The Man With The Gun [DVD]

Clint Tollinger (Mitchum) rides into Sheridan City and looks for Nelly Bain (Sterling). He finds the town in trouble. A gang of murderous gunmen is driving farmers off their land in order to control the city. Frightened and helpless, the citizens hire Tollinger, a "town-tamer". He operates in his own tough way and things get worse before getting better.
Tollinger is also there for a reason. He is looking for his daughter. Nelly is her mother.
Will Tollinger tame this city? Will Nelly tell Tollinger where his daughter is? Will the city put up with Tollinger's ways?
Excellent B/W western, with good story, acting and direction.
Watch and ENJOY. (Suki, ENGLAND,UK)

I was surprised to learn that Robert Mitchum had turned down the part of Jett Rink in "Giant", to make this film. A brave decision, and one that might indicate Mitchum was no mans fool. Apart from the role of Jett Rink which James Dean made his own, the film was a sprawling and very forgettable affair, whilst "Man with a Gun" which seemed a very minor western at the time has aged extremely well. The film marked the directorial debut of Orson Welles protege Richard Wilson. It seems some of the great mans talent rubbed off on Wilson who also co-wrote the very assured screenplay for this rather bleak western. Mitchum played a number of dark hued roles in which he was very well cast. One especially remembers Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter", and the even darker Raoul Walsh western "Pursued". To that list can be added the excellent "Man with a Gun".

In the film Mitchum plays Clint Tollinger, a Town Tamer by profession. When the law can no longer maintain order, then it is his job to come in and quieten things down, which is where the gun comes in. He rides into Sheridan City where they have exactly that problem. The local rancher has got too big for his boots, and uses his henchmmen to commit a long list of crimes, including murder. Tollinger is paid to stop this, and he goes about the business in a ruthlessly efficient manner, which begins to upset a few sensitive townsfolk. Tollinger also has the matter of his estranged wife, played by Jan Sterling on his mind. She now runs a group of saloon dancers in the town, and makes it clear that their previous split was an acrimonious one. Things head to a showdown in more ways than one.

The plot sounds all too familiar, but thankfully the script and direction lift it well above what could so easily have been just more generic fodder. Alex North's superbly well paced score also helps no end. He also provided the strong score for Mitchum's fine western "The Wonderful Country". The film contains many strong scenes, my favourite being the destruction of a much cherished chandelier. Mitchum who started out in movies as a heavy in Hopalong Cassidy films, is comfortable wearing a stetson and riding a horse. It is familiar territory for him. The cast is a very strong one. Emile Meyer who so memorably played the rancher Ryker in "Shane", giving a stirring speech in his rich and distinctive voice, plays the town blacksmith. Leo Gordon and Claude Akins both play heavies, as they both did so often with distinction. Veteran Henry Hull plays the ageing town Sheriff, whilst the beautiful and leggy Angie Dickinson shows the potential that was to make her such a big star, in a minor role as a dancer.

It was interesting to see that Wilson went on to use elements of this film in his later western "Invitation to a Gunfighter" starring Yul Brynner. In that film Brynner goes on a memorable orgy of destruction in a similar way that the Mitchum character does. Wilson brings strong emotions to his films, that give them such a black polish. He is a director who can leave his hallmark on a film and lift it above the average. This is another western that deserves to be better known. It is perhaps not as good as the very best in the western genre, but is a fine film well worth watching. As usual the Optimum western classics collection comes with no extras. All you get is the film.

Robert Mitchum plays Clint, a drifter who is looking for a woman with whom he once had a relationship and a daughter. He finds out that the daughter is dead and the relationship with the woman who now works at the local dance-hall probably can't be rekindled. He stays in town anyhow when his gunfighting skills are noticed and he's hired to clean up the town...

This classic shoot-em-up scenario of the town tamer plays out well with Mitchum in classic rugged mode. His inevitable descent as the killings make the townsfolk worry that the cure might be worse than the disease is convincing. He works especially well in the scenes with the inept lawman, but he's less convincing in the inevitable romance sub-plot. Sometimes the romantic angle bogs down westerns, and it happens here with that element of the story not feeling necessary and making the overall story come over as more cliched than perhaps it should. That aside there's plenty of action and plenty of good character roles. This is not a classic by any means, but it is solid fare.