Gunsmoke (1953)

A young gun slinger tries to help a rancher and his daughter, save their land and cattle from an evil, wealthy land owner.

Director:

Nathan Juran

Writers:

D.D. Beauchamp (screenplay), Norman A. Fox (novel)

Stars:

Audie Murphy, Susan Cabot, Paul Kelly

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Audie Murphy	...	Reb Kittredge
Susan Cabot	...	Rita Saxon
Paul Kelly	...	Dan Saxon
Charles Drake	...	Johnny Lake
Mary Castle	...	Cora Dufrayne
Jack Kelly	...	Curly Mather
Jesse White	...	Professor
Donald Randolph	...	Matt Telford
William Reynolds	...	Brazos
Chubby Johnson	...	Doc Farrell
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philo McCullough	...	Abner Sneed (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Kittridge is hired by the villans but turns to defend the rancher Saxon after learning the true situation. Kittrige wins Saxon's ranch with a cut of the cards but Saxon has other reasons for loosing the gamble. Telford and Lake try everything from bushwacking to setting a wildfire to stop the Saxon/Kittridge herd of cattle from reaching the railhead.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle | rancher | gunslinger | tough guy | colt .45 | 

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Taglines:

Hired Gunslinger In A Lawless Land!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Man's Country

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the cattle drive, Audie Murphy (Reb) has ridden up ahead, over a ridge, to scout the trail and sees a range fire burning towards the herd. As he races back down the hill to the other riders, his horse slips and almost falls down. He and the horse are able to recover and without missing a beat, Murphy says his lines to the others and the scene goes on.

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Quotes

Dan Saxon: I built that ranch with my own two hands. You were born there. Your mother died there. I fought Indians and snowstorms and dry years and floods to make it what it is. And I'm not going to give it up just because some two-bit gunslinger happens to come to town.

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Soundtracks

"I'm Tying Up My Bridle"
(uncredited)
Music by Milton Rosen
Lyrics by Everett Carter

User Reviews

formulas western with creative twist

Like most westerns between 1945 and 1985, the hero begins as an outlaw. I always called this Saul/Paul syndrome. Americans love a bad guy gone good better than anything. That said, this formula western had a creative twist a lot of people who enjoyed the movie never noticed. It may be the only Western ever where the lead character chickened out of fistfights and still held his dignity. In this movie, Audie Murphy plays a man who has virtually one skill-gunmanship. He is not a champion boxer, fighter, cowhand; he can do one thing good, and he is thinking about his future. In fact, his character is much like what the later anti hero of the seventies strived to be. That said, this is a very action packed interesting movie, with bad guys, wise guys, and good direction.