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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Man with the Gun

Growing up, one of my conflicts was with my father over the television. Nobody had more than one in those days, and he liked to watch the football games. I scanned TV guides for old movies. It was not a problem with the late movies as back then there were usually one or maybe two channels that ran old films after 11:30. No games that late, but it often would be him and me who would be sitting up watching those films.

I am not sure that I saw 'Man with the Gun' back in those days. If I had, I forgot it. I read about it being out on DVD in a list of reviews of western films. Man with the Gun is a typical noir western-- black and white, dark people, with Robert Mitchum playing a hero who may or may not end up a bad guy. Mitchum played these parts so well and sometimes he was the villain but more often he was the good guy. I have seen most of the movies he made and never am disappointed at his performance.

The rest of the cast is typical for westerns with a couple of surprises like Angie Dickinson as a dance hall girl before she started her climb to fame. Some of the bad guys, like Claude Akins, only western aficionados will recognize. Henry Hull plays an old sheriff and as always adds to every scene. John Lupton, who had success in television, is the young male trying to prove himself. Jan Sterling covers the romantic interest as a strong-willed woman who takes care of herself and can stand up against Mitchum's character-- which takes some doing (not that most women would have minded trying).

Thinking about leading men's faces today, so often they all kind of blend together but nobody blends with Mitchum's face. He was a mix of many ethnicities and it shows-- one of a kind. It is easy to see him as the stranger who comes to town with a reputation as a Town Tamer. There were a few historic characters like this in the Old West, but a lot less than the movies would have us think. They fascinate because of their danger. On which side of the law they operate is a thin line.

Where the movie is accurate and fits today's political world is in illustrating what can be required to clean up political messes. Often it isn't the price the public is willing to pay. Do it without us noticing and at no real cost. Town tamers are noticed and today if we get a leader into Washington who really wants to clean up things, you will hear screaming from the right and the left.

For anyone who loves the old westerns as much as I do, I heartily recommend Man with the Gun. It has enough character development, a bittersweet love story, and enough action to make it worth seeing more than once-- for a western lover.

4 comments:

Dick said...

Those movies are really timeless. They don't get dated by the type of car they drove or only having a B&W TV, etc. A western made today isn't a lot different from a western made 40 or 50 years ago except for who the actors are. It seems like they could come back and be popular again just as they were when we were growing up. Although today's theme's are a bit more mature oriented than most were back then.

The political thing will be interesting to observe. I don't know if any one person in any office can really influence the government machine we seem to have now. I have thought that two good things would be time limits in office that applied to all office holders and a rule they could not append an amendment to a bill that did not directly relate to the original bill. I don't think we will ever see either of those come from Congress though. The powers that be don't want them and we will never have a chance to vote on something similar.

Mary Lou said...

Golly, You had me going there for a moment...No Politics??? AH HA!!! and you are so right. No one wants to sacrifice to make a change.

Diane Widler Wenzel said...

Well you have done it again, I have not been a "Western" lover but when you connect it with today's politics that means Westerns are an American myth maker. So to have a deeper understanding of politics, watch old Westerns for how they inspire the general public. My desire to look at them is turned on.

Anonymous said...

Claude Akins was a North Carolinian and co-starred in the television series Movin' On with Frank Converse.