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Complex psychological western. I like another reviewer's point about the conflict between law and order in the film. Only Widmark's Gannon appears concerned with enforcing law in addition to order, while the rest of the town is more concerned with simply order. Fonda's Clay Blaisdell stands as the pivotal character, a morally ambiguous gunslinger with a dubious past. The mutual attachment between him and sidekick Morgan (Quinn) is highly unusual for a macho western. As hired gunslingers, they're a formidable team. However, it turns out that Clay is stuck in the risky business as long as he and Morgan remain together. On the other hand, Morgan's definitely unhappy with Clay's budding relationship with blonde Jessie (Michaels). It's likely that Morgan uses their hired status to keep them together, as the ending appears to show. I expect casting the macho Quinn in what amounts to a suggestive role was no accident.

The 2-hour runtime is pretty well filled as the various undercurrents and conflicts play out. Viewers who cotton to dramatic showdowns should love this screenplay, which has at least four. Surprisingly, it's hard to predict who will be involved, a tribute to the screenwriter. Overall, it's an unusual oater that doesn't follow genre formulas. On the downside is a lot of talk, plus complexities-- especially the characters' backstories-- that at times are hard to follow. Nonetheless, the three leads are excellent, especially an emotional Quinn, along with a supporting cast of familiar 50's faces. So, for western fans, the movie's well worth snagging despite its relative obscurity.

Warlock is a small town suffering from visits by a gang of thugs led by Abe McQuown. The honest townsfolk meet and decide to hire infamous gunslinger Clay Blaisedell to act as a Marshal. Blaisdell, aided by his trusty companion Tom Morgan, proceeds to clean up the town and promptly takes control of the gambling and dance parlour. But things are rarely straight forward in a town of this type, one of the thugs (Johnny Gannon) decides to reform himself and takes on the role of legal sheriff. Things are further complicated when a woman arrives in town proclaiming that Blaisedell and Morgan killed the love of her life! This coupled with the fact that McQuown and his thugs are plotting destructive revenge, means that Warlock and it's array of complex characters are heading for judgement day - one way or another.

The basic plot sounds like nothing out of the ordinary, the tough gunslinger with a reputation hired to clean up a town has been done a fair few times, with varying degrees of success. What lifts this Edward Dmytryk directed (and produced) Western above other films of its ilk is that it goes deeper than most of those other genre pieces. Blaisedell may be a fearsome gunslinger but we are at a time when a new breed of faster and more thuggish cowboys exist, and so his very being is crucial to the number of events that transpire in Warlock. Here all central characters are multi-layered, there is a plenty going on that begs the utmost attention, where tragedy hangs heavy with its looming presence, and Dmytryk threads all the story strands together with thoughtfully potent results.

Adapted by Robert Alan Aurthur from Oakley Hall's novel, Warlock boasts three excellent male lead performances and a firing on all cylinders supporting cast. Henry Fonda (Blaisedell), Richard Widmark (Gannon) and Anthony Quinn (Tom Morgan) are superb, while Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, Tom Drake, DeForest Kelly, Frank Gorshin (sadly uncredited) and Wallace Ford come up trumps with excellent shows for totally important characters. The only gripe I can come up with is that I would have liked a bit more use of the Utah location courtesy of Joseph MacDonald's Cinemascope Technicolor, but since this story is primarily set within the confines of Warlock the town, one can be and is a touch forgiving.

During the last few years I have spent a lot of time revisiting the Western genre, and I have been rewarded with a ream of excellent adult pieces by the likes of Anthony Mann, Henry King and Budd Boetticher. Few of them are as undervalued, and maybe as forgotten, as this first class effort from all involved, it's a must see for any serious Western fan. 9/10

This popular Western isn't among the more highly-regarded genre efforts (emanating as it does from its 1950s heyday), despite the imposing credentials (many of whom were fixtures and had therefore worked on better films along the years) - but it's a pretty good example nonetheless, with solid production and an evident maturity in content and style.

The three stars - Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn - are well-cast (in fairly typical roles) and their interaction, allowing for several tense scenes, keeps one watching (for a 2 hour film, thankfully, it doesn't feel too long). Still, Dmytryk's efficient handling is unexceptional - abetted by Joe MacDonald's colorful widescreen cinematography but somewhat overshadowed by Robert Alan Aurthur's literate i.e. pretentious script (with several soul-searching passages about loyalty and responsibility). Leigh Harline's music, too, workmanlike though it is, emerges as a relatively unassuming score. The action sequences, however, deliver the goods with several gunfights throughout and even a few instances of gratuitous brutality (fashionable by this time).

However, the rest of the cast is quite interesting, with Dorothy Malone and Dolores Michaels providing the romantic interest and several familiar faces in support: Wallace Ford and Whit Bissell as town officials and, among Widmark's former cronies, DeForrest Kelley, Frank Gorshin - playing the star's hot-headed younger brother - and Tom Drake, most surprising of all as the villainous leader of the outlaw gang.

There is no doubt that this Film was brilliantly put together both in Direction and Star Quality. When you put together Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark and Anthony Quinn, you know you are in for a treat. The story is quite superb and a far cry from many of the Westerns being churned out in the Fifties. As the Marshal who is quite dangerous, in his own way, Fonda is really the star around which so much resolves. Widmark as a reformed outlaw turned Deputy Sheriff plays his role to perfection, while Anthony Quinn as the crippled close friend of the Marshal is integral to the final outcome. They are greatly supported by a well-worn Dorothy Malone, and to me at least a surprising good performance by Tom Drake as the cruel and somewhat cowardly leader of the Outlaws. It is one of the last Cinemascope big movies by Fox, and the photography and atmosphere are quite spectacular.

A professional town-tamer named Blaisdell (Henry Fonda) is hired as an independent marshal by the citizens of Warlock to rid them of an unruly gang; meanwhile a repentant member of the bunch becomes deputy sheriff (Richard Widmark), which creates friction. Anthony Quinn plays the former's faithful sidekick.

"Warlock" (1959) is an adult Western cut from the same dramatic cloth as similar late 50s/early 60's Westerns like "Man of the West" (1958). The mature and psychological script was based on Oakley Hall's novel, which was a fictionalization of the OK Corral legends, which is why it's not too difficult to read Earp/Holliday into the Fonda/Quinn characters and Abe McQuown's gang as the Clanton/McLaury gang.

The fact that Quinn's Morgan character is loosely based on Doc Holliday is a good reason to reject the supposed 'homosexual subtext' of Morgan. There's not enough evidence to draw such a radical conclusion. Morgan was simply Blaisedell's loyal and ruthless partner; he loved Blaisedell like close members of a military squad or like a brother.

On the female front we have two very striking women: Dolores Michaels plays Blaisedell's potential babe, Jessie Marlow, while Dorothy Malone is on hand as Lily Dollar, a mysterious woman from Blaisedell's past who takes interest in the new deputy sheriff (Widmark).

The town scenes were filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, CA, whereas the scenic sequences were all shot in Moab, Utah, near Arches National Park. Needless to say, the latter locations are magnificent.

The movie runs 2 hours, 2 minutes.

GRADE: B+