Terreur dans la vallée

Highly watchable Western about confrontation between cattlemen and homesteaders . This Western is a superior outing because it displays emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . It deals with Tom Early (Stewart Granger) , a gunfighter and card player returns home after thee years to find the town would rather not have him . In his farm Tom finds his surly son Tom Early Jr. (Steve Rowland , director's son) who lives alone . As the cattlemen led by Grimsell (James Gregory) threaten to destroy it by stampeding cattle through the farmlands . Early regains the town's respect when he stops a murderer from invading the town with his cattle herd . At the grocery Tom meets Sam , the shopkeeper grocer (Jacques Aubuchon), who humiliates his labourer Jo (gorgeous Rhonda Fleming) . As Tom is fighting to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders and cattlemen who hire gunfighters . In the meantime , it is developed a loving triangle between the daddy Tom , his son and a good girl (Rhonda Fleming) . At the end , Tom has to face various professional killers alone , after being abandoned to his fate by the gutless townspeople who disagrees with taking up weapons .

The movie gets Western action , shootouts , a love story , thrills and results to be quite entertaining . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the brave protagonist Stewart Granger against the heartless James Gregory and his nasty hoodlums ; in addition , a stirring ending fight into a narrow pass , including explosion and a spectacular stampede . This movie is a lot of fun to watch . It's an acceptable story with a touch of peculiarity , some great characters , and an amazing music score . Here filmmaker Roy Rowland delivers a decently-paced film , however he could be counted on to deliver solid "B" pictures which, at MGM , were often better than most other studios' "A" pictures . Interesting as well as moving screenplay by William Ludwig and uncredited Ben Maddow , being based on novel: "Man of the West" by the prestigious Philip Yordan . The picture is a tale of justice , redemption and about a particular relationship between a gunslinger father and a grumpy son . The basic plot is typical classic Western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Nice acting by Stewart Granger as the relentless Pistolero turned farmer , he is the ultimate hero figure , his sheer presence overwhelming . This ¨Gun glory¨ seems to be one the most exciting of his long career . Although Granger was tops at Britain's box office during the Forties , he was taken by Hollywood and a whole group of Westerns and other posse of adventures , action movies to turn Stewart into an international star . Support cast is pretty well , such as Chill Wills as Preacher , James Gregory , Jacques Aubuchon and the young Steve Rowland who usually plays films directed by his father , Roy Rowland . Colorful cinematography in glamorous Technicolor , showing splendidly the spectacular outdoors . Adequate musical score by Jeff Alexander , including a wonderful theme song , being sung by the notorious actor Burl Ives .

The motion picture was well directed by Roy Rowland . Roy sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943 . Roy spent quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58 ; he had the good fortune to marry the niece of Louis B. Mayer and was the father of actor Steve Rowland . While not one of the studio's top-rank directors , he was a good professional who had a considerable success . Most were B-movies, but he occasionally handled such A-graders . His greatest hit was , of course , the fantasy movie titled The 5000 fingers of Dr T (1953) . Rowland made an action picture for independent release based on a Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel starring Spillane himself (Girl hunters (1963)) . He specialized in a variety of genres, including musicals : ¡Viva Las Vegas! (1956) The seven hills of Rome (57) , Two weeks with love (50) and dramas : Our wines have tender grapes 45 with Edward G Robinson (1945). He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM films that could be considered "film noir" . Roy was a Western expert , as the last film he made at MGM was this "B" western with Stewart Granger, Gun Glory (1957) ; besides , he filmed Outriders with Joel McCrea , Bugles in the afternoon with Ray Milland and Many rivers to cross with Robert Taylor ; after which and then he traveled to Europe for a string of Spanish/Italian-made westerns such as Los Pistoleros De Casa Grande and Ley Del Forastero . His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate movie (he was uncredited ; his Italian co-director Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit) called El Tigre De Los 7 Mares and its sequel : Tormenta Sobre el Pacífico (1966) . He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's Spain-shot Western : Al Infierno, gringo (1969), after which he retired .

Gunslinger Tom Early (Stewart Granger) returns to his hometown without much welcome. His beloved wife is dead and his abandoned son is angry with him. Most in town ostracizes him. Only Jo (Rhonda Fleming) shows him any acceptance. Cattle baron Grimsell and his thugs run roughshot over the the town and he's the only one who has the ability to fight back.

I really like the story of the returning gunslinger. The son is an issue. He's written all over the place and the acting is really broad. The melodrama gets a bit much. On the other hand, Rhonda Fleming is great. I also like the Priest character and his flaws. As for Tom Early himself, I like the idea of the character. I imagine Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven. Stewart Granger is not as hard as that, but he's good enough. The ending has some of that. I would like it to be harsher. All in all, the story is great western fare with a simple confrontation and some minor issues.

In 1886, the gunman and gambler Tom Early (Stewart Granger) returns to his homeland to settle down but he is rejected by the crippled grocer Sam Winscott (Jacques Aubuchon) and also by his community. He rides to his farm, where he finds that his wife Alice has recently died and his resented son Tom Early Jr. (Steve Rowland), who does not accept the use of guns, is working alone. On the next morning, Tom rides to the town to buy supplies and sees Sam humiliating his employee Jo (Rhonda Fleming). Further, the cattle lord Grimsell (James Gregory) arrives in town with two gunfighters, Gunn (Arch Johnson) and Blondie, and tells to the Preacher (Chill Wills) that he will cross 20,000 head of cattle through their lands and their town. The Preacher tells that the lands belong to the locals but Grimsell is not interested in their rights. When Blondie sees Tom Early, he draws his gun trying to kill Tom, but he shoots first in self-defense and kills the gunman. Further, he invites Jo to work in his farm for his son and him. While the Preach wants to send an emissary to Laramie to bring documents and the law to his town, Grimsell summons more than thirty gunfighters to work for him. When the emissary is murdered by Gunn, the naive Preacher organizes a posse to unsuccessfully fight against Grimsell. The farmers are ambushed and attacked and the survivors return to the town. But Tom Early decides to provoke an stampeding and fight against Grimsell.

"Gun Glory" is an underrated western visibly inspired in the masterpiece "Shane" of four years before. I do not agree with most of the unfair IMDb reviews and I really liked this film. Stewart Granger is perfect in the role of a dangerous man that decides to settle down and is rejected most of the population including his estranged son. I am a big fan of the sweet and lovely red-haired actress Rhonda Fleming and once again she has a great performance. The twenty-five year old Steve Rowland is miscast in the role of Tom Early Jr. that is supposed to be younger. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil):"Arma de um Bravo" ("Weapon of a Brave")

Above Average 50's Western with a few Edgy Things that Elevate beyond the mundane. Stewart Granger and Rhonda Fleming are Attractive Stars and Competent Actors.

The Film was Shot in Cinemascope that adds to the Wide Open Landscape. The Colorful Setting is used to advantage and the Simple Story is Spiced with some Atypical Shacking Up and Lustful Scenes. That alone is against the grain of most Fifties Fodder and Preaching.

Although, it must be said there is a Heavy Amount of Preaching in the Screenplay. Chill Wills as a Bible Toting Preacher is a Major Character and the Dialog often reverts to Philosophy from the Pulpit. It almost becomes too much but not quite.

The Tension and Action are Amped Up in the Second Half as things become Violent and Explosive. The Solid Direction from Old Pro Rowland keeps things from becoming Clichéd and/or Standard Stuff.

Overall, a Well-Done Entry in the Abundance of 1950's Westerns and is, Unlike the Majority of Output in the Decade, well Worth a Watch.

Gun Glory is directed by Roy Rowland and adapted to screenplay by William Ludwig from Philip Yordan's novel, Man of the West. It stars Stewart Granger, Rhonda Fleming, Chill Wills, James Gregory and Steve Rowland. Music is by Jeff Alexander - with the title song "The Ninety and the Nine" song by Burl Ives - and cinematography is by Harold J. Marzorati.

What we have here is a very familiar tale. Granger is gunslinger Tom Early, who returns to his home town after a number of years to find his wife has died and his son (Rowland) is unsurprisingly miffed at his father having abandoned them. The townsfolk, also, are not exactly enamoured to have him back either, but since they are in the grip of terror brought about by violent cattle baron Grimsell (Gregory), a chance for Early to make peace with all is in the offering.

Granger was winding down his contract with MGM and this could hardly be seen has a triumphant fanfare finale. Yet for committed Western film fans there's still plenty to enjoy. Handsome is a word that springs to mind, Granger and Fleming positively ooze sexual beauty, the Calif locations (Bronson Canyon - Whoosh!) are magnificently brought to life via CinemaScope (Metrocolor), while costuming and set designs are most appealing.

The script is weak, though, and familiarity of story demands that elsewhere the pic needs to cover the shortcomings. Action scenes are all too brief, but the stunt work on show is impressive and the construction of shoot-outs, and a rockslide sequence, certainly stirs the blood. Elsewhere, Jacques Aubuchon's lecherous windbag act gets tiresome pretty quickly, and the overt religion angles are heavy handed (even the musical score is full of biblical swirls) - the latter of which a shame because Chill Wills as The Preacher turns in the best perf in the pic.

Hardly a must see movie, then, but Oater fans, and fans of the stars, are not short changed (Gregory does good villainy as well). Even if ultimately it comes off as a "going through the motions" movie that's very pretty but of little substance. 6.5/10