Jimmy Ringo and the dumb kid who challenges him in the first bar. Ringo tries to talk him round, the kid won't have it and goes for his gun. But Ringo - of course - is faster. Darwinism at work ...
The next telling contrast is between Ringo and his old compadre, Town Marshall Mark Street. While Ringo still drifts from town to town, occasionally having to show some punk who's fastest, Mark has gone respectable and settled down. Mark is a respected citizen while Ringo's presence causes mothers to call their children indoors.
Then there's the contrast between Peggy, Ringo's estranged wife, and the gossipping, prejudiced biddies of the town. Is it any coincidence that Peggy is a teacher, representing education and, by implication, civilisation?
THE GUNFIGHTER is very tightly plotted at just 85 minutes. It seems longer because of the wealth of incident it packed into its slender running time. Film makers of today could learn a lot about how to pace a story from films like this.
If it shows up on TCM or somesuch satellite/cable channel, do yourself a favour and make the effort to catch it. It's well worth your while.
It's also shrewdly cast. Peck's rather stiff acting style works well for the besieged Ringo, a man now living mainly within himself since nobody can be trusted. But I especially like Mitchell's sheriff. He projects real authority tinged by an appropriate hint of understanding. Plus, he looks like a genuine frontier hard guy. Too bad this unusual actor died so soon. And was there ever a better dislikable young punk than Skip Homeier, who made a brief career out of such unlovelies. On the other hand, Westcott appears a shade too young (22) to be Ringo's wife and mother of an eight-year old, but at least she's not glamorous in the usual Hollywood style.
The climax is appropriately non-heroic, just a couple shots in an alleyway. Not exactly the usual Hollywood showdown. I suspect that's one reason for the rather mythic final sequence, for Peck has managed to inject a touch of nobility into the character of the ravaged gunfighter. All in all, it's a somber and elegiac eighty-minutes that eventually cast quite a forward shadow.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesThe studio hated Gregory Peck's authentic period mustache. In fact, the head of production at Fox, Spyros P. Skouras, was out of town when production began. By the time he got back, so much of the film had been shot that it was too late to order Peck to shave it off and reshoot. After the film did not do well at the box office, Skouras ran into Peck and reportedly said, "That mustache cost us millions."
- GaffesWhen Marshal Strett first confronts Ringo, he brings three deputies with him. Later, when Deputy Charlie comes to sit shotgun, Ringo doesn't recognize him and asks the bartender, "Who is he?"
It was established that Ringo doesn't remember people from his failure to recognize the bartenders. It's easy to forget someone you've seen for only a couple minutes and weren't introduced to.
- Citations
Marshal Mark Strett: Somebody after you?
Jimmy Ringo: Three somebodies.
Marshal Mark Strett: The law?
Jimmy Ringo: Naw, this is personal.
Marshal Mark Strett: I don't want 'em to catch up with you here.
Jimmy Ringo: I don't want 'em to catch up with me anywhere.
- ConnexionsFeatured in Il était une fois l'Amérique (1976)
Meilleurs choix
- How long is The Gunfighter?Alimenté par Alexa
Détails
- Durée1 heure 25 minutes
- Couleur
- Rapport de forme
- 1.33 : 1