Gatilhos em Duelo

Great western, I enjoyed Audie Murphy's performance.

At 38 minutes into the movie there is a story told by Frank about a past love in Bisbee who he later discovered was married to another man. He says it taught him a lesson, "Always check the brand to make sure you are not driving another man's stock".

That same story is told 50 minutes into Fort Dobbs (1958) by Clett (Brian Keith) and he says "Always check the brand first and that way you'll know if you are running somebody else's' stock".

Burt Kennedy (story)was a writer in both movies so he got a lot of use of this tale!

What I noticed first about this movie is the colors. I don't know whether it is because the Eastmancolor print aged in odd ways, whether the colors around St. George in Utah are actually those colors, or some combination of the two, but the distant hills that vary from periwinkle to lavender, the bright orange dirt and the varying blues of the sky (indicating to my mind that time passed between the two shots, despite the in-movie continuity) are startling.

It starts when Audie Murphy cuts out what he thinks is a wild horse; his own had died some time earlier. Soon enough, he is being hanged for horse rustling, only to be rescued by Dan Duryea, playing one of his quixotic gunfighters. The two of them are hired by Joan O'Brien to get them to her husband, through warring Apaches.

In other words, it's plot 2: the Anabasis, getting from point A to point B. It's also got a script by Burt Kennedy, filled with exciting situations, dark humor and homely phrases. Good pictures, good stories, good actors.

For two-thirds of this film I thought it was pretty good, but I ended up feeling that it had disappointed.

It did seem improbable that a very attractive woman would risk a very dangerous journey with two wanderers she didn't know, but that's Hollywood for you. It seemed a very foolhardy way of seeking revenge, and, like another reviewer, I couldn't work out what she was trying to achieve by building up the fire so that it smoked. And from her knowing smirk it was she who had loosened a horse's shoe to delay the journey. And she chose a darned funny time to try to get her revenge, during the fight in the old mission, when the trio was already out-numbered.

A nod of approval to the script-writer for putting into context the $1,000 that Kelly was offering to Ben and to Frank - three or four years' pay. But a big frown for the improbable long-distance effectiveness of Ben's revolver. (I wonder what Audie Murphy, with his WWII experience of fire-arms, thought of that.) I'm not sure what was achieved by including the dog, except to show that Ben was kind to ill-treated animals. During the chases, it looked fixed improbably securely to the pack-horse saddle.

And the ending was an anti-climax.

A Prime Example of the Very End of the Western Cycle that Wore Out its Welcome simply because of a Production Overload in Cinemas and on TV. There was an Unwritten Necessity for something to Happen to Re-Energize and Re-Invent the Genre.

Enter Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone and the Rest is Film History.

This one had Burt Kennedy and Audie Murphy showing Signs of Laziness, Indifference, and Perhaps Burn-Out. Solid Western Screenplay Writer Kennedy Recycles His Own Work, as does Murph as Both Trot into the New Decade Mounted on Past Glories.

That's why an Aging Dan Duryea Steals the Show as a Gun for Hire, that still Senses Right from Wrong when He isn't Getting Paid. Murph does OK and allows Duryea to Stand in the Sunlight most of the Time.

Joan O'Brien is Gorgeous and Holds Her Own among the Gunslingers and Indians that all Desire Her Charms...Duryea's Frank Jesse (that name, come on Burt, seriously)..."What a Man would do to get His hands on a Woman like that".

Overall. Familiar, Slightly Above Average Western for the Time Period, but does Show Signs of Genre Atrophy and a Hope for Better Things to Come.

I gave it an 8 for what it represents... Audy Murphy in a Saturday night shoot em up. Reminds me of my youth. Just a fun movie all around.