Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

A_Different_Drummer I love good movies, who doesn't, but I especially love movies that are one-of-a-kind, that break the mold, that don't quite fit the mold, constantly surprise the viewer, and ultimately deliver the goods. One of the most watchable westerns ever. Glen Ford is what could be one of his best roles, subtle, anxious, looking to do the right thing, never pushing. And Jeanne Crain doing what she does best, spurring on her man. (Opps, not trying to be sexist BUT THE ROLE WAS WRITTEN THAT WAY). And -- who knew? -- after literally 100's of Hollywood westerns have passed over the creative bridge, THIS IS THE FIRST TO POINT OUT that being "fast" takes ... Duh .. practice? Superb story -- quiet storekeeper is, in fact, a closet gunslinger who practices each and every day of his life ... as long as he can get away from the little woman, of course. All is fine is until one day the town bully pushes the little guy a bit too far, and he snaps and teaches the bully a lesson. And in the process does a gun trick that only a handful of men alive could do. And a little boy sees this ... and remembers. That's all the spoiler you get, but this one is a keeper.

Robert J. Maxwell There have been any number of movies about gunslingers who have hung up their guns and forsworn violence, only to be reluctantly dragged back into the game. Some have been good and some, like "Shane", have been very good.I don't know of any movie other than this one that paints a fast draw as a disease. With Glenn Ford, peaceable storekeeper in a one-horse town, it's pathological, an obsession that breaks out and overcomes him every four years or so, much to the distress of his wife, Jeanne Craine.He's the fastest gun in the West, see. And he KNOWS he is. Yet here he is, locked away with the cracker barrels, selling dresses to ladies who complain that he's ordered the wrong color. It makes him edgy. The good people of the town of Cross Creek don't know of his latent status so they're puzzled by his increasing irritability. I mean, the poor guy has done his best to settle down but he suffers from what the German ethologists called "Funktionslust," the pleasure one takes from doing what one does best. He can help himself no more than Peter Lorre could keep away from little girls in "M." Yep, he's a sick man alright.Help is on the way. Three no-goodniks, led by the growling and bejowled Broderick Crawford, ride on into Cross Creek shortly after Ford has given up his pose as the peaceable storekeeper, had a couple of shots of whiskey, and demonstrated his uncanny skill with a six gun. Crawford has just killed a man in another town. He had no reason to, other than that he'd heard the man was fast, and Crawford takes pride in being the fastest gun in the West.A lot of movies seem to take pride in debunking the myth of the fastest slinger of six shooters. In John Wayne's last movie, "The Shootist," it wasn't being the fastest draw that enabled you to survive. But this movie doesn't debunk the myth. It IS the myth! It places the entire fantasy right in your lap, as a gift. The fastest draw wins. It's a fabrication of the kind most of us outgrow after the age of fourteen.Of course nothing was ever so simple, however much we like to think it was. As an adult, I doubt that very many lives depended upon the speed of the draw, anymore than they did with the swords the preceded the guns. A good guess is that a greater willingness to kill kept one alive.The metaphor here is a sporting contest. It's presented as an event in the Special Olympics For Imbeciles. But the idea of the fast draw contest is so endearing for some of us that actual contests have been staged. Not with real bullets of course, but with supreme accuracy in measurement. A man enters a circle, facing a light bulb. When the bulb goes on, the man draws a six gun and fires, and a photographic device measures the time it take him, as in a horse race. These contests were held within the last twenty years or so. What was going through the minds of the contestants as they played this game? Did they dream of living in the Old West, of being Glenn Ford, outdrawing others, and putting notches on their pistol grips while the dead bodies were still warm? Ford is his usual reliable self in a silly role. Jeanne Craine is still beautiful but her beauty is almost hidden behind a mask of 1956 make up. But what a supporting cast! From top to bottom, it's studded with recognizable names and faces, sometimes almost in cameo roles.They needed all the help they could get to put over this impossible and dangerous fantasy. As mythos, this goes beyond raising Lazarus, somewhere into the neighborhood of Atlantis and Mole People.

easy_eight Ridiculous plot. No one in the town has a gun even for hunting? The crooks are running for a posse that is 2 hours behind them and they will probably be lynched when the posse gets them, so they stop to burn down a town because Broderick Crawford is obessesed with being the fastest gun in the West. You have got to be kidding! And the townspeople are just going to let the crooks burn down the town without doing anything about it. No one even thinks to go to another town which has a sheriff to get some help and there are some nearby. Then we have to subplot with Crawford slapping his partner and trying to force him to draw. How anyone could say this is not one of the stupidest Hollywood farce's they have ever seen is beyond me. And then there is the overacting across the board. Glenn Ford is pathetic is a one-dimensional nut-case who walks around like a zombie, or a drug-addict. This movie may have been popular in the 50's because movie-goers may be a bit starved for good entertainment.

john_aalsmeer A remarkable western that tells a moral story - a villain with pride (the superb Broderick Crawford) goes head to head with the quiet shopkeeper with a secret and pride (the excellent Glenn Ford) - a worthy surprise ending awaits! Perhaps the scene stealer is the performance by John Dehner portraying Crawford's sidekick.Ford plays the 'Fastest Gun' and he demonstrates this to the local men when he has a little too much to drink. The exhibition is quite spectacular - and worthy of the 'Fastest Gun Alive'.Crawford's villain is a little unhinged over his desire to prove that he is the fastest on the draw. Eventually his villainy becomes even too much for his sidekicks who choose to leave him when his obsession threatens a whole town.Just before showdown time it is revealed that Ford has never drawn against another man and then comes the finale ...!A western to watch without interruption.