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.