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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786301801737 Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC ISBN: 6301801733 Label: 20th Century Fox Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: 20th Century Fox Release Date: January 01, 1998 Running Time: 85 minutes Sales Rank: 11021 Studio: 20th Century Fox Theatrical Release Date: 1950
Amazon.com: Numerous films have used The Gunfighter as a title, but if you're looking for the film classic of that name, this is the one. Gregory Peck followed his powerful performance in Twelve O'Clock High (also for director Henry King) with an arguably even stronger portrayal: Jimmy Ringo, celebrated shootist just stepping into middle age and mortally weary of having to defend his legend every time he turns around. His trail takes him to a small town where an old comrade, Mark Strett (the great Millard Mitchell), now serves as marshal, and where Ringo's estranged wife and the son he has never seen also reside, under an assumed name. Over one night and one day, hoping against hope, he dares to dream of a normal life. But there are avengers not far behind, and other threats yet to be counted.
Although critically praised, The Gunfighter was a box-office disappointment. Darryl F. Zanuck blamed the soup-strainer mustache Henry King had Peck grow for the role, but perhaps the film's virtues of intelligence and restraint weighed against it. The Gunfighter properly deserves the credit (awarded to High Noon two years later) for ushering in the "adult Western," that '50s subgenre that emphasized psychological intensity over action and spectacle. (Most of The Gunfighter unfolds at the Palace Bar where Ringo waits for his family to be brought to him.) In any event, latter-day audiences should have no trouble appreciating the solid performances, literate writing, and impeccable Fox craftsmanship, including the final studio assignment for ace cinematographer Arthur Miller. --Richard T. Jameson
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Jaw Dropper of an Ending
I'm really surprised this isn't on DVD and more accessible to the public. Gregory Peck is first rate in his role as Ringo, the aging gun-fighter who's taking a hard look at life and wanting to change his ways. And Millard Mitchell was impressive in his supporting role. I loved the foreshadowing all through the picture and I was left stunned by the ending. Wasn't expecting that from a 1950's movie. I'm not a great fan of the western genre (although I'm learning to appreciate it) but this movie is beyond genre; it's a good, solid story with a great leading man.
Rating: - Great Adult Western - Gregory Peck Shines!
Having recently watched The Gunfighter, starring Gregory Peck, I found myself disappointed that there isn't a DVD release of this fantastic western yet.
The Gunfighter is a tightly scripted, intelligent western that really raised the bar in a lot of ways when it came to character development in the genre. Gregory Peck plays Jimmy Ringo, a gunfighter whose reputation is such an exaggeration of reality that he has to constantly look over his shoulder and be wary of everyone he meets as a potential adversary trying to make a name for himself by killing a legend. The weight of such a ... Read More
Rating: - One of the great westerns
There have been a few westerns that are better than The Gunfighter, but there are no westerns as flawless. It doesn't put a foot wrong in all of its 84 minutes. Its downbeat story and anti-climatic ending did not endear it to audiences at the time, but over fifty years later it stands out as one of the masterpieces of the genre. And it was hugely influential: its theme of an aging gunslinger desperate to hang up his guns and accept domesticity, but pursued relentlessly by his reputation, became a staple of many westerns. Only three shots are fired in the film, but, unlike so many westerns, it treats ... Read More
Rating: - Peck's Best Western
Gregory Peck, with his natural, spare acting style, and his folksy, plain demeanor, was a natural for Westerns, and his greatness in this genre was never more evident in this 1950 film, which was one of the earlier psychological Westerns.
Peck plays Jimmie Ringo, the most notorious gunfighter in the West, is running from the brothers of a man he killed. He shows up in a town where his ex-wife lives with their young son. Ringo holds up in the town saloon as a favor to the town marshal, who an old friend, while he waits for an opportunity to see his wife.
