L'arma della gloria

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

After leaving his wife and son to begin a quest for fame and fortune a gunman by the name of "Tom Early" (Stewart Granger) finally returns home to discover that his son no longer respects him and his wife has passed away and been buried. Although he tells his son that he wants to change his ways when he rides into town he has to shoot and kill another man in self-defense which convinces everyone that he is still the same. Additionally, when he hires a pretty, young woman named "Jo" (Rhonda Fleming) to help out at his ranch it creates gossip and even more trouble among the townspeople as well. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a decent western movie by and large. It had a decent cast and both Stewart Granger and Rhonda Fleming performed in their usual professional manner. Likewise, Rhonda Fleming was also quite attractive. Having said that I must admit that the plot was rather predictable and some of the scenes could have used a bit more passion or excitement in some parts. Even so I suppose it was enjoyable enough for the time spent and I rate it as about average.

The story of peace-loving farmers and townspeople fighting for land, water, law and order, and the respect and ultimate subjugation of the long entrenched cattle interests and their hired guns had been worked over better in earlier (Shane) and probably later films as well. There's some good action scenes and the general layout of the story, excluding a disappointing ending, is well executed. Law and order and religion have established roots in the town, but the old order of cattle drives, cowboys, and gunslingers is still around as well. The clash of the two occurs in a nicely staged ambush scene where the townsmen ride right into a trap. Granger, an ex-gunfighter, plays the guy who is shunned by the very townspeople who need his expertise with a gun.

Westerns were in fashion after the surprise smash of "Fastest Gun Alive", 1956.

"Gun Glory" opens with a gunfighter (Stewart Granger), facing community rejection upon returning home to settle down... He finds his wife dead and his son resentful...

Granger's personal magnetism is fair enough to carry a tedious story... He manages to be quiet fast in the gun... Strong, warm, sure and tender while remaining a father and a man in love...

Rhonda Fleming comes out graceful but her character loses some of its translation to Western lead... She seems more comfortable with her lighthearted love interest...

Despite a few pretentious action moments, "Gun Glory" - photographed in color and CinemaScope - is, on the whole, good only for its two stars...

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 .