Le mercenaire de minuit

"Invitation to a Gunfighter" is a film searching for a consistent tone. By turns it's stilted, silly and melodramatic, and the result is mostly just confusing. The kernels of a very good movie are present, but often left "unpopped." For example, the town is initially portrayed as morally upright, and Brynner's character as amoral, and the film tries to flip this on its head. The trouble is, we rarely see anything to prove this; instead, we're forced to fill in the blanks ourselves from sparse pieces of (vague) dialogue. The story is so buried in subtext and so much is not shown that scenes like Yul Brynner's drunken rampage is robbed of its dramatic potential because we haven't seen anything that would seem to justify it. On it's own, that could have been a powerful idea, since Brynner's character is given a back-story like nothing these townsfolk have ever known, but in that case, the movie devotes far too much time to the troubles of the townsfolk instead of focusing on Brynner's inner turmoil.

The acting is all over the board in this one, as well. Brynner's performance can't be faulted; he's his usual simmering, silent presence, but seems miscast in a role which could have been quite interesting if it weren't so poorly-written. Janice Rule seems confused in her role as Ruth Adams (and well she should be, forced to serve as the love interest between--count them--three men, all trying to kill each other at some point or another), and spends most of it looking vaguely sad and disinterested, and Pat Hingle is neither evil enough nor serious enough to make a compelling villain. Clifford David fares better as the perpetually angry Crane, and George Segal, as the unfortunate Matt Weaver, is just about the only member of the cast that seems to have any idea what he's doing. The rest of the townsfolk are a mixture of clichés and stereotypes that make it seem as though Yul Brynner mistakenly wandered onto the set of "Blazing Saddles." Brynner's presence, and the multi-layered, operatic scale of the plot might warrant repeat viewings, and the film should be credited for trying to tackle weighty issues of morality and racism, but ultimately "Gunfighter" misses its mark. The classic mantra in storytelling is "show, don't tell," and this film doesn't do that, rendering what should have been a very good movie into a very mediocre one.

I have always like westerns and would consider this one a must-see. It's quite dated in places with many of it's attitudes rooted in the 1950s and some really laughable dialog. But it's moral stance and it comments on society's treatment of it's poor, it's minorities, it's women, hits you like a slap to the face. It's always a pleasure to watch Yul Brenner at work and he really carries this movie. George Segal is okay as his presumed antagonist but the real bad guy(s) in this movie are not so easily identified. I was stunned to see how much of the plot of this movie influenced one of my favorite Westerns of all time - High Plains Drifter. The resemblance is uncanny - of course HPD does it better but still I have to recommend this to anyone who likes Westerns.

Studio-slick story with talky screenplay, it starts when Confederate soldier named Matt Weaver (George Segal) goes back to his village after the Civil War, he encounters that his house has been sold by landowner Sam Brewster (Pat Hingle). Brewster hires enigmatic gunfighter Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner) to deal with Weaver and charged with taking him out but d'Estaing's independent approach settles the issues in a very unorthodox manner . When Jules is assigned for cleaning up the troubled community , he suddenly shifts loyalties and turning the balance of power. Meanwhile , there takes place a lovely triangle among the main characters (Brynner, Segal and Janice Rule).

This is a tremendously exciting story of a gunfighter-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 ; resulting to be a striking piece. Long on dialog but contains an exciting final with surprising duel . The tale is almost grim , a killer comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . Short on action Western with Brynner as rare gunslinger who is hired as professional murderous to kill outcast Confederate George Segal. The highlights are the violent destruction of the town and the climatic showdown at the ending. Phenomenal and great role for Yul Brynner as avenger angel and bitter gunfighter, he's the whole show at the height of his iconic game . Vivid and lively musical score by David Raksin. Atmospheric cinematography in glimmer color by Joseph McDonald. The motion picture is professionally realized by Richard Wilson (Al Capone , Three in Attic). Wilson was a previous associate of Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre days and made another good Western as ¨Man with a gun¨, starring Robert Mitchum and ¨Zane Grey¨ episodes. Watchable results for this offbeat Western.

Largely on the strength of 'Al Capone' (1959), director Richard Wilson was considered sufficiently noteworthy during the mid-sixties to rate an entry in the Thames & Hudson 'Encyclopedia of the Arts' (1966).

This talky, awe-inspiringly pretentious 'adult' western (scripted by Wilson and his wife Elizabeth) that a few years earlier would have signalled it's seriousness by being in black & white (like 'High Noon' or '3:10 to Yuma') is instead shot in incongruously pretty colour by veteran cameraman Joe MacDonald on the Universal backlot, where Brynner later trashes the already flimsy-looking sets with suspicious ease.

Based on a 1957 TV play, it was made too early to be influenced by Sergio Leone, but was obviously influenced (as was Leone himself) by the samurai films of Kurosawa.

The cast was largely recruited from TV and the New York stage, some of whom - like George Segal and Strother Martin - became more familiar a few more years later; while David Raksin's woodwind score lingers in the memory.

I loved Yul Brynner in this movie, and Janice Rule did a good job as the frustrated wife of the crippled, hard-drinking, ex-Civil War fighter. Yul Brynner is excellent as the brooding, cold, mercenary who has a job to do, but falls for the lady whose house he's decided to stay in while doing it. I was in my "Yul Brynner" phase when this one came out, and I can still see it over and over--much as I feel about The Magnificent Seven, the Return of the Seven, The Journey, or The King and I. I couldn't help but wonder if he actually played that harpsichord. He obviously couldn't sing, and only spoke the song while he played the tune on the lady's harpsichord.

Yul Brynner was a smoker, and the cigar is ever present. I met him in 1972 out in Malibu, and I asked him if he could quit smoking for his health's sake. He said, "Nope. Too hooked." He was, and sadly for his fans, it was his undoing. He signed a photo for me for my birthday that year, which I still cherish. The world lost a great actor when he passed. He was the best in a Western, wearing black and walking that walk...a man of few words.