The Gunfighter (1950)

Intriguing premise for a western. Gregory Peck is really good. Can't say I found it entertaining. 5/10.

“The Gunfighter” didn’t do all that well at the box office but it’s influence on subsequent westerns is immeasurable. The archetype of the aging gunfighter, the end of an era, and the passing to another generation essentially began here. I wonder if we could have had “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid,” “The Wild Bunch,” or any of a dozen titles we could think of, if not for “The Gunfighter.”

Amazingly, Peck was only 33 years old when he etched this complex portrait of a tired and cynical gunfighter. Sometimes a physical trait or special costume will help an actor reach a character. In this case, I think, it was Ringo’s mustache, a bold move because Gregory Peck had never appeared with facial hair and fan response was uncertain.

A story I know I have told on this board before but I love is that when studio head Darryl F. Zanuck saw the first rough cut, he went ballistic and ordered the ‘stash to go and all scenes reshot. Peck, director Henry King, and cinematographer Arthur C. Miller convinced him that a total reshoot would be too expensive. Zanuck blamed Peck’s facial hair for the film’s not performing as well at the box office as expected. Even though the picture did turn a profit, Zanuck grossed about it for a long time. Years later at a party, he told Peck, “That goddam mustache cost me a million dollars.”

One last word for one of pictures' most unsung character actors, Millard Mitchell, superb in “The Gunfighter.”