This movie is barely watchable. Several times I almost shut it off. Writing this review was the only thing that kept me watching. I was suckered into watching it because of a great cast, including Ray Milland, Raymond Burr, Ward Bond and Lee Van Cleef. Not bad, right? Wrong. Also my Comcast on screen guide gave it three stars out of four, when it should have had just one star.
The biggest problem is the implausibility of most of the plot. Through a series of preposterous coincidences, Wes Steele, a notorious gunfighter, finds himself falsely accused of the murder of six people in a small town.
Even more preposterously, he is harbored in the town by the Sheriff's daughter, who proceeds to fall in love with him in less than 24 hours, despite the fact that he is at least 30 years older than her and provides no evidence that he is not responsible for the killings.
A half hour into the movie it would have been clear to a five year old exactly how all the conflicts were going to be resolved. This resulted in the movie having zero dramatic tension.
Wes, although a notorious gunfighter, is a copycat of Gregory Peck's character in "The Gunfighter", which was released five years before this movie.
Implausibly, he's a "good guy" who's never killed anyone except in self defense, is running away from his reputation blah blah blah. Like Peck's Ringo Kid, he is engaged in massive self pity party about how tough his life is because of his "name".
Of course, for no apparent reason he announces almost immediately to the girl that he is none other than the famous gunfighter, Wes Steele. Later in the movie, he continues to share this information with just about anyone else who will listen
It would have been very easy and consistent with the presentation of his character to keep that information to himself, but then that would make sense and be out of step with the movie, which makes no sense.
And exactly how in 1880's Arizona did people keep their shirts so perfectly pressed? Especially after they've wandered for days through the desert with only a canteen and a gun on them? Amazing.
The movie also lacks several things I like to see in a Western, like outdoor locations. This was shot almost 100 pct in Burbank. In the opening scene, Milland almost knocks over one of the fake cacti on the set. Hilarious.
There are no Indians, except a crude reference to possible murdering Apaches on the loose. There are a couple of Mexican characters, who are treated with no respect or humanity.
I'd say the most interesting thing about this movie was the presence of Alan Hale, honing his acting skills in preparation for his future as the Skipper in Gilligan's Island.
Also, it was interesting to note that both Hale and Mary Murphy had later guest appearances on Burr's TV show "Ironside" and on Bond's TV show "Wagon Train". I guess those guys took care of their own.
It was also interesting that Alan Hale played one of the three avenging brothers in "The Gunfighter", a film in which Gregory Peck played an identical character to Wes Steele of "A Man Alone".
The biggest problem is the implausibility of most of the plot. Through a series of preposterous coincidences, Wes Steele, a notorious gunfighter, finds himself falsely accused of the murder of six people in a small town.
Even more preposterously, he is harbored in the town by the Sheriff's daughter, who proceeds to fall in love with him in less than 24 hours, despite the fact that he is at least 30 years older than her and provides no evidence that he is not responsible for the killings.
A half hour into the movie it would have been clear to a five year old exactly how all the conflicts were going to be resolved. This resulted in the movie having zero dramatic tension.
Wes, although a notorious gunfighter, is a copycat of Gregory Peck's character in "The Gunfighter", which was released five years before this movie.
Implausibly, he's a "good guy" who's never killed anyone except in self defense, is running away from his reputation blah blah blah. Like Peck's Ringo Kid, he is engaged in massive self pity party about how tough his life is because of his "name".
Of course, for no apparent reason he announces almost immediately to the girl that he is none other than the famous gunfighter, Wes Steele. Later in the movie, he continues to share this information with just about anyone else who will listen
It would have been very easy and consistent with the presentation of his character to keep that information to himself, but then that would make sense and be out of step with the movie, which makes no sense.
And exactly how in 1880's Arizona did people keep their shirts so perfectly pressed? Especially after they've wandered for days through the desert with only a canteen and a gun on them? Amazing.
The movie also lacks several things I like to see in a Western, like outdoor locations. This was shot almost 100 pct in Burbank. In the opening scene, Milland almost knocks over one of the fake cacti on the set. Hilarious.
There are no Indians, except a crude reference to possible murdering Apaches on the loose. There are a couple of Mexican characters, who are treated with no respect or humanity.
I'd say the most interesting thing about this movie was the presence of Alan Hale, honing his acting skills in preparation for his future as the Skipper in Gilligan's Island.
Also, it was interesting to note that both Hale and Mary Murphy had later guest appearances on Burr's TV show "Ironside" and on Bond's TV show "Wagon Train". I guess those guys took care of their own.
It was also interesting that Alan Hale played one of the three avenging brothers in "The Gunfighter", a film in which Gregory Peck played an identical character to Wes Steele of "A Man Alone".