Gunman's Walk (1958)

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Ric Hardman (story)
Frank S. Nugent (screenplay)

Release Date:

July 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

BLISTERING RAW DRAMA! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Rancher Lee Hackett is one of the old breed, used to making his own laws and settling things with a gun...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Family Relationships | Brother Brother Relationship

Cast

Van Heflin	...	Lee Hackett
Tab Hunter	...	Ed Hackett
Kathryn Grant	...	Clee Chouard
James Darren	...	Davy Hackett
Mickey Shaughnessy	...	Deputy Sheriff Will Motely
Robert F. Simon	...	Sheriff Harry Brill
Edward Platt	...	Purcell Avery
Ray Teal	...	Jensen Sieverts
Paul Birch	...	Bob Selkirk
Michael Granger	...	Curly
Will Wright	...	Judge

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Bert Convy's first film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lee Hackett leaves town, chasing after his jailbreak son, Ed, he is riding a "right-maned" horse. When he catches up with Ed, he is on a "left-maned" (different) horse.

Soundtrack:

I'm A Runaway

Van Heflin's powerful performance

Unlike sandcrab's bitter politically-correct review below, I happen to put this one on my A list for 50s westerns.

Van Heflin plays a hard cattle rancher who wants the best for his two boys. One (Tab Hunter) is wild, spoiled and bitter about following in his father's shadow, the other (James Darren) is soft, gentle, not prone to gunplay like his older brother is. Heflin is very effective at playing the overindulgent father, blind to the realities that both boys are dealing with.

The conflict begins when Hunter and a half-breed Sioux (Bert Convy) that his father has hired, race after a prized white stallion that they've been trying to catch for some time now. Hunter runs his horse into the Indian, forcing him off a cliff into an arroyo, plunging to his death below. Two other Indians witness this and will later testify against Hunter at his trial.

At the trial, a drifting horse trader (Ray Teal) testifies in favor of Hunter for a price of 10 mustangs and the white stallion. Heflin catches on to Teal's game and agrees to it in order to protect his son, but warns Teal to get out of town and don't come back or else. In the meantime, Darren has fallen in love with the dead Indian's sister (Kathryn Grant) which also further complicates things between himself and his father.

As Hunter sees Teal riding the herd including the white stallion through town, he goes down and confronts Teal and demands the white stallion back. When he refuses, he draws on Teal and shoots him off his horse, severely wounding him. Hunter is placed in jail but once again daddy Heflin covers up for him by offering Teal a bribe he can't refuse.

But it all doesn't matter because Hunter breaks out of jail, killing the unarmed deputy (Mickey Shaughnessy) in the process, and forcing the town to form a posse to go after him. Even Heflin can't save his boy at this point, but he knows where he's headed and he gets there before the posse does, thereby provoking a showdown between father and son.

With taught direction by Phil Karlson, an excellent script and tight story by Frank Nugent & Ric Hardman along with a powerful performance by Van Heflin, this one deserves to be in any western film buff's collection. I recommend it wholeheartedly. All I hope is that it will be released on DVD, someday.

8 out of 10