The Last Challenge (1967) User Reviews

The Adult western has arrived

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 14 August 2005]

With elements of the TV western Gunsmoke and the film High Noon in it, The Last Challenge is a worthy addition to the western genre. All the players involved have done westerns before and look very comfortable in their roles.

Glenn Ford is the town marshal and the fastest draw in these here parts and when you're the former, it sure helps if you're the latter. He's got a gal pal in Angie Dickinson who's a combination of Miss Kitty and oddly enough Grace Kelly in High Noon. Because oddly enough a confident young gun hand played by Chad Everett has come to town and he's got Angie worried.

Let's just say that Angie makes a move that Kitty would never even contemplate insofar as Matt Dillon was concerned. It costs her big time.

The western as an adult theme arrived in this film because we have a scene with Glenn and Angie sleeping in a big double bed. We never got to Ms. Kitty's bedroom in Gunsmoke and a scene of a man and woman in the same bed was something never contemplated in the past. Not even that very married couple Roy Rogers and Dale Evans would have heard of such a thing.

What happens with Glenn and Chad. You have to watch the film to find out. But I will say you'll see an ending very much influenced by High Noon.

"If you mean will I kill you..the answer is still yes!"

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 1 July 2001]

The western showdown is as ritualistic as a bullfight which, in many respects, it resembles... The end is as quick, clean and emotionless as the dispatch of a brave fighting bull by the matador... The outcome is usually as predictable but the clash is a heightened moment of suspense that is as exciting as anything the cinema has ever produced...

Richard Thorpe, a reliable director of all genre, and one of MGM's most prolific filmmaker since 1935 directed and produced 'The Last Challenge'/'The Pistolero of Red River.'

Wanting a particular personal style, Thorpe never directed a great motion picture, but had a consistently acceptable batting average as a director of fine, unpretentious entertainment ranging from drama and polished adventure to comedy, musicals and westerns...

With a beautiful body and a timeless loveliness of a face, Angie Dickinson looks great in her black gown... She again figures effectively as the young lady, in love, who wants to stop the shootout... The movie has a Marshal (Glenn Ford) with a reputation as a legendary wild gunfighter, heading for a showdown with a dangerous good-looking challenger Chad Everett...

The John Sherry-Robert Emmett Ginna screenplay features Gary Merrill as a bushy-brow 'Five Card Stud' player, and Jack Elam as the hired killer with an evil leer...

Serious Western by Richard Thorpe and with Glenn Ford as an ex-gunfighter trying to live a pacific existence

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 October 2011]

This Western deals with an aging ex-gunslinger (Glenn Ford) become marshal and challenged to a duel by a rough young (Chad Everett). He is searching for peace and quiet but unable to avoid his reputation and the showdown-challenges it invites .

This is a mature , humourless Hollywood Western with Ford as the gunman turned sheriff attempting and inevitably failing to runaway from his past . It carries a surprising feeling of authenticity for a Western of this twilight period . The filmmaker is good at staging some action sequences , however is slow-moving and developed with dry sense of entertainment . The picture is produced in medium budget by Metro Goldwyn Mayer where the director Richard Thorpe spent 33 years in the same studio and he was to become the longest-servicing filmmaker in their story . In time he became known as the studio's ¨one take¨ because of his rapid shooting schedules . The flick relies heavily on tiring relationship between Glenn Ford and Angie Dickinson who plays a Saloon owner , formerly call-girl . There are good supporting portrayals from Gary Merrill as tough cardsharp , Royal Dano as drunk Indian chief and Jack Elam in his usual role as outlaw .

The picture is professionally directed by Richard Thorpe , though with no originality . Richard liked making escapist movies and many of them have rousing action scenes , handled with great confidence . He directed lesser Western and thrillers when he moved into features in 1924 and did little of note before joining MGM in 1935 . Thorpe made routine studio fare until 1950s when he was given more major assignment . He then made various big-budget productions financed by Pando S Bergman among his best known films are all the MGM Tarzans following his arrival at the studio in 1935 and a series of swashbuckling adventures in the early 1950s featuring Robert Taylor , the most successful of these were three swashbucklers made in England as ¨Knights of Round Table , Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward¨ . Thorpe was an expert on all kind of genres as Western as ¨Vengeance valley , Wild horse , Under Montana skies and Last challenge¨ but his specialty resulted to be adventures as ¨Prisoner of Zenda , The prodigal , Challenge to Lassie , Malaya , Tarzan's secret treasure ,Tarzan escapes , Tarzan finds a son¨ and Musicals as ¨Fun in Acapulco , Rainbow over Broadway , The prince student¨ and his biggest money-maker to date was ¨The great Caruso¨ and his last big box-office hit was ¨Presley' Jailhouse Rock¨ . He also worked briefly in television before retiring in 1968 , his last film was ¨The last challenge', also titled ¨The Pistolero of Red River ¨.

Is There A Doctor In The House?

[cutterccbaxter · 16 August 2005]

Before taking the Hippocratic Oath and joining The Medical Center team, Chad Everett comes riding into a dusty western town to gun down Glenn Ford because Ford is the best gunslinger around. Everett would have been better off asking for pointers from the old gunman because since Ford is a bigger movie star than Everett the odds are against him that he'll prevail in a shootout. The Last Challenge relies on Ford to carry a fairly standard western story that is filled with Hollywood-at-its-worst stereotypes and clichéd characters. Although I did like Outdoors. Ya know why? Because her heart is as big as the great outdoors.

Standard Western With A Good Cast

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 6/10 · 26 February 2008]

Richard Thorpe's "The Last Challenge" aka. "The Pistolero of Red River" of 1967 is an entertaining standard American Western with a good cast. Even though in no way outstanding, this is a solid film that is well worth watching for genre-fans.

Dan Blaine (Glen Ford), the Marshal of a small town in the West, has the reputation of being the fastest and most precise shot around. Since he has been sheriff, the formerly dangerous area has become calm. Blaine, whose beautiful and rich girlfriend (Angie Dickinson) owns a local saloon, is therefore highly respected in his community. One day, however, a young gunslinger named Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) comes to town, with the intention to challenge Blaine in a duel. While he wishes to duel with the sheriff, McGuire is an otherwise friendly and likable guy. Blaine therefore wants to dissuade the young man from his wish...

Glen Ford is very good in the lead, and Chad Everett also delivers a solid performance as the young gunslinger. Beautiful Angie Dickinson is, as always, great in the female lead. The supporting cast includes the great genre actor Jack Elam, who also fits in his role very well. The film is overall entertaining and definitely worth the time. When it comes to Westerns from the late 60s, however, the Italian Westerns are usually incomparably better than those from the United States. While everybody is a bastard in Italian Westerns of the time, all characters are kinda good in this film, which makes it less interesting to me. "The Last Challenge" sure is a solid and entertaining little western, but it also confirmed what I already knew - American Westerns from the late sixties can not compete with their Italian counterparts, as the Spaghetti Westerns beat them in all respects. Nevertheless, a decent film. 6/10

who's the faster draw ?

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 23 February 2022]

Glenn ford, chad everett in a very late western. Angie dickinson, a couple years before police woman. Blaine was a bad boy gone straight, now he's the marshall. Young buck mcguire wants to challenge him, but doesn't want to kill the town marshall. They will meet again. Angie's hairdo's get bigger and sillier as the tale goes on. Some beautiful scenery of arizona. More secrets come out. Final showdown. It's okay. Directed by richard thorpe. His very last film. Based on the novel by john sherry. This seems to be his only work made into film.

standard old fashion western

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 15 March 2022]

Dan Blaine (Glenn Ford) is the Marshal in town and the fastest draw around. Lisa Denton (Angie Dickinson) runs the local brothel. Young gunslinger Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) arrives in town looking to make a name for himself.

This is an old fashion western. It's simple. It's classical. It's standard. It doesn't do anything special. Glenn Ford is the old guard. Everett has his hair. Angie Dickinson could have been special but she isn't given much to do. There may be nothing wrong with this western but it's not one that stands above the crowd.

Good performances, dialogue bolsters standard western

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 27 July 2021]

Hotshot gunfighter Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) intends to make a name for himself by out-duelling legendary bandit-turned-lawman Marshal Dan Blaine (Glenn Ford). Before any bullets fly, however, Lot and his intended enemy strike up an unlikely friendship, and Blaine tries to convince the youngster to call off the shootout. Unfortunately, Lot can't be talked out of his quest for glory and so he guns down a few hostile locals, leaving Blaine no choice but to finally accept the offer for a showdown.

Standard "young gun wants to add notches to his gun to kill a fast gun", which is bolstered by good performances by Glenn Ford, Angie Dickinson and Chad Everett. Meanders a bit in the beginning but when Chad appears it picks up - but it's not too outstanding, can plod in places. It's watchable and has some good dialogue, but mainly routine.

Outstandingly Routine.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 11 April 2015]

Glenn Ford is the formidable gun slinger who serves as a sensible, reasonable, mild-mannered Marshall in the dusty town of Contention, or Purgatorio, or San Placebo, or whatever it is. Oh, the town has its rowdies but it's peaceful enough overall. Ford, knowing he's the best in town, doesn't shoot anyone he doesn't have to.

While fishing in a tiny pool (in the middle of the Sonoran desert) Ford is joined by a stranger. The handsome Chad Everett is headed toward Ford's town of Moribunda, having heard that the town has a Marshall said to be the fastest in the West. Everett has never met the Marshall but he aims to kill him and prove that HE, Everett, is the fastest gun in the West.

When the pair have finished their fish feast of about three or four tiny perch, Ford reveals his identity. Everett is polite, thanks him for sharing the fish, tells him he's going to challenge him to a duel, and rides off towards town.

I didn't stick around until the end. Everett's good side has been so firmly established that I figured either Ford kills him reluctantly, only wounds him, or that Everett decides not to throw down the gauntlet, rides off into the sunset, and joins a Buddhist monastery.

Everything in the movie is conventional and flat. It looks like one of the TV "adult Westerns" that were popular at the time. The men wear the usual cowboy hats. They also wear those pointless open vests that were de rigueur. John Wayne at the time was never without one. Ford wears his signature tan cowboy hat. The gunslinger's gun is a scintillating black with a carved bone handle and is carried cross-wise in a matching black holster.

The business about the upstart wanting to outshoot the established King of the Colts has been worn down to a nubbin and better done elsewhere -- "The Gunfighter", for instance. And I doubt that it ever happened. The narrative has its feet planted solidly on thin air, although it is so much a part of our mythology that one wonders what part of our subcortical structures finds it resonant. SOMEBODY sitting in those theater seats must have wanted to kill everyone until he himself became King of the Colts. That's a pretty base instinct. It got MacBeth nowhere.

Promoting some of the same old myths of the West...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 27 January 2016]

As a history teacher, I have a lot more knowledge about what the old west REALLY was like...and for the most part it was little like you see in westerns. In the case of this film, there is the famed fast- draw sheriff, young punks wanting to prove they are faster and the famed shootouts on main street...all stuff that really did not happen. Sure, it could have happened once or twice (anything is possible) but the west was a lot safer and civilized than you would imagine if you got your history from films! So, I knew going into "The Last Challenge" that the film was complete fiction...a myth of a west filmmakers WISHED had really been.

When the film begins, yet another stupid punk comes into town to challenge the brave Marshall (Glenn Ford). Marshall Blaine blows the snot out of him and the immediate threat is gone. But of course there is another who is on his way to town to challenge the fast- draw sheriff. But something unusual happens--the pair meet on friendly terms while fishing and seem to like each other. Will that change anything or is one of them still destined to assume room temperature?

This is a moderately enjoyable film with a finale that is, pretty much, a foregone conclusion. Not a bad movie...just not at all like the real west. Although a shootout between two guys is common in films, in reality lawmen were very happy to just shoot guys in the back or shotgun them or attack the thug with a group. The whole manly shootout to prove who is the fastest is just mythical.

Mixed Thoughts

[wsuddock · 3/10 · 2 April 2019]

The acting was performed well. But, I always wondered why the "wanna be" gunslinger wore his pistol backwards and therefore, couldn't possibly bring it to bear on a target faster than the person he was facing. I realize it was a movie gimmick but, it just begs belief.

So, Ford did well, Dickinson gave a par performance (A wee bit over the top in spots) and poor young Everett well, he got saddled with an unbelievable handicap. A handicap I just couldn't get past when I watched the movie.

Better than average western.

[Schryer · 8/10 · 9 May 2000]

The basic premise of this movie is quite simple: a young man with no particular talent but a quick draw (Chad Everett) wants to feel important by out drawing the fastest draw around -- an experienced marshall played by Glenn Ford. As the movie progresses, a bond of mutual affection develops between the young gunfighter and the old marshall. The marshall tries every way he can to avoid the inevitable gunfight which he know he will win. This movie is essentially about relationships and the differences between youth and maturity rather than just another gunfight. It's one of my top ten westerns.

Looking for a best quick draw!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 18 April 2019]

This last picture of Richard Thorpe should be better evaluated by IMDB's users that until now had just poorest 800 votes and 18 reviews only, Glenn Ford with his trademark hat with curled side wings so old by heavy usage in so many pictures, appears as the guy looking for a fair retirement, the storyline is quite acceptable, enough to hold the interest on it, some scenes is very unusual as the fishing, apart Ford has to use a gross fishing rod, a fine landscape nearby the river and aftermath a long talking between the old Sheriff and the young challenging, the chat stopped when the truth surfaced, the easy city lifestyle is colorful, a special house of worldly entertainment just for men,is so priceless, before so waiting an irretrievable upcoming confront some compelling sub plots comes alive, as a crook played by the quirky Jack Elam who was hired to kill the young gunfighter, the supporting cast is enough good for a B-western, now on official remastered version!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1989 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25

Specious motivation propels younger gunslinger to take on more seasoned town marshal

[Turfseer · 4/10 · 4 March 2022]

This was prolific director Richard Thorpe's last film, a western with a mediocre title and even more disappointing script. A now middle-aged Glenn Ford stars as Marshall Dan Blaine who goes fishing one day outside the town where he officiates and runs into a cocky young gunslinger Lot McGuire (Chad Everett).

McGuiret says he's looking for Blaine without knowing that he's talking to him and indicates of all things that he's heard of his reputation as just about the fastest gun in the west and wants to challenge him to a duel. Right off the bat McGuire's motivation appears to be completely specious. He simply wants to prove that he's a better shot than the older man?

Why would he risk his life to prove such a point? I could see if the motivation was some kind of revenge against Blaine for some kind of slight in the past or perhaps one of Blaine's friends or relatives had done McGuire wrong. But no it's some sort of completely unconvincing ego sort of thing.

Instead of shooting Blaine dead on the spot the two men engage in some kind of chivalrous tete-a-tete in which they agree that there may be some fireworks down the road. Blaine--with his own checkered past in which he had spent five years in prison--attempts to warn the younger gun enthusiast of his pig-headedness and general folly of his ways but as we shall see to no avail.

There's more incredulity here when Blaine's girlfriend, Lisa Denton (Angie Dickinson), the madame at the local saloon, becomes convinced that McGuire is "dangerous" and intends to harm her boyfriend. So far there's no evidence he's broken the law but Lisa notes how McGuire was quite adept at killing a man for cheating during a poker game at the saloon.

So what does Lisa do? Inexplicably she hires a sleazy down and out gunman to kill McGuire who is ambushed while riding out in the desert. Fortunately for McGuire he manages to wound the assassin who promptly commits suicide.

Despite having been made at the height of the civil rights era, The Last Challenge to its discredit depicts black people as servile and Native Americans as foolish drunks. There's a scene in which Blaine and McGuire band together to neutralize a band of Native Americans who have attacked them in the desert; the duo serves them whiskey and these intrepid warriors all fall flat on their face drunk.

The climax sheds no light on McGuire's motivation except maybe that's he attempting to cement his reputation as some kind of macho badboy by getting into a shootout with Blaine. Of course, the Marshall prevails as he had predicted from the beginning.

There's a minor twist in which Blaine rides into the sunset, passing and leaving his weeping girlfriend in the dust. As it turns out Blaine decides to have nothing more to do with Lisa after she unceremoniously broke the law hiring someone to kill his nemesis.

The trio of Ford, Dickinson and Everett can do little with this material which hardly makes any sense even from the get-go.

Wonderfully Old School!

[sidfargas · 8 June 2021]

Loved the cast. Loved the non-politically correct nature of the script. Especially in the modern era, this movie plays as refreshing and fun. It doesn't bow to any pressure concerning treatment of women or Indians. Delivering complex three dimensional leads and delivers a conclusion out of the box. Absolutely wonderful.

"The best might not live long, but while he's the best, he's alive".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 4 October 2016]

Even though the face to face showdown in the middle of a dusty street was more a product of Hollywood than the Old West, you know what was really incredible to me? Marshal Dan Blaine (Glenn Ford) gave up a 'notion' from girlfriend Lisa Denton (Angie Dickinson) in order to go fishing! What?? No way, or at the very least, couldn't he have found time to fit both activities in during the same day?

Well, the theme here has been done in hundreds of Westerns, and for my money, the one that does it best is Gregory Peck's 1950 film "The Gunfighter". I'm talking about the young, hotshot gunslinger trying to make a name for himself by out-drawing the fastest gun with the best reputation in the territory. The twist here has the opposing gunmen, Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) and Marshal Blaine meeting up on the dusty trail as strangers, and sharing a meal and some camaraderie before their identities are revealed to each other. Once that's done, all bets are off as to McGuire's true intentions regarding the lawman.

I liked Everett in this one, just a few years after appearing as Deputy Del Stark in the TV Western 'The Dakotas", an intelligently written series given the era. Come to think of it, another Dakotas alum appeared here too, Jack Elam as the underhanded trail bum who accepts Miss Denton's offer to take out McGuire before he even reaches town. That was another dynamic I haven't seen before, and made for a confrontational scene between her and the Marshal before the final showdown.

Even though McGuire previewed his ability with a weapon during that rattlesnake scene, Blaine never wavered in his conviction that he could take out the undisciplined, young gunfighter. For a while, I thought the picture might have been setting us up for some conflicted resolution to the final face off, but when the time came, I was surprised how quick and efficient the whole thing went down. No wise guy dialog between the pair of gunfighters, just one man outdrawing the other in classic fashion. But this time, the traditional ride into the sunset occurred with the Marshal throwing away his gun into the opponent's coffin, and the girlfriend left to nurse a weary heart over a miscalculation that sealed her disappointment.

Deja Vu...All Over Again!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 27 August 2019]

If you've seen Glenn Ford in "The Fastest Gun Alive" (1956) you will remember that movie had a "gunman challenging the fast drawing marshal" theme. Again in this story Ford plays a town marshal with a fast draw reputation. This tyime, young gunman Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) takes up the challenge.

McGuire happens upon Marshal Dan Blaine's (Ford) fishing camp and is invited to join Blaine. They share the catch of the day and become friends that is until McGuire learns that his friend is indeed the man he has come to challenge to a gunfight. McGuire leaves the camp vowing to meet Blaine in front of a crowd rather than where they are now.

When McGuire arrives in the town of Suwora he gets into a poker game. Gambler Squint Calloway (Gary Merrill) is winning all the hands. McGuire catches him cheating and kills him in the ensuing argument. Meanwhile, Blaine returns to town to his main squeeze Lisa Denton (Angie Dickenson) a saloon owner and madam.

McGuire continues to insist that Blaine meet him but Blaine tries to dissuade him as he has come to like the young gunman. The feeling appears to be mutual but McGuire is unrelenting in his goal to see who is faster on the draw. Lisa fearing that Blaine might be killed hires gruff gunman Scarnes (Jack Elam) to bushwhack McGuire. Scarnes fails and is killed by McGuire.

McGuire keeps silent on who hired Scarnes after Blaine recognizes the bushwhacker when they go to bury the outlaw. There they encounter a group of Indians led by Pretty Horse (Royal Dano) with whom they share a jug of whiskey. Still, McGuire sticks to his original purpose.

After both men have "one for the road" finally, the destined time arrives. Meanwhile Blaine has learned that it was Lisa who hired Scarnes to kill McGuire. Unable to change McGuire's mind, the two face each other and..........................................................

The increasing tension between the two gunmen is what keeps this story moving. Ford is good as the hardened ex-con Marshal Everett is a bit too pretty to be a cunning gunman but it doesn't hurt to have Angie Dickenson as the female lead either. Gary Merrill's part is all too brief. Jack Elam makes a slimy unshaven bushwhacker as only he could. And watch for ex Wagon Train (TV) alumni Frank McGrath as the livery stable owner.

Not as good as "The Fastest Gun Alive" but entertaining nonetheless.

A real 'stinker' of a western

[laurencefagan · 1/10 · 28 September 2017]

I watched this film on TV on TCM recently after reading the short synopsis and seeing the cast list....Glenn Ford, Angie Dickinson, Jack Elam, Royal Dano and Gary Merrill. A good, reliable line-up. It was a 1967 film as well, sandwiched between The Professionals (1966) and The Wild Bunch (1969), not to mention Butch & Sundance and True Grit, both from the same era. It had to be good. It wasn't...it was awful! The tired plot (ageing gunfighter trying to escape his past with a new young pistolero wanting to prove himself) has been done many times before, and better, but I thought the stellar cast might bring something new to the film...wrong! Poor old Glenn Ford looked his usual world-weary self a bit too much in this film and Jack Elam played his regular character that he's played many times down the years, which is OK if the movie's a good one...if it's not, it doesn't work for me. The most ridiculous waste of talent was the part Royal Dano played, not just an Indian, but a drunken one that wouldn't have been out of place in Blazing Saddles. On top of all that, the film actually looked horrible...it had none of the sharp, colourful camera work that the others I mentioned had, in fact it looked like a 'B' movie to me. The best thing about this film was Angie Dickinson who looked great throughout it. For me, Shane in 1953, set the standard for future westerns, and Rio Bravo ('59) and The Magnificent Seven ('60) kept up this standard with 'grown-up' scripts, good casts and attractive locations. For me, The Last Challenge had none of these ingredients. The only other western I've given a negative review is The Unforgiven with Burt Lancaster (and again, a good cast)...bad, but not quite as bad as this one.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear!

[michaelthompsonmcgill · 1/10 · 12 October 2016]

I never thought I would literally almost fall asleep watching this western.

In no order of merit.

There was absolutely no chemistry between Glenn Ford and Angie Dickinson.

Angie Dickinson spoke her lines as though reading them off a billboard.

Why Glenn Ford took this movie on I for one, will never know because Glenn Ford is up there with the greats.

I found this film totally boring from start to finish.

One of the reviews for this film stated, "At last an adult western".

This in my view was because of the script, it was full of truths about life as a cowboy who is claimed to be fast on the draw, and there will always be a young punk who claims to be faster. That's it in a nut shell.

Glenn Ford The Fast Draw

[byron938 · 8/10 · 23 October 2004]

In many ways The Last Challenge is simlar to the TV show Gunsmoke. Glenn Ford turns in a great performance. As the Marshall of a great western town. He has the respect off all the towns folk. He has a beautiful girlfriend who runs a saloon just like in Gunsmoke. Chad Evertt is the bad guy who rides into town to prove he's the better gun draw. The story is good some moments are a little slow but in the end. The story finally takes shape. One problem in the film. The Producers don't give enough substance to the Marshall. There's not enough gun play to establish the Marshall expertise as a law man. Angie Dickenson's character doesn't give the strong woman role. Like Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke. Chad Evertt's role should have been more dirty.

Byron

Overlong routine duel Western

[Penfold-13 · 5/10 · 15 August 1999]

Chad Everett is the young gunslinger who wants to prove himself faster than Marshal Glenn Ford, the fastest gun around. Marshal tries to convince gunslinger not to waste his life and be useful instead of dying at his hands while Angie Dickinson attempts to prevent the shoot-out.

It is slow, is probably attempting to be evocative, but is basically just boring.

Richard Thorpe's last challenge

[dbdumonteil · 10 February 2010]

A prophetic title for it was to be Richard Thorpe's last movie;he enjoyed a long retirement for he passed away only 24 years later.

He was perhaps tired like his hero,(Glenn Ford)a former gunfighter turned marshal.The ending of the movie is rather pessimistic,which was rare in westerns (there was always something to make up for the unhappy end).The subject is not new (a young lad wants to draw the fastest draw around),only the female character (Angie Dickinson) as the owner of the local saloon and the sheriff's lover stands out:the old Pistolero shows a tendency to react to events instead of initiating them;the prisoner in jail is a drunken Indian and he goes fishing ,leaving his goofy deputy clean the vomit.It seems that Lisa longs for a family life with children (her visit to the farm) but her part is too underwritten.

"Little house" fans will recognize Kevin -Dr Baker- Hagen as a card player.

blind people

[sandcrab277 · 5/10 · 1 October 2019]

Glenn ford met chad everett on the trail at the onset and liked him well enough that when it got to the killing he was hesitant to kill what he thought was a friend ... and after he killed him, he was very remorseful ... this was patterned after an age old theme of who is the fastest gun ... the rest of it was dull

Dick Thorpe's swan song

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 9 January 2019]

The last challenge and also movie for the great and prolific Richard Thorpe, the faithful and hard worker MGM best yes man film maker. He had no really style, no trade mark, but was a damn good movie director. This western is a pure litlle gem for me, who discovered it when I was a child. I recently watched a Japanese samurai feature - Zatoichi series - and I suddenly realized that this western scheme looks very like a Japanese samurai movie, speaking of friendship, honor, and sacrifice. I noticed that in many movies from the rising sun country, you also had this topic: the main lead, hero, fighting against evil dudes and in the same time being helped by a faithful sidekick who, in the end, will challenge him with unfortunately expected results. You feel empathy for both lead characters, for instance the movie doesn't focus only on Ford's one, but also from time to time on Everett's too. No bad guy vs good guy scheme either, and I LOVE that. Look for yourself.

Glen Ford vehicle

[don-49159 · 8/10 · 29 April 2021]

Simple plot as usual for westerns of this decade. Excellent top level cast with Ford, Chad Everett, Angie Dickinson and others. A good viewing if you like westerns. Definitely recommended.