The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

André De Toth

Writers:

Kenneth Gamet (screenplay) and
John W. Cunningham (story)

Release Date:

15 August 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A former spy moves to Arizona to join a gold robbery, but when he gets there decides that its not for him and tries to change his life.

Plot Keywords:

3 Dimensional

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Jeff Travis
Claire Trevor	...	Josie Sullivan
Joan Weldon	...	Shelby Conroy
George Macready	...	Jules Mourret
Alfonso Bedoya	...	Degas
Lee Marvin	...	Dan Kurth
Ernest Borgnine	...	Bull Slager
Pierre Watkin	...	Jason Conroy
Joseph Vitale	...	Shorty
Clem Bevans	...	Jim Martin

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:(Banned) (1954) | Finland:S (1954) | Sweden:(Banned) (1954) | USA:Approved (certificate #16539)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Originally photographed in 3-D but only issued in flat prints.

Quotes:

Shelby Conroy: This town is a disgrace to everyone in it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Fifties" (1997)

Interesting offbeat Western.

There are quite a few surprises in this film. First of all, it keeps you guessing especially as regards Randolph Scott's character, whose motivation is difficult to discern. It's hard to tell if he's a bad guy or a good guy sometimes, as he manipulates two different gangs of unsavory characters. This does not anticipate Yojimbo or A Fisftful of Dollars. Both of those films, plus this film, all derive somewhat from The Glass Key, which was filmed twice before The Stranger Wore A Gun was released in 1953. (In 1935 with George Raft and 1942 with Alan Ladd.)Those films were based on Dashiell Hammett's novel of 1931. In any case, this film has its own tale to tell, and the performances of Scott, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine are solid. The film suffers somewhat from the 3-D effects which are kind of lame in the 2-D format we have to suffer on our TV sets. People who don't remember the 3-D craze will probably think the director was weird. All in all, the film's offbeat style and great ensemble cast make this well worth watching a time or two. It is by no means an ordinary run-of-the-mill Western.