Gunman's Walk (1958)

A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

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

Stars:

Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Kathryn Grant

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Widower Lee Hackett (Van Heflin), a cattle rancher who is a product of the old west, tries to bring up his two sons, Ed (Tab Hunter)and Davy (James Darren), in his image, but Ed is wild and unruly. The two brothers are both attracted to Clee Chourard ('Kathryn Grant(I)') but she prefers Davy. Ed's efforts to outshine his father and brother and everyone else leads him into a career of a gunfighter, and a confrontation with his father.

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Plot Keywords:

horseback chase | biracial | horseback riding | horse | sioux indian | 

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Taglines:

With the lynch-mob at his heels...will his own father shoot him down? (original poster)

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's "interiors" were all built on the Hollywood's Gower Gulch Columbia Pictures' film studio lot, on the Sunset-Gower Columbia Corporation's Studio Sound stages. During the Columbia Corporation's 1970-1972 reorganization, the corporate moved to join, merge, with Warner Brothers to form The Burbank Studio. The Columbia 'Burbank' Ranch became the property of Warner Brothers. In the meantime, the Sunset-Gower Columbia Studio's 14-acre property sat fallow, a scavenging crew stripped the sound-stages, offices complex for all the electrical copper-wiring. In 1977, the phantom studio property was purchased by Sol Pick-Nicholas Vanoff Enterprises, re-titled "The Sunset Gower Studios". The new Pick-Vanoff tenant had the additional expense of replacing the entire studio facilities electrical wiring, fuse box, and applicable electrical requirements for the "entire" lot-property, including the studio's construction mill building.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Deputy Sheriff Will Motely: Lee, you and I grew up in our own times - Ed's got to learn to grow up in his, and times have changed!

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Connections

Featured in Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)

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Soundtracks

I'm A Runaway
by Fred Karger & Richard Quine
Sung by Tab Hunter (uncredited)

User Reviews

Excellent, under-valued western

An outstanding and unjustly neglected western from that fine genre director Phil Karlson who, if he never quite made it to the front ranks, could nevertheless be counted upon to produce first rate and thought-provoking entertainments of which this is one. Karlson had no problem juggling the pieces' myriad themes, (the Freudian relationship between a martinet father and his hot-headed son, miscegenation and racial prejudice, gun culture and the changing ways of the West), without ever sacrificing the solid entertainment value of what is essentially a good old-fashioned western.

As the father piling all his affection on the wrong son, Van Heflin is as reliable as ever. The real surprise of the picture, however, is Tab Hunter as the son who both hates and idolizes his father. Hunter was never much of an actor but here, cast against type as the villain of the piece, he manages to bring depth and feeling to the role. Perhaps he located the misfit nature of the character. After all, being gay in Hollywood in the fifties and living a life that was fundamentally a lie, surely can't have been easy.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Slicks

Filming Locations:

Patagonia, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1