Nonureva Really Surprised!

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

kenjha A town is unhappy with its marshall but can't get rid of him. Don Siegel was let go as the director and was replaced by Allen Smithee, the first film credited to the fictitious name, which is usually an indication that a film is likely to be not good. While the direction is lackluster, the script is even worse. Widmark plays a marshall with a reputation for a quick trigger. He refuses to turn in his badge when asked to do so by the town council, which hired him. The reason for this bizarre behavior is not explained. It's strange seeing Horne in a Western. She does OK in a rare dramatic role, although she's given little to do.

Spikeopath Death of a Gunfighter is directed by Don Siegel and Robert Totten under the pseudonym of Alan Smithee. It's adapted to screenplay by Joseph Calvelli from the novel written by Lewis B. Patten. it stars Richard Widmark, Lena Horne and Carroll O'Connor. A Technicolor production it sees music is by Oliver Nelson and cinematography by Andrew Jackson. Plot sees Widmark as Patch, an old style lawman in the town of Cottonwood Springs, a town that the community elders want to see move with the times. When Patch kills a drunk in self defence, the town denizens see it as the ideal opportunity to oust him from office. But Patch isn't that keen to leave his post....It carries with it some historical cinematic value in that it was the first time the name Alan Smithee was seen on the directing credits. A name that come to be associated with films where the director who worked on it wanted his name off of the credits. Here it was Don Siegel, who only came in for the last two weeks of filming after Widmark and Totten fell out. The finished product, whilst no duffer, is still a lukewarm experience, not helped by the fact that the theme at its core has been done considerably better in other Western offerings. On the plus side there is Widmark stoically giving his anachronism role some real emotional depth, and the finale does not want for dramatic impact. But it plays out like a TV movie, with no visual flourishes, and the cosmopolitan make up of the townsfolk is not utilised to aid the story. 6/10

classicsoncall The central theme here is the idea that the town fathers of Cottonwood Springs want to find a way to get rid of their Marshal Frank Patch (Richard Widmark), because he evolved into a lawless gunman who killed opponents for no good reason. However I don't think the picture did a very good job of building that premise. The Marshal had a single gunfight at the beginning of the picture, taking out a drunken Luke Mills (Jimmy Lydon) who died some time later. In all other respects, Patch did not come on like a hot head or a bully, and when you get right down to it, he seemed to be a fairly reasonable lawman. At no time did he approach the savagery say, of a character like Gene Hackman's Little Bill Daggett, Marshal of Big Whiskey in 1992's "Unforgiven". So the basic plot of the story didn't work for me.Perhaps then, more could have been made of the psychological angle when it was mentioned that Patch knew too many of the town's dark secrets, like who slept around with who, and what shady business dealings they might have been involved with. This idea wasn't taken very far either, leaving another plot line simply dangling.Probably the best that can be said about Patch and the picture in general, is that he wasn't going to run just because he wasn't wanted. So you had some Will Kane ("High Noon") in his character, and like Kane, he married his sweetheart before the final showdown. Though the cowardly murder of Patch that followed was inevitable given the premise, it was just that, a murder, and not a successful resolution for the town of Cottonwood Springs, which would have to live with that stain after the final credits rolled.1969 seemed to be a seminal year for TV and movie portrayals of interracial romance. TV's first black woman/white man kiss occurred, ready for this?, between Captain Kirk and Lieutanant Uhura on an episode of Star Trek called 'Plato's Stepchildren'. That same year, things got a little bolder when ex-football player Jim Brown heated up the screen with Raquel Welch in the Western "100 Rifles". That may explain the only reason for Lena Horne to appear in this one, as her role was entirely secondary otherwise. In fact, the picture missed another opportunity by never referencing her race, when that could have added another dimension to the town father's disregard for their peace officer.

Brian W. Fairbanks Started by Robert Totten, then taken over by Don Siegel at the insistence of Richard Widmark (Totten and the star "clashed," as they say), "Death of a Gunfighter" wound up credited to the fictitious and now somewhat famous Alan Smithee. This intriguing Western remains the elusive director's best work, thanks, no doubt, to the proven skills of Siegel and another terrific Widmark performance (the director and star had previously collaborated on "Madigan" a year earlier). As sheriff Widmark's love interest, Lena Horne hasn't much to do, but she looks good doing it.