classicsoncall
A gunslinger with a compelling and unique brand of personal honor arrives in the town of Pecos, New Mexico Territory, apparently in advance of a citizen who was sent on a mission to find one. I'm not quite sure what the film makers were trying to achieve with the appearance of the Dancer (Dal Jenkins) arriving by stagecoach, but the town folk certainly wouldn't have got their money's worth out of that Don Knotts-like character. The guy was afraid of his own shadow.Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner) maintains that he's 'not human' while relying on a fast gun and an unusual insight into the human condition as he sizes up the residents of the small Western town. Hired to kill a returning Confederate soldier (George Segal) who threatens to shake up the existing order in the pro-Union town, 'Jewel' begins to realize that his intended victim has more integrity and courage than the folks who hired him. A not so subtle backdrop of racism against Mexicans in the divided town also works it's affect upon the Creole born gunman.Personally, if I were handling the script I wouldn't have had d'Estaing resort to a drunken rampage to bring the town to it's knees. I feel he would have had a more forceful impact if he'd taken on the town head on. However I found the exchange between Jewel and the citizens kind of interesting. When the sheriff (Bert Freed) drew down on him, Jewel shot the gun out of his hand, but when Crane Adams (Clifford David) did the same, he was shot dead for his trouble. It made me wonder if Crane's shooting was fatal because of Jewel's professed love for Ruth Adams (Janice Rule), or whether the shooting angle provided no other way to defend himself.I'm a little conflicted on Brynner's performance here. Perhaps because Jules d'Estaing was a conflicted individual himself trying to find his way in an unsettled West with a history of personal abuse and racism himself. I thought his characterization would have been helped if he took his own advice as given to Ruth Adams, and that was to smile once in a while.
LexiconDST
*Minor spoiler, mentioned by most other reviewers*I agree that the acting is all over the place; it was a great idea, that was too weighty to be executed through this particular writing, casting and direction.My only caveat is that, speaking from personal experience, it's often the more covert forms of racism and classism that are the straws on the camel's back. One can laugh at buffoons yelling epithets directly, and one can challenge hoods in white hoods. Societal snubbing is more insidiously toxic/cancerous, and harder to dismiss. Plus, seeing other humans relegated to this version of The Bottoms, humiliation added upon humiliation, seeing others not fighting the corruption and degradation, realizing you were paid to kill someone who didn't "need" killing...it could be that type of pressure cooker.
ma-cortes
Studio-slick story with talky screenplay, it starts when Confederate soldier named Matt Weaver (George Segal) goes back to his village after the Civil War, he encounters that his house has been sold by landowner Sam Brewster (Pat Hingle). Brewster hires enigmatic gunfighter Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner) to deal with Weaver and charged with taking him out but d'Estaing's independent approach settles the issues in a very unorthodox manner . When Jules is assigned for cleaning up the troubled community , he suddenly shifts loyalties and turning the balance of power. Meanwhile , there takes place a lovely triangle among the main characters (Brynner, Segal and Janice Rule).This is a tremendously exciting story of a gunfighter-for-hire who had only one more killing to go. It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters and solid plot ; resulting to be a striking piece. Long on dialog but contains an exciting final with surprising duel . The tale is almost grim , a killer comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . Short on action Western with Brynner as rare gunslinger who is hired as professional murderous to kill outcast Confederate George Segal. The highlights are the violent destruction of the town and the climatic showdown at the ending. Phenomenal and great role for Yul Brynner as avenger angel and bitter gunfighter, he's the whole show at the height of his iconic game . Vivid and lively musical score by David Raksin. Atmospheric cinematography in glimmer color by Joseph McDonald. The motion picture is professionally realized by Richard Wilson (Al Capone , Three in Attic). Wilson was a previous associate of Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre days and made another good Western as ¨Man with a gun¨, starring Robert Mitchum and ¨Zane Grey¨ episodes. Watchable results for this offbeat Western.
zardoz-13
"Invitation to a Gunfighter" doesn't qualify as your typical horse opera. This loquacious, pretentious, and ultimately sluggish sagebrusher about racism and civil rights—a little ahead of its time—foreshadowed Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" about a gunfighter hired by a town to protect it from a trigger-happy former Confederate soldier. Clearly, producer & director Richard Wilson and wife Elizabeth had other ideas in mind when they contrived their offbeat screenplay from veteran television writer Alvin Sapinsley's adaptation of a story by "Johnny Carson's Tonight Show" monologue writers Hal Goodman and Larry Klein. "Invitation to a Gunfighter" bears the burden of social consciousness. Can you imagine its executive producer Stanley Kramer of "The Defiant Ones," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "The Juggler," and "RPM" doing a picture that shunned racism and civil rights? Mind you, Kramer also produced the classic Gary Cooper oater "High Noon" and there is a touch of "High Noon" in "Invitation to a Gunfighter." Although Yul Brynner graces this frontier yarn with its striking presence and modulated performance, "Invitation to a Gunfighter" just isn't very memorable. For example, our anti-heroic gunman doesn't demonstrate his marksmanship until 43 minutes into the story and he provides only an exhibition of his shooting skills without actually either wounding or killing anybody.Ostensibly, the story takes place in the New Mexico Territory in 1865 after the conclusion of the American Civil War. A lone Confederate soldier, Matt Weaver (George Segal of "The Owl and the Pussycat"), who has spent five weeks walking home, returns to find his farm, where he had buried his mother, in the hands of a former Union soldier, John Medford (Russel Johnson of TV's "Gilligan's Island"), mustered out of General Grant's army. Naturally, Weaver is shocked by this revelation and rampages into Pecos to confront Brewster about the sale of his property. In the process, Weaver's arrival awakens several townspeople, chiefly, a one-armed former Union soldier Crane Adams (Clifford David of "Fort Apache the Bronx"), and Adams pursues Weaver into Brewster's house where he wounds him in the arm. The sheriff (veteran character actor Bert Freed) hauls Weaver off to jail where Doc Barker (Alfred Ryder) urges Weaver to hightail it out of town for good. They explain that his father's farm went on the auction block; Brewster bought it and sold it to Medford. Eventually Weaver kills Medford and occupies the property. The Civil War claimed its share of sons and husbands from the town of Pecos and has a dire shortage of young, fit, headstrong men prepared to confront the single Confederate. The town boss, Brewster (Pat Hingle of "Hang'em High") has dispatched Crane to Santa Fe to hire a gunslinger. When Crane shows up with a two-gun kid, Dancer (Dal Jenkins of "Will Penny"), who he has promised $300, Jules runs him out of town with the merest flick of his hand. Indeed, Jules stands in the shadows of a veranda and his presence scares Dancer off. Brewster is furious and Crane explains that the best gunfighter—Jules—had already left town. Jules step out of the shadows and presents himself to Brewster and the town. The hotel innkeeper recognizes the Creole gunslinger. Meanwhile, Brewster has trouble pronouncing Jules' name, so Jules give him a lesson in pronunciation. "Soft g, silent s," Jules teaches Brewster, "D'Estaig—just a touch of diphthong." Predictably, Brewster still cannot correctly pronounce Jules' name, but he forks over $500 to the stuck-up Creole gunfighter, Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner of "The Magnificent Seven"), to kill Weaver. Brewster ignores the cries of Doc Barker who complains that Brewster is dispensing the legal right of due process so that Matt could tell his side of the story. Later, we learn that Medford lied to Weaver and forced him to kill him in self-defense. Jules, however, isn't your ordinary paid gunman. He has a mind of his own and dictates his own terms. He refuses to ride out to Weaver's ranch and kill him. Instead, he elects to stay in Pecos, board at the emporium, and wait for the starving, ammunition hungry Weaver to arrive so he can shoot it out with him.Later, we learn that Matt lose not only his farm but he also lost the woman that he wanted to wed, Ruth (Janice Rule of "The Swimmer") who has married the one-armed Crane. Initially, Crane argues against allowing Jules to board in the emporium, but Brewster wins out and Jules watches the stormy relationship between the unhappily married Crane and Ruth. Crane's loss of his arm has soured him and turned him to liquor. Crane can no longer play the harpsichord. Jules appears to be proficient with the musical instrument. Interestingly, Brynner would play a piano in Frank Kramer's "Adios, Sabata," several years later. Ruth wants to know if she can dissuade Jules from killing Matt. Jules sums up the town in a brief speech. "I'm in business for money and pleasure, too. A town that hires a gunfighter is always a henhouse with just one rooster, a few fat capons, a few clipped wings. What happens when a man with a gun walks in?" Nevertheless, Jules behaves oddly. He visits the Hispanic population across the bridge that divides the town into separate entities. The Hispanic spokesman confides in Jules about Matt, "He is the only man here who treats us like men." Indeed, the Mexicans bring food, but he still needs ammunition so he tries to steal from the emporium. Jules confronts Weaver but refuses to kill him initially because he wants to get an idea who is adversary is.The ending of "Invitation to a Gunfighter" is not what you would expect. The characters shoot off their mouths more than their six-guns. The dialogue is eloquent, but the action is virtually non-existent Brynner's "Magnificent Seven" co-star Brad Dexter is squandered in a superficial supporting role as a chiseling stable keeper who tries to sell the protagonist a lame horse.
