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The Gunfighter (1950) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   2,743 votes
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Up 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Henry King
Writers:
William Bowers (story) and
André De Toth (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Gunfighter on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 August 1950 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Western | Drama more
Tagline:
RINGO WAS HIS NAME! THE CHALLENGE OF EVERY OUTLAW GUNMAN! THE NOTORIOUS SELF-DEFENSE KILLER! (original print ad - all caps) more
Plot:
Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination more
User Comments:
A very careful adult Western set in a believable community... more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Gregory Peck ... Jimmy Ringo
Helen Westcott ... Peggy Walsh
Millard Mitchell ... Marshal Mark Strett
Jean Parker ... Molly

Karl Malden ... Mac
Skip Homeier ... Hunt Bromley
Anthony Ross ... Deputy Charlie Norris
Verna Felton ... Mrs. August Pennyfeather
Ellen Corby ... Mrs. Devlin
Richard Jaeckel ... Eddie
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Additional Details

Runtime:
85 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Based on the life and exploits of an actual old west gunslinger named John Ringo, a distant cousin of the outlaw Younger family. The real Ringo was a ruthless murderer and survivor of the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral, against (Dr.) John Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the Earp brothers. Also unlike the movie's account, the actual John Ringo - that was his real name, incidentally--suffered a severe bout of melancholy following a visit to his family in California in July, 1882 and went on a monumental ten-day alcoholic binge, which climaxed when Ringo sat down under an oak tree, drew his gun, and used it to commit suicide. more
Quotes:
Marshal Mark Strett: Somebody after you?
Jimmy Ringo: Three somebodies.
Marshal Mark Strett: The law?
Jimmy Ringo: Naw, this is personal.
Marshal Mark Strett: I don't want 'em to catch up with you here.
Jimmy Ringo: I don't want 'em to catch up with me anywhere.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Rock of Ages more

FAQ

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33 out of 37 people found the following comment useful:-
A very careful adult Western set in a believable community..., 22 November 1999
8/10

Is there any place, any retreat, any home of retirement, that an inevitably tiring gunman can move on to?

This predicament is best conveyed, explored and given its full tragic weight in Henry King's 'The Gunfighter.'

Ringo (Gregory Peck), wearing his reputation as the fastest gun in the south-west territories like a heavy load, enters each bar warily when he needs a quiet drink, knowing full well the reaction—fear, respect, perhaps admiration, and certainly the intervention in some form or other of a young upstart with itchy gun-fingers.

Although Ringo, guilty for previous sins, tries to refrain and to avoid the shoot-out... But he is always compelled to eliminate the worthless maladjusted gunmen, wishful for a big name...

The pattern is set early on when Peck has to shoot a boy (Richard Jaecke1) in self-defense. And so a feud begins—you feel it's only one of many—with the three brothers of the boy (Alan Hale Jr., David Clarke and John Pickard) hell-bent for revenge…

Peck deals with this situation, at least for the moment, sighs and then moves on to a place that passes for home... Here is his wife (Helen Westcott) and his son, who won't, however, be providing him with a welcome since in the eight years that husband and family have been apart the wife has been trying to build a life of their own… Here also is a sheriff (Millard Mitchell) formerly engaged in Peck's outlaw activities, but now reformed, and an old girl friend (Jean Parker) ready to he1p him in anything that concerns him most… His actual concern is reconciliation with his wife and a new life together… There is a tentative rapprochement but, of course, there is another of those young contender interventions, this time in the person of Skip Homeier…

Henry King draws up carefully the ultimate end of the 'top gun of the West.' His film is an inclination towards a classical tragedy, destined to be destroyed inevitably... Peck strikes the right note from his first edgy entry... He wants to shake off his past... He is disgusted to kill in order to survive... He is aimless for a change, sick with death and glory, showing tiredness of killing, conscious to a tragic fate one day...

Peck is superb in his brief and nervy reunion with his small son, impressed like the rest of the local kids by the fact that Jimmy Ringo, the gunfighter, is in town...

"The Gunfighter", keen and penetrating, explosive and tense, is beautifully acted, tautly directed and superbly photographed by Arthur Miller in black-and-white...

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Otherwise fine film... (*spoiler*) netstvdvs
Check out the cinematography! neighturboy
Coming on DVD? stevenwill
Movie Trailer? hydr0x
history behind johnny/jimmy ringo??? agoreski
help me please b-adams
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