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The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter

Western · 1950

The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

Movie details

The Gunfighter

“His only friend was his gun... His only refuge - a woman's heart!”

1950 Western 1h 25m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.7 / 10

13.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

93 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

94 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Gunfighter?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

High Noon

High Noon

Western · 1952

Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.

Open Range

Open Range

Western · 2003

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Western · 1962

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

Day of the Outlaw

Day of the Outlaw

Western · 1959

Blaise Starrett is a rancher at odds with homesteaders when outlaws hold up the small town. The outlaws are held in check only by their notorious leader, but he is diagnosed with a fatal wound and the town is a powder keg waiting to blow.

Gunman's Walk

Gunman's Walk

Western · 1958

A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.

Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo

Western · 1959

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Tall in the Saddle

Tall in the Saddle

Western · 1944

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp

Western · 1994

From Wichita to Dodge City, to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp is taught that nothing matters more than family and the law. Joined by his brothers and Doc Holliday, Earp wages war on the dreaded Clanton and McLaury gangs.

Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles

Western · 1974

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor, so Hedley convinces him to send the town the first black sheriff in the west.

Cahill: United States Marshal

Cahill: United States Marshal

Drama · 1973

J.D. Cahill is the toughest U.S. Marshal they've got, just the sound of his name makes bad guys stop in their tracks, so when his two young boy's want to get his attention they decide to rob a bank. They end up getting more than they bargained for.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Henry King

Written by

William Bowers · William Sellers · André de Toth

Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

Jimmy Ringo

Helen Westcott

Helen Westcott

Peggy Walsh

Millard Mitchell

Millard Mitchell

Marshal Mark Strett

Jean Parker

Jean Parker

Molly

Karl Malden

Karl Malden

Mac

Skip Homeier

Skip Homeier

Hunt Bromley

Anthony Ross

Anthony Ross

Deputy Charlie Norris

Court is in session

Put The Gunfighter on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.