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The Fastest Gun Alive

The Fastest Gun Alive

Drama · Western · 1956

Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunman George and his wife Dora have to flee the town, in fear of all the gunmen who might want to challenge him. Unfortunately he again spills his secret when he's drunk. All citizens swear to keep his secret and support him to give up his guns forever -- but a boy tells the story to a gang of wanted criminals. Their leader threatens to burn down the whole town, if he doesn't duel him.

Movie details

The Fastest Gun Alive

“WHAT HAPPENS in the next few minutes makes one of the most dramatic climaxes of any story you've ever seen!”

1956 Drama · Western 1h 29m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunman George and his wife Dora have to flee the town, in fear of all the gunmen who might want to challenge him. Unfortunately he again spills his secret when he's drunk. All citizens swear to keep his secret and support him to give up his guns forever -- but a boy tells the story to a gang of wanted criminals. Their leader threatens to burn down the whole town, if he doesn't duel him.

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 Fastest Gun Alive?

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.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Russell Rouse

Written by

Frank D. Gilroy · Russell Rouse

Glenn Ford

Glenn Ford

George Temple / George Kelby, Jr.

Jeanne Crain

Jeanne Crain

Dora Temple

Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford

Vinnie Harold

Russ Tamblyn

Russ Tamblyn

Eric Doolittle

Allyn Joslyn

Allyn Joslyn

Harvey Maxwell

Leif Erickson

Leif Erickson

Lou Glover

John Dehner

John Dehner

Taylor Swope

Court is in session

Put The Fastest Gun Alive on trial.

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

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“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.