Popular reviews

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  Review by Channing Pomeroy ★★★★★ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  “There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice.

  I don’t remember who I was or where I was bound.

  All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck, he wore a gun and he was shot in the back.

  Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down.”

  — “Brownsville Girl” by Bob Dylan and Sam Shepard

  That wonderful line, “seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down,” tells us about the Dylan singing us this story and the movie that moved him. At one time Dylan must have felt much like Jimmy Ringo, the best there was, isolated by legend and with…

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  Review by theriverjordan ★★★★½ 20

  At 35-years-old, you might envy a guy for going into early retirement. But in “The Gunfighter,” Gregory Peck makes every one of those trips around the sun look like an eternity he spent passing through hell. 

  Director Henry King’s Western is like a reverse “High Noon.” Which was, coincidentally, the role Peck was offered - and turned down - after “Gunfighter.” Similarly set over the course of one afternoon in a one horse town, “Gunfighter’s” build-up is not to a confrontation, but the hope of avoiding one. 

  King’s film works over the machismo of the genre. It mulls over what to do when an entire subsection of film depends upon the conflict from men getting into fights with other men.…

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★ 1

  73

  A film that reconciles with regret, celebrity, and the reality of the myths created in the west. Quite lovely and understated.

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  Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 7

  "Well the trouble so far ain't been him demoralizing the town, it's the town demoralizing him. Some fella I hear just tried to demoralize him with a Winchester."

  One of the greatest western texts on honor and masculinity and how perception and reputation and mythology all misrepresent reality.

  Gregory Peck is The Gunfighter, the fastest gun in the West—but he doesn't want to be that anymore, and it becomes increasingly unclear that it was never a goal of his to begin with. But nevertheless, everywhere he goes he finds young, upstart little pipsqueaks who want to prove their worth by challenging him to a shootout. So when an arrogant kid draws on him in a saloon, Peck kills him in…

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  Review by SebastianX ★★★★

  78%

  Gunfighter adds his reflections and effective presence over a well-known name. It is interesting how Jimmy always seems to be calm, attracting looks, not deviating from his goals, even causing a commotion outside. aiming only at his reconciliation with the past, remaining in his space as long as possible, until the final moments transfer the revolt over his killer, to unload this burden on an unpleasant character, and thus provide us with a final lightness. here Millard Mitchell attracts the spotlight for his performance as a lawman, without expending the necessary energies, just consolidating a classic of permanent effectiveness.

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  Review by Jesse Snoddon ★★★★½ 2

  "Well if he ain't so tough there's been an awful lotta natural deaths in his vicinity."

  Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) has a fearsome reputation as one of the fastest hands in the west. But he's getting older. He's starting to see past the illusion that this kind of reputation brings anything but suffering. He can't go anywhere without cocky young men who want to make a name for themselves trying to pick a fight. Most towns find it easier to ask him to move along than to try and prevent the violence that accompanies him, even though it isn't really his fault. He's worn down from being constantly wary and looking for a way out, which leads him to make…

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  Review by ConnorAndrew ★★★★★ 1

  Deeply revisionist, beautifully shot, and emphatically performed. Henry King's The Gunfighter is a special western. It clearly lays out a formula that many, many movies would be inspired by such as Logan and Unforgiven. For a film that's less than 90 minutes it's downright awe-inducing how much world-building this film has. The character arcs are deeply realized. This is a masterclass in chamber-piece film-making and one of the best westerns I've ever seen, hands down.

  It's deconstruction of the hero myth results in a devastating statement on the lasting consequences of violence. The weight of the film leaves an indelible scar. The Gunfighter is not just an essential western, but essential cinema in general. It's a breath of fresh air…

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  Review by eely ★★★½ 1

  gregory peck: whips out his gun and shoots a man 
  me: alexa play “my heart belongs to daddy” by marilyn monroe

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  Review by Raphael Georg Klopper ★★★★½ 3

  A sorrowful wait for the chance of reconciliation

  ‘Early-revisionist’ is a term that may fall over-used, not to say redundant when used to some of the 50’s era Western that, in their own way, already started facing the genre as something away from the big heart-pounding evocative small-scale spectacles between the moral clash of good vs evil in a lawless time period. Henry King’s The Gunfighter being one of the greatest examples of such.

  Though I would complimentary argue that its own set “break of norms” that’s accomplished here, feel already very ahead of its time, in its cold lack of action and more lenient towards the dramatic angle than any care for gunfighting action – especially ironic hence the…

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  Review by Michael501 📺 ★★★½

  Films from 1950 - Film 12

  Disenchanted gunslinger Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) is heading towards a reunion with his son, and, he hopes, a new life free of bloodshed. However, before he can reach his destination, he is confronted by a local hot-head who forces him into a shoot-out. The brothers of the young assailant vow to gain their revenge after Ringo guns him down in self-defence.

  This is another western from 1950 that I have thoroughly enjoyed. It has a tightly written script that’s about the perfect length, and it never got boring or outstayed it’s welcome. 
  Gregory Peck is outstanding, he plays a haunted man, trying to exchange his reputation for a simple quiet existence. This is further proof how was I wrong about older westerns.

  The Gunfighter is a well-written tightly constructed, tragic story filmed in stark black and white , and must be up there with one of Gregory Peck’s best films.

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  Review by Alex ★★★★½

  Love this story. Jimmy Ringo aspired to be the best in the West with a pistol but once he found out what that title truly meant, he wanted nothing to do with it, only problem is that word spread and every young hot shot wants a piece of him. Gregory Peck is phenomenal in this and has such a quick draw that if you blink, you might miss seeing it. 

  Can’t think of a better way to start my day than watching this badass rootin tootin Western.

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  Review by Fabian ★★★★ 10

  Western Marathon | Film #26: The Gunfighter (1950)

  The Gunfighter is one of the most tragic tales of the western genre in that it deconstructs the myth of the celebrated gunslinger, likely the most recurring figure of the entire genre, who tries to circumvent his notorious reputation. A timeless statement on the side effects of celebrity culture and fake news, Henry King's film provides an argument that has not lost its value or its relevance during the past seventy years.

  Despite my usual indifference towards Gregory Peck's wooden style of acting, his presence works favorably in his recreation of the myth of the reputable western hero. He portrays the much-celebrated idol of western culture, except The Gunfighter reveals just how toxic the implications of such a concept are in the first place.

  1950 Ranked