The Gunfighter

Since I broke the ice with Warlock I decided I had to keep going with the western reviews. I love movies and on the rare (very rare now with a baby) occasions I get to relax I do it watching a movie, and westerns are one of my favorite genre films.

The Gunfighter is another thinking mans western. Gregory Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, an aging gunfighter tired of upholding his reputation. The movie starts with the tired Ringo trying to quietly have a drink. A young tough recognizes Ringo and forces a confrontation. Having gunned down the tough Ringo leaves town as fast as he arrived and the skilled manner in which he does it only proves how many times it has happened before. On the run from the brothers of the young tough Ringo tries to make amends with the only women he ever loved, but his past keeps getting in the way.

Gregory Peck is amazing in this film. He manages to capture the dangerousness of Jimmy Ringo as well as the sadness. We get to watch him develop the character in ways unexpected and it is a wonderful precursor to the roles he will play in the future, like On the Beach and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Just as Warlock utilized it beautiful Technicolor to enhance the picture, The Gunfighter does the same with Black and White. Stark and bare images for a character with little beauty left in his life. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.