#1053: KING, Henry: The Gunfighter (1950)

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KING, Henry (United States)
The Gunfighter [1950]
Spine #1053
Blu-ray


A key forerunner of the new breed of dark, brooding westerns that would soon cast a shadow over America's frontier folklore, this subversive psychological saga sounds a death knell for the myth of the outlaw hero. In one of his morally complex roles, Gregory Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, an infamous gunslinger looking to hang up his holsters and start a new life, but whose reputation draws him inexorably into a cycle of violence and revenge from which he cannot escape. Directed with taut efficiency by the versatile studio-era craftsman Henry King, and shot in striking deep-focus by master cinematographer Arthur C. Miller, The Gunfighter forgoes rough-and-tumble action in favor of an elegiac exploration of guilt and regret that speaks to the anxious soul of postwar America.

84 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writers


From a story by William Bowers and Andre de Toth.
Screenplay by Bowers and William Sellers.
Henry King was 64 when he directed The Gunfighter.

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by film critic K. Austin Collins.

Commentary

None.

Interview

About director King and The Gunfighter with filmmaker, writer, and archivist Gina Telaroli.

Video essay

On editor Barbara McLean by film historian and author J.E. Smyth.

Audio excerpts

Of interviews with King and McLean from 1970 and ‘71.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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