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The Man with the Gun [1955] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
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Our Price: £6.14 (subject to change)
Town Tamer
Review date: 2008-10-12 Rating: 8 out of 10
Man With the Gun is pretty much forgotten now, but caused a minor storm of media interest back in 1955 when Robert Mitchum turned down both Jett Rink in Giant (which had actually been written for him and which was subsequently substantially reworked) and Charles Laughton's intended version of The Naked and the Dead to make it instead.
Despite some obvious production problems and some harsh lighting that occasionally renders both Mitch and Jan Sterling in unflattering tones, it's a terrific dark western that more than stands comparison with his earlier Blood on the Moon as his `town tamer' sets to work on a town that never had the chance to grow up before getting run down by the local badmen before turning out to - possibly - be almost as bad as the men he despatches. Certainly his way of dealing with news of a death in the family - burning a saloon to the ground and goading its manager into trying to kill him - doesn't inspire much confidence in his stability.
As well as a good script and a surprisingly good supporting turn from the usually irritating but here well cast Henry Hull, it also boasts a strikingly good early Alex North score, which even includes an early workout for one of his tormented emotional cues that would later turn up in Spartacus.
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Jan Sterling
Henry Hull
Emile Meyer
Karen Sharpe
Robert Mitchum
Creators:
Robert Mitchum (Primary Contributor)
Jan Sterling (Primary Contributor)
Lee Garmes (Cinematographer)
Richard Wilson (Writer)
Gene Milford (Editor)
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. (Producer)
N.B. Stone Jr. (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: United Artists
Manufacturer: United Artists
EAN: 0883904107224
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC,
Release date: 2008-05-13
Universal product code (UPC): 883904107224
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 83 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1955
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)