Warlock (1959) User Reviews (93)

Archetypal Western tragedy based on the Earp/Holliday/Tombstone legends

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 21 February 2019]

A professional town-tamer named Blaisdell (Henry Fonda) is hired as an independent marshal by the citizens of Warlock to rid them of an unruly gang; meanwhile a repentant member of the bunch becomes deputy sheriff (Richard Widmark), which creates friction. Anthony Quinn plays the former's faithful sidekick.

"Warlock" (1959) is an adult Western cut from the same dramatic cloth as similar late 50s/early 60's Westerns like "Man of the West" (1958). The mature and psychological script was based on Oakley Hall's novel, which was a fictionalization of the OK Corral legends, which is why it's not too difficult to read Earp/Holliday into the Fonda/Quinn characters and Abe McQuown's gang as the Clanton/McLaury gang.

The fact that Quinn's Morgan character is loosely based on Doc Holliday is a good reason to reject the supposed 'homosexual subtext' of Morgan. There's not enough evidence to draw such a radical conclusion. Morgan was simply Blaisedell's loyal and ruthless partner; he loved Blaisedell like close members of a military squad or like a brother.

On the female front we have two very striking women: Dolores Michaels plays Blaisedell's potential babe, Jessie Marlow, while Dorothy Malone is on hand as Lily Dollar, a mysterious woman from Blaisedell's past who takes interest in the new deputy sheriff (Widmark).

The town scenes were filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, CA, whereas the scenic sequences were all shot in Moab, Utah, near Arches National Park. Needless to say, the latter locations are magnificent.

The movie runs 2 hours, 2 minutes.

GRADE: B+

Interesting and Intense Western

[ragosaal · 7/10 · 22 September 2006]

"Warlock" is a decent western typical of the late 50's.

A cattle ranch owner and his men take the town nearby as their amusement place and terrorize its citizens; when an innocent barber is killed in one of the gang's nights of fun, they decide to hire a top gunman to put an end to the dangerous cowboy's actions. Clay Blaisdell (Henry Fonda)is the selected man and he arrives along with his sidekick Tom Morgen (Anthony Quinn) another fast draw too.

When Blaisdell -supported by Morgan- starts to do his job and things get better some of the town's folks are not quite satisfied with the man's ways and begin to wonder if his coming was a good idea. In order to bring some scent of law to the place they appoint Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark) -a former member of the gang who thinks things went too far- as deputy sheriff. Gannon has not only to control the remaining vicious cowboys but he is also expected to get the town rid of Blaisdell and Morgan.

"Warlock" is perhaps a bit too long and the plot has many twists and different subjects to attend to (the strange relationship between the two hired gunfighters, Blaisdell's romance with local beauty Jessie (Dolores Michaels), revenge intentions of ex prostitute Lilly Dollar (Dorothy Malone)for a killing that happened in the past, Gannon's conflict with his kid brother Billy who is tempted to gain fame by challenging Blaisdell, and some others).

But nevertheless the film turns out entertaining and has tension, very well solved shooting and gunfight sequences, a fine location, good settings and remarkable performances. The final showdown between Fonda and Widmark is also a high point in spite of its outcoming.

Henry Fonda is a perfect choice as Blaisdell the aging gunfighter somehow tired of killing and moving and Quinn is very good as his unconditional friend and supporter. Richard Widmark is correct as the redeemed cowboy that becomes sheriff and Dorothy Malone renders one of her usual good jobs. The supporting cast is alright too.

If you like westerns this Edward Dmytryk piece is one to see and if you don't care much about the genre you'll probably find "Warlock" amusing and entertaining. It's a 7 out of 10 for me.

Another Wonderful Fifties Western.

[jpdoherty · 7/10 · 23 June 2010]

WARLOCK (1959) was the final entry in the roster of splendid Cinemascope/color westerns that 20th Century produced in the fifties. With a star studded cast headed by Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn and Dorothy Malone this project was produced and directed by Edward Dymtryk. The excellent screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur derived from a novel by Oakley Hall and the superb cinematography was by the great Joe MacDonald.

Warlock, a small mining town in the west, is plagued by the unruly and lawless cowhands from the San Pablo ranch who wreak havoc every weekend on the hapless citizens. The gang have just run the current Sheriff (Walter Coy) out of town and the impatient town council have now decided enough is enough. They make the decision to hire a gunfighter - an expensive gunfighter. So along comes a famous Marshall by the name of Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda) and his friend and bodyguard Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn) to take on the job. He also brings along his portable gambling casino complete with the shopfront hoarding naming his gaming saloon "The French Palace". (He explains to the council "What you pay me for keeping the law would hardly keep me in ammunition for my gun practice - gambling is my business - it's how I make my living"). But through one difference or another and having to outdraw and kill his friend Tom Morgan and set his gambling saloon alight the town eventually sours against the Marshall. The now reformed gang member and newly appointed Deputy Sheriff Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark) tells Blaisedell he'll have to leave town by morning. The picture ends with Gannon confronting Blaisedall the next day with the gunman easily outdrawing him. But surprisingly the Marshall capitulates and tosses his gold handled six-guns into the street to the visibly shocked Deputy's relief. Then with a wry smile to Gannon the colourful gunfighter mounts his horse and rides on out of town forever.

Performances are generally excellent throughout! Although Widmark has top billing it is clearly Fonda's picture. His Clay Blaisedell is the film's pivotal personality. As the well dressed gunfighter he is cool, smooth and lightning fast on the draw - as one challenger (DeForest Kelly) finds out to his utter astonishment in one gripping scene. Fonda hasn't been this good in a western since his superb portrayal in "The Tin Star" two years previously. Good too is Quinn in a really meaty characterization as Blaisedell's neurotic, over-protective and club- footed bodyguard. Also effective is Tom Drake as the Pabloite gang leader but Dorothy Malone is quite irritating and gives her usual breathless overwrought and over played portrayal of an old flame of Blaisedell. Better, and prettier to look at too, is Dolores Michaels as his newer love interest.

Underlining this engaging western is the music of Leigh Harline. The composer had worked before with director Dmytryk on the excellent "Broken Lance" (1954) which elicited from him his best score. Here his music is just as dramatic. The music under the titles is robust and determined featuring strident strings against repeating and striking brass figures pointing up the menace of the errant San Pablo gang. There is some tender music for the scenes with Fonda and Michaels and a reflective lyrical cue for Blaisedell himself which is wonderfully uplifting for the end scene as he rides out of town.

WARLOCK is a good western and warrants repeated viewings. A well structured character driven drama set in an engaging western environment and well played by an equally engaging cast in what is yet another memorable movie from the cinema of yesteryear.

Avoids Cliché

[dougdoepke · 23 November 2014]

Complex psychological western. I like another reviewer's point about the conflict between law and order in the film. Only Widmark's Gannon appears concerned with enforcing law in addition to order, while the rest of the town is more concerned with simply order. Fonda's Clay Blaisdell stands as the pivotal character, a morally ambiguous gunslinger with a dubious past. The mutual attachment between him and sidekick Morgan (Quinn) is highly unusual for a macho western. As hired gunslingers, they're a formidable team. However, it turns out that Clay is stuck in the risky business as long as he and Morgan remain together. On the other hand, Morgan's definitely unhappy with Clay's budding relationship with blonde Jessie (Michaels). It's likely that Morgan uses their hired status to keep them together, as the ending appears to show. I expect casting the macho Quinn in what amounts to a suggestive role was no accident.

The 2-hour runtime is pretty well filled as the various undercurrents and conflicts play out. Viewers who cotton to dramatic showdowns should love this screenplay, which has at least four. Surprisingly, it's hard to predict who will be involved, a tribute to the screenwriter. Overall, it's an unusual oater that doesn't follow genre formulas. On the downside is a lot of talk, plus complexities-- especially the characters' backstories-- that at times are hard to follow. Nonetheless, the three leads are excellent, especially an emotional Quinn, along with a supporting cast of familiar 50's faces. So, for western fans, the movie's well worth snagging despite its relative obscurity.

WARLOCK (Edward Dmytryk, 1959) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 9 February 2007]

This popular Western isn't among the more highly-regarded genre efforts (emanating as it does from its 1950s heyday), despite the imposing credentials (many of whom were fixtures and had therefore worked on better films along the years) - but it's a pretty good example nonetheless, with solid production and an evident maturity in content and style.

The three stars - Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn - are well-cast (in fairly typical roles) and their interaction, allowing for several tense scenes, keeps one watching (for a 2 hour film, thankfully, it doesn't feel too long). Still, Dmytryk's efficient handling is unexceptional - abetted by Joe MacDonald's colorful widescreen cinematography but somewhat overshadowed by Robert Alan Aurthur's literate i.e. pretentious script (with several soul-searching passages about loyalty and responsibility). Leigh Harline's music, too, workmanlike though it is, emerges as a relatively unassuming score. The action sequences, however, deliver the goods with several gunfights throughout and even a few instances of gratuitous brutality (fashionable by this time).

However, the rest of the cast is quite interesting, with Dorothy Malone and Dolores Michaels providing the romantic interest and several familiar faces in support: Wallace Ford and Whit Bissell as town officials and, among Widmark's former cronies, DeForrest Kelley, Frank Gorshin - playing the star's hot-headed younger brother - and Tom Drake, most surprising of all as the villainous leader of the outlaw gang.

Rock of ages comes to Warlock in Dmytryk's excellent adult Western.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 14 January 2009]

Warlock is a small town suffering from visits by a gang of thugs led by Abe McQuown. The honest townsfolk meet and decide to hire infamous gunslinger Clay Blaisedell to act as a Marshal. Blaisdell, aided by his trusty companion Tom Morgan, proceeds to clean up the town and promptly takes control of the gambling and dance parlour. But things are rarely straight forward in a town of this type, one of the thugs (Johnny Gannon) decides to reform himself and takes on the role of legal sheriff. Things are further complicated when a woman arrives in town proclaiming that Blaisedell and Morgan killed the love of her life! This coupled with the fact that McQuown and his thugs are plotting destructive revenge, means that Warlock and it's array of complex characters are heading for judgement day - one way or another.

The basic plot sounds like nothing out of the ordinary, the tough gunslinger with a reputation hired to clean up a town has been done a fair few times, with varying degrees of success. What lifts this Edward Dmytryk directed (and produced) Western above other films of its ilk is that it goes deeper than most of those other genre pieces. Blaisedell may be a fearsome gunslinger but we are at a time when a new breed of faster and more thuggish cowboys exist, and so his very being is crucial to the number of events that transpire in Warlock. Here all central characters are multi-layered, there is a plenty going on that begs the utmost attention, where tragedy hangs heavy with its looming presence, and Dmytryk threads all the story strands together with thoughtfully potent results.

Adapted by Robert Alan Aurthur from Oakley Hall's novel, Warlock boasts three excellent male lead performances and a firing on all cylinders supporting cast. Henry Fonda (Blaisedell), Richard Widmark (Gannon) and Anthony Quinn (Tom Morgan) are superb, while Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, Tom Drake, DeForest Kelly, Frank Gorshin (sadly uncredited) and Wallace Ford come up trumps with excellent shows for totally important characters. The only gripe I can come up with is that I would have liked a bit more use of the Utah location courtesy of Joseph MacDonald's Cinemascope Technicolor, but since this story is primarily set within the confines of Warlock the town, one can be and is a touch forgiving.

During the last few years I have spent a lot of time revisiting the Western genre, and I have been rewarded with a ream of excellent adult pieces by the likes of Anthony Mann, Henry King and Budd Boetticher. Few of them are as undervalued, and maybe as forgotten, as this first class effort from all involved, it's a must see for any serious Western fan. 9/10

tight, layered, well acted, well filmed Western that rises just a little above the rest

[secondtake · 7/10 · 30 October 2011]

Warlock (1959)

Director Edward Dmytryk is one of those dependable Golden Age mainstays who is pulling off tightly made movies even this late in the game. After many archetypal movies, often just short of greatness, he is still putting on a good game with first rate camera-work (Joe MacDonald) and top shelf actors (Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, and Richard Widmark, all in major roles). And so this is actually a strong, complex movie.

It helps that the plot, even though apparently another retread of Western clichés, is complex and well balanced. That the bad guys are partly very good and vice versa is exactly what the genre needs, and it is filmed so gorgeously--the night and interior stuff especially--it has a feeling of total command. It's a strong if still conventional film, a true Western in the best Anthony Mann sense rather than John Ford.

The plot is too complex to even analyze quickly, but a couple key elements play out. First, Fonda and Quinn play hired marshals who come into towns overwhelmed by some bad guys. They are hired for their ruthlessness because the town has no choice, but when they get to work, the town begins to doubt itself. And then there are all the secret past events that seem to converge here, almost too perfectly, but creating a layered and sometimes confusing backstory that gradually moves front and center.

All three male actors are in top form--I'll assume it's because the whole lot of them were consummate professionals there to get a job done well. While this was made years after the official end of the old studio system, it still is made (on location) with the same general factory ethic--tight production standards, familiar genres, efficient entertainment. It works, and it works better than it should. Certainly not a classic like "High Noon" or "Stagecoach," but a solid entry even for people who think they don't like westerns.

Perhaps the best psychological western ever made

[pzanardo · 9/10 · 8 January 2001]

I consider "Warlock" the best psychological western ever made. The main purpose of the movie is to draw a thorough inner design of the characters; nonetheless there is (happily) plenty of action and gun-fights, with no lowering of strain or moments of bore. As a matter of fact, important sides of the psychology of the male characters are represented through their attitude in violent action.

Clay (Henry Fonda) is a cool-headed gunslinger who, somewhat hypocritically, deludes himself to be fair since he kills people following "the rules". And it's a bit disappointing to see that people like and trust him mainly because he is handsome and well-mannered. However, Clay doesn't like violence and has noble sides, as shown when he stops a lynching.

Morgan (Anthony Quinn) is more honest in his self- judgment: he knows to be an assassin, who solves any possible problem caused by other people by simply killing them. There is a single important thing in his life, which he is even too ready to die for: his friendship-love toward Clay. Johnny (Richard Widmark) is the repented outlaw who has had the strength to quit a life of crime. He is naturally fair and non-violent, yet he knows when it's necessary to draw the six-shooter, for his own honor and moral code, and to protect innocent people. McQuown (Tom Drake) is just a loathsome, treacherous coward, who never face a duel without an accomplice ready to shoot his opponent in the back.

Of course, the main theme of the movie is Morgan's morbid affection for Clay. This totally absorbing love is masterly represented in the movie, in a crescendo of intensity, finally showing Morgan close to sheer madness. Reasonably enough, most critics have inferred a homosexual love in the relationship between Morgan and Clay. I'm not much Freudian and I have no tendency to find sex everywhere. I think that the director Dmytryk has made a deliberately exasperated, unconventional representation of the manly friendship, a classical motive in western movies. Here we have two adventurers, two gunslingers who deeply understand each other's feelings. Women (saloon-girls) are good for fun, and that's all: a real friendship is something completely different, extraneous to the feminine mentality. And deep friendship can be more jealous than love. In fact, Morgan begins to suffer when he realizes that Clay has found a true love, a coming spouse in Jessie (Dolores Michaels): he's not just infatuated by some meaningless, cheap girl. Morgan's natural, psychologically exact reaction can only be a brutal interference.

The preceding theme of the movie is really so interesting that one could miss to notice how beautifully treated is the psychology of all other characters. Let me focus and make some comments on Lily (Dorothy Malone), the cynical, life-tired former saloon-girl, devoted to a revenge against Clay, which she visibly makes a point of, without being really convinced of the sense of adding violence to violence. Malone is perfect for the role. Her charming beauty make us fully believe that both Clay and Morgan were once infatuated with her. And her splendid, sad, stern yet ironic eyes describe the weariness of her inner core more effectively than words. Lily has a pair of my favorite lines. "How could I love you... a cripple!", showing her capacity to wound her hated enemy Morgan, where it most hurts. "What do you want? A whole life in one night?": Lily loves Johnny, who is going to face a mortal duel, yet she's unable to check her spiteful irony, to get rid of her own former wasted life, showing herself worse than she actually is. And, moreover, she can't stand these preposterous honor codes of men killing each other, and for what? Really great stuff!

Other merits of "Warlock": the perfect script, the accurate photography, the magnificent locations. The acting by Fonda, Quinn, Widmark, Malone is superb, to say the least: that's exactly what we expect from them. The final clash between Fonda and Quinn is a powerful piece of cinema. Splendid movie, highly recommended (even to people not fond of westerns).

Over-the-top Western wonderfully performed by an all-star-cast and compellingly directed

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 24 May 2015]

Nice Western concentrates on psychological issues , complex characters and adult themes . The town of Warlock is plagued by a band of thugs , leading the inhabitants to hire Clay Blaisdell (Henry Fonda) , a famous Pistolero . As the villagers ask the experienced sheriff/gunman to rid the little town of bandits when a vicious gang of freebooters passes through . This is the story of the sheriff who'd worn it -till he'd faced one gun too many , and his crippled partner (Anthony Quinn) , they had to teach or watch to die . As a hired sheriff in the small town of Warlock must take a stand when a gang of nasty outlaws takes over his town . A gunfighter/sheriff that's what they gave you for protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish !

This stand-out , meaty Western contains interesting plot , intrigue , thrills , shootouts and results to be quite entertaining though slow-moving and excessively allegorical . Outstanding literate Western balances action , suspense and drama , including a high-voltage cast . It's a classical recounting about an experienced marshal hired to clean up the crime-infested location . As Fonda in charge of a little town full of cowards and frightening people ; being probably one of the best Western in the fifties and sixties . The highlights of the film are the climatic showdowns , the twisted surprises and , of course, the final confrontation . The traditional story and exciting screenplay was well written by Robert Alan Arthur though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable tale is enhanced for interesting moments developed among main characters and especially on the relationship between gunslinger Henry Fonda and gambler Anthony Quinn . As the picture relies heavily on psychological aspects of the peculiar relationship between them . As Anthony Quinn steals the show playing a particular role going very much against his ordinary type , as the often strong, tough , macho Anthony here is cast as a hesitant, even weak man . However , Richard Widmark is all but lost in the background as a guilty-ridden outlaw become a town sheriff . Being magnificently performed by Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn , they are awesome experts in the art of conjuring sensational acting , here are reunited in this atypical but thought-provoking western with a lot of reflection , distinguished moments and dramatical attitudes , in addition a multitude of entertaining situations . Top-notch plethora of secondary actors playing vicious, sadistic sociopaths who take advantage of the frightened townspeople such as Tom Drake , James Philbrook , DeForest Kelley ,Frank Gorshin , Gary film debut of Lockwood as well as villagers perfectly performed by Wallace Ford , Richard Arlen , Ann Doran , among others . Wonderful cinematography in Technicolor and CinemaScope is superbly caught by cameraman Joseph MacDonald . Sensitive as well as lively musical score by Leigh Harline .

This is another superbly powerful though forgotten Western being stunningly directed by Edward Dmytryck . A veteran filmmaker, Dmytryck is one of Hollywood's most prolific directors who started his career in the early 40s . He was a craftsman whose career was interrupted by the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a congressional committee that employed ruthless tactics aimed at rooting out and destroying what it saw as Communist influence in Hollywood . A lifelong political leftist who had been a Communist Party member briefly during World War II, Dmytryk was one of the so-called "Hollywood Ten" who refused to cooperate with HUAC and had their careers disrupted or ruined as a result. The committee threw him in prison for refusing to cooperate, and after having spent several months behind bars , Dmytryk decided to cooperate . Dmytrick's biggest film was ¨The Caine Mutiny¨ , but he also realized another mutiny film titled : ¨Mutiny¨ with Angela Lansbury . Edward was an expert on warlike genre as ¨Back to Batan¨ , ¨Battle of Anzio¨ , ¨Young lions¨ and Western as ¨Broken lance¨ , ¨Alvarez Kelly¨ , ¨Warlock¨ , among others . Rating : 7 , better than average . It's recommended for Western enthusiasts and big stars lovers . Well worth watching as well as to rediscover and it will appeal to Anthony Quinn and Henry Fonda fans .

Psychological western in disguise

[Matti-Man · 9/10 · 17 January 2006]

After banging on about the sea change in Westerns from the 1940s to the 1950s in my reviews of THE TALL T and MAN OF THE WEST on this site recently, I watched 1959s WARLOCK unfold with a certain set of expectations in my head.

At first glance, WARLOCK appears to be a western of the old school, not that far removed from earlier classics like MY DARLING CLEMENTINE or THE WESTERNER. In fact, it even shares some plot similarities with John Ford's 1946 Wyatt Earp biopic. But the key difference here is that in the older style of western, the immutable Code of the West is the salvation for men such as Earp, but in WARLOCK it is the millstone that will drag them into the abyss.

For Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark), the Code causes him to leave behind the lawless San Pablo ranch cowhands lead by the increasingly psychotic Abe McQuown (pronounced McEwan), to accept the post of Deputy Sheriff, eventually bringing him into conflict with his old gang, which includes his own kid brother, and finally making him face up to hired gunslinger Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda).

For Blaisedell, though he initially believes he can leave his old life and marry local beauty Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels), the Code re-asserts its grip when Blaisdell is forced to confront his own partner Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn) in a street shoot-out, and he realises that he will never escape his destiny as a gun-for-hire, no matter how he tries.

(Incidentally, I disagree with another reviewer here who claims Anthony Quinn's line "I won!" as he gasps his life out on the Warlock street means only that Quinn won the draw. I believe that line signifies that Quinn has proved that Fonda cannot escape his fate as a hired killer. The only way for Fonda to prove he'd changed would have been to NOT shoot Quinn. So in that sense Quinn won not just the draw but also the philosophical point that Fonda would never change.)

The Tom Morgan character has no loyalty to the Code. He simply enjoys his life as a "friend" of the great Clay Blaisedell. His motivation is that at Clay's side, men fear him and, though they may think him just a "cripple", they'd never dare say it aloud. Without Clay, Morgan would be just another casino owner.

But ultimately, you could say Morgan sacrificed his life to save Clay from himself. Because without Morgan's manoeuvrings, Clay may well have tried to settle in Warlock and would probably have ended up "backshot" by some old crony of Abe McQuown.

So, not the simple tale of the west it might at first appear, WARLOCK is a clever, subtle and insightful look at the psychological motivations at work in this deceptively complex three-way conflict.

A movie definitely worth more than one viewing ...

Surprisingly good Western with some truly unusual twists

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 25 July 2015]

I wonder if one of the turnoffs to this film (since it lost money) was that at least in the beginning it sort of reminds one of "High Noon", in that a town is caught in the middle between the "bad guys" (a dictatorial rancher) and what is right to do. Cowardice versus courage.

However, the film quickly veers off in another direction as Henry Fonda proves to be a new activist unofficial sheriff with a fabled past (but how accurate is it). And then there is Richard Widmark -- a man caught between the evil rancher (for whom he used to work, and for whom his brother still works), and what he knows is wrong. But, this isn't a two handed deal. Anthony Quinn is along for the ride as an ally of Fonda's although hardly a man with a sparkling past...or present. Dorothy Malone plays the ex-lover of Quinn, with her own agenda.

There are several reasons to give this movie high points. First, even though the basic story may be fairly traditional, there's more complexity here than we usually see in a western.

Henry Fonda is superb here, Almost as good as I've ever seen him. Fonda is interesting. Certainly in the A list of actors in that era, but never quite as successful as a Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart. And I've never quite figured out why.

Richard Widmark interests me. He was able to transfer from a true bad guy in his early pictures to a rather odd leading man. Very underrated, Here his role is a little slim in the early part of the film, but gets more screen time and complexity as the film proceeds. And when his role expands, he's very good.

Anthony Quinn was doing better than his early films here, but he was not yet into his most productive period. There hints here that Anthony Quinn's character was gay or bi. It occurred to me several times throughout the film, particularly toward the end. And what was he supposed to have -- a club foot? That wasn't clear to me...or why I never cared much for Dorothy Malone, and still don't.

There are a number of well-known character actors along for the ride, including Frank Gorshin.

A word needs to be said here about the scenery. It's outstanding, and mostly filmed around wonderful Moab, Utah, including Dead Horse State Park.

This film is worth watching for one very good reason -- it's very different. Additionally, the acting is, overall, quit good. Recommended.

A very mature Western

[dougandwin · 8/10 · 2 April 2013]

There is no doubt that this Film was brilliantly put together both in Direction and Star Quality. When you put together Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark and Anthony Quinn, you know you are in for a treat. The story is quite superb and a far cry from many of the Westerns being churned out in the Fifties. As the Marshal who is quite dangerous, in his own way, Fonda is really the star around which so much resolves. Widmark as a reformed outlaw turned Deputy Sheriff plays his role to perfection, while Anthony Quinn as the crippled close friend of the Marshal is integral to the final outcome. They are greatly supported by a well-worn Dorothy Malone, and to me at least a surprising good performance by Tom Drake as the cruel and somewhat cowardly leader of the Outlaws. It is one of the last Cinemascope big movies by Fox, and the photography and atmosphere are quite spectacular.

Surprisingly complex and intelligent film

[esr · 7/10 · 19 August 2000]

What looks at first like it will be an enjoyable but mindless genre Western turns gradually into something rather darker and more nuanced. Almost nobody in this film is who they seem at first, and several characters undergrow gradual inversions, with results ranging from noble to deeply creepy. Who are the heroes? Who are the villains? You'll leave this movie much less certain than you were when you arrived.

Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn are nearly upstaged by -- of all people -- DeForest Kelley, seen here just a few years before his career would be wrenched sideways by the role of Leonard McCoy in the original Star Trek.

Very boring

[Horror-yo · 4/10 · 15 February 2017]

Everyone calls it this "amazing underrated Western psychological thriller", I keep reading this word everywhere, "psychological". Well it ain't deep, that much I can say.

There's more dialog and talking and talking here than I can recall a soap opera series doing. It's this annoying situation that's very difficult to keep interest in when the characters keep talking about other characters constantly, and you forget just who does what and what the heck is going on, and this isn't for a lack of focus but the film just makes no effort to be clearer and more captivating, it just goes on with its little plan and as the viewer one will wait and wait until something finally emerges but it's just more of the same.

Underrated ? This movie is OVERrated.

"Looks Like Law's Coming Back To Warlock"

[stryker-5 · 25 January 1999]

Warlock is a little mining town in the Wild West. Local heavies from San Pablo are terrorising the citizens of Warlock, and the movie starts with the sheriff being run out of town. The citizens' committee decides to hire the notorious Clay Blaisdell to reimpose order.

Ethical positions are relative in the strange little world of Warlock. The citizens are willing to give Blaisdell free rein when it comes to cleaning up the town, even though his methods are famously ruthless, and his 'package' includes installing himself and his partner Tom Morgan in the saloon with their travelling casino. Blaisdell intends to earn a rake-off as the faro dealer. He will also collect $400 per month as the 'marshall', even though Warlock has no town charter and does not qualify for a marshall.

Blaisdell is himself a man of deep moral equivocation. Henry Fonda plays him as an emotionless killer who paradoxically forms deep personal attachments - first to Morgan, then later to Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels). He crusades to rid western towns of their bad guys, but does so on a strictly commercial basis. Blaisdell knows that the citizens' hero-worship will turn in time to resentment, and he and Morgan will have to move on to the next beleaguered town.

Morgan, too, is a man of profound contradictions. The cynical casino owner has little regard for the human race, but adores Blaisdell, "the only person ... who looked at me and didn't see a cripple." Morgan is Blaisdell's partner in the law-and-order campaign, and yet there is a strong suggestion that Lily is a whore and Morgan her pimp. The relationship between Blaisdell and Morgan has a definite homoerotic tinge, and when Blaisdell takes up with Jessie, Morgan behaves like a jealous lover. Eventually, he even gives up the will to live.

"Warlock" is an idiosyncratic film with its own look, its own terminology and a curious plot. The quaint high street with its rutted red clay is quite unlike standard western towns. When the characters talk of 'road agents', they mean stagecoach hijackers. 'Backshooters' are men who shoot others in the back. In the mean moral climate of Warlock, backshooters are everywhere. McEwan never sets up a confrontation without putting his backshooters in place, and Blaisdell's answer to the San Pablo boys is to cover their backshooters with backshooters of his own.

Richard Widmark plays Johnny Gannon, the San Pablo man who throws his lot in with the people of Warlock. Johnny is the measure of the town's growing maturity. If the people are prepared to back Johnny against the bad men, there will be no need for hired guns such as Blaisdell. The judge warns Johnny that his status as the town's totem will single him out for trouble - "You're a target, a symbol, and they must come after you." And so it transpires.

Changes of clothing signify changes of heart. Once Johnny decides to embrace the law, he doffs his denim jacket and starts wearing fancy duds. When Clay transfers his allegiance from Morgan to Jessie, he discards the silk waistcoats which are Morgan's 'uniform'.

"Star Trek" fans will spot DeForest Kelly ("Bones") in the role of Curly, the sarcastic joker of the San Pablo gang. We quickly form the view that Curly is not as brutal as the others, and this is borne out when the shooting starts in earnest.

The film has two climaxes. First, Johnny has to face down McEwan and his men, and then there has to be a reckoning with Blaisdell. This eccentric film manages to contrive an unexpected ending.

In a strong cast, Fonda and Quinn stand out as the ill-matched friends - the cold killer and the emotional gambler.

"...when you stand to win, you've got to be able to stand to lose too."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 10 February 2007]

"Warlock" appears to be a Saturday Western mainstay for the AMC cable channel, and I managed to catch it on today's lineup. Henry Fonda's gun for hire persona Clay Blaisdell arrives in the town of the title along with trusted friend Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn), summoned to help the town folk rid themselves of the San Pablo cowboy gang led by Abe McQuown (Tom Drake). I got a kick out of the retinue that follows the two gunslingers into town, they come complete with a traveling saloon dubbed The French Palace, a nifty little enterprise designed to supplement a town marshal's pay.

What follows is a multi-layered story that turns this psychological Western into a compelling character study of killers for hire. Fonda's character is particularly interesting, since he doesn't portray the stereotype of a ruthless hired gun. He draws on villains without firing, and manages to stave off a lynch mob in the interest of justice and a fair trial. Perhaps more complex though is Quinn's Tom Morgan. His loyalty to Clay is undeniable, though it amuses me to read some of the reviews on this forum suggesting more to their relationship, making me wonder if the viewers making those comments paid enough attention while watching the film. Morgan was jilted some years earlier by Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), and spends a good deal of his time attempting to rekindle that affair. He had set up her new romance to be gunned down by Clay, and when she makes her way to Warlock to get her revenge, Morgan himself takes out the man's brother who was coming with her. It seems to me Morgan was more interested in Lily as a romantic partner than Clay; geez, I can't believe I just wrote that.

It's always a treat to see DeForest Kelley in a pre Star Trek role, one almost forgets that a good deal of his screen appearances involved Westerns, both on the big and small screen. Here, he's the first one to challenge marshal Clay, and winds up lucky in not taking a bullet. That perhaps helps explain his later turn in the story when he helps insure a fair gunfight for the 'properly' assigned deputy, Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark).

I'm a little on the fence as to the believability of Johnny switching sides the way he did, there was no single incident to mark his turn against the San Pablo bunch. An earlier scene showed him questioning Abe's initial foray into Warlock, and in a lengthier scene in the second half he described to Lily the unreality of his participation in a murdering raid on Mexican ranchers. Once his brother was killed of course, there was no more reason to sympathize with the McQuown's. By the time he's roughed up by Abe and Cade at the gang's shack, the good guy transition is complete, and then it becomes a test of wills between himself and Clay. But again, it's not really clear to me why Johnny opposes Clay's intention to stay in Warlock until the job he was hired for is over. It never appeared that Clay was operating outside the parameters of the law, other than setting fire to his own saloon.

The finale of course is more believable with Clay leaving town and his fiancée Jessie (Dolores Michaels) after taking out his former friend and 'all time champeen cowboy killer' Morgan. Morgan completely unravels after realizing Lily's gone to him for good, and believing Clay is hanging up his guns to settle down. Oddly, that showdown convinces Clay to do just the opposite, even though the symbolic action of throwing his gold handled Colts away suggest otherwise. I wondered about that too, but only for a minute. It was a gesture that suggested to Deputy Gannon that he was no longer a threat, and heck, he could always get another pair in the next town.

One of the Best Westerns of the 50's

[b5erik · 10/10 · 28 May 2005]

In the 50's Westerns were extremely popular, and many of that decade's best movies were Westerns. The Searchers, Winchester '73, The Man From Laramie, The Naked Spur - the list of great Westerns from the 50's could practically go on for days. One movie that should always be included on any list of best Westerns from the 50's is Warlock.

Warlock's strengths start with a very well written, intelligent script that gives the characters three dimensions and realistic motivations. The script uses these characters well in pushing forward the many solid plot points. Warlock isn't a "shoot 'em up," Western, but it does have its share of good action. Many fans have described this as one of the quintessential "Psychological Westerns," and to a degree that is true. It also features solid drama, and genuine excitement when the action scenes come.

Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, and Richard Widmark give some of their finest performances in Warlock, and a strong case could be made that this is Anthony Quinn's best performance in a Western. Fonda's dark, brooding performance foreshadows the even darker and nastier performance he would give almost a decade later in Once Upon a Time in the West. DeForest Kelley gives a strong supporting performance as well, showing his natural abilities in the Western genre.

Edward Dmytryk directed Warlock with a steady hand. He didn't overdo the direction looking to push the artistic envelope with unusual camera angles, but he did direct the movie with a flair and style ideal for a Western.

Ultimately, Warlock holds up not only as one of the best Westerns of the 50's, but as one of the best Westerns of all time and may be one of those movies that receives more acclaim with each passing decade.

Solid Westerrn

[xredgarnetx · 6/10 · 4 August 2007]

The oddly named WARLOCK (the name of the unincorporated town in which the story takes place) pits aging gun-for-hire Henry Fonda against a gang of yahoos who have run off Warlock's deputy sheriff and killed a barber in cold blood. To complicate matters, town resident Richard Widmark, whose brother (Frank Gorshin) is one of those yahoos, agrees to replace the missing deputy sheriff and this pits him against Fonda, who is not an official officer of the law. Making matters worse is the arrival of Fonda's lifelong friend, played by Anthony Quinn, who runs a traveling saloon and is in cahoots with the bad guys. Widmark holds his own against the ever-stoic Fonda, and Quinn plays a really complex character with physical and mental problems who has shared a woman with Fonda (Dorothy Malone) and has awfully strong feelings toward Fonda. And I don't mean Jane. The film takes awhile getting anywhere, but you can play spot-the-character actor during the more boring moments. The cast is a veritable who's-who of old-time Western character actors, and the movie was made during a (mercifully) short-lived period where Hollywood was churning out big-budget, color, widescreen (and sometimes 3-D) flicks to try to compete with the latest home technology, television. At the time, Hollywood believed TV would hurt box office receipts. A lot of these films -- but not WARLOCK -- weren't worth the film they were printed on. And as we now know, TV only whetted the appetite of many viewers for more movie-going. I just saw the Cinemascope-shot WARLOCK presented on AMC in the antique pan-and-scan method rather than more modern letterbox format, which made for some very awkward sequences where not everyone fit on screen at the same time. Try to catch this on DVD instead.

Who's Dishing Out the Law and Order

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 26 March 2006]

Warlock has always been a favorite western of mine. With a top flight cast of leads and familiar western supporting players and a good director who gets pluperfect performances out of his cast, Warlock is one of the best westerns made in the last half of the last century.

Richard Widmark and brother Frank Gorshin belong to an outfit called the San Pablo cowboys run by a truly malevolent man played by Tom Drake. This bunch comes into the as yet unorganized town of Warlock and just shoot the place up and behave like animals. After the harmless town barber is killed and a deputy sheriff run out of town, the city fathers look to hire their own gunslinger to stand up to these people.

Who they hire is Henry Fonda and you get a package deal there, where Fonda goes so goes Anthony Quinn and a traveling saloon. Fonda's arrival sets off a complex series of events involving changing loyalties and motives. And a couple of romances get started, Widmark with former Fonda and Quinn gal, Dorothy Malone and Fonda with the prim and proper daughter of one of the town founders, Dolores Michaels.

Warlock has always been cited by film historians as demonstrating a not so subtle homosexual relationship with Fonda and Quinn. I think a case could be made for it, but I think it's a one sided crush with the crush on Quinn's side.

Fonda's a thoroughgoing professional, he's well aware of the pitfalls of his trade and the fact it's a dying profession as civilization creeps ever so slowly westward. His scenes with Michaels have some real poignancy to them, a man who wants more than anything else to leave killing behind, but knows nothing else.

Widmark takes up the challenge for official law enforcement. Oddly enough ten years later he did a western called Death of a Gunfighter where he becomes the man on horseback that Fonda has the potential to be in Warlock.

The supporting cast has some really fine and familiar character players. You always can tell a good film when the smallest of character players give indelible performances in a film where they might not have as much scenes and/or dialog to work with. My favorite in this film is DeForest Kelley who as a San Pablo cowboy demonstrates a streak of innate decency and fair play. If he didn't gain immortality with the original Star Trek as Doctor McCoy, this might very well have been Kelley's career part.

In a good John Wayne western, Tall in the Saddle, Gabby Hayes has one of my favorite western lines about law and order when he says he's for it, but it depends who's dishing it out. In Warlock it's the who and the how of the dishing that is explored here with a lot of disturbing questions raised.

"Better say a prayer for the soul of your deputy!"

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 5 March 2023]

The title suggests a horror film, but Warlock is actually the town in which this psychological western takes place.

Hank Fonda takes second billing to Richard Widmark as a marshal packing a six-shooter with gold handles who takes on an ugly bunch of heavies, one of whom fires two slugs into a barber just for nicking him with a razor.

Two of the gang later found fame on TV, DeForest Kelley in 'Star Trek', Frank Gorshin - here sporting a nasty little moustache - who at one point gets to confront Richard Widmark whose giggle inspired The Riddler in 'Batman' and actually plays Widmark's brother.

Anthony Quinn reminds us of the days when every performance he gives wasn't Zorba as Fonda's limping, grey-haired sidekick who seems unnaturally close to Fonda.

A pretty exciting law and order Star Western...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 9/10 · 15 June 2000]

The Colt revolver was a tool and the more you study the men who used it at a high professional level the more it becomes obvious that they were also tools, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes (according to Western films) quite the opposite... Necessary tools, necessary men in a very compressed package of American history... They have their brief moment on the stage and then it's time to take their leave, preferably with their boots on, knowing, or not knowing that they've done the job that history actually required, but that history, in fact, won't thank them for it...

Fonda—a quiet dominant personality in Westerns—puts this over perfectly in Edward Dmytryk's 'Warlock,' unpretentious Western… Here Fonda is a professional hired gun brought in specially, and most temporarily, one always feels, to calm down a town plagued by cowboys, some of them with outlaw affiliations...

Every word he says ('I'm a simple man, handy with Colts'), every calculated ploy, shows that he's marvelously clear-eyed about his situation—that today he's wanted, that tomorrow he won't be—because he's an old professional and it's all happened before...

Spruce as spry as ever, Fonda is Clay Blaidsdell, a legendary gunfighter, the ideal professional gunman with great expectations... He is hired, temporarily, by the citizens of Warlock to clean up their town from the outlaws... The movie focuses on his rise when he succeeds in removing the bad guys in a spectacular confrontation, and his fall when he is forced to face his best friend in a showdown...

Fonda brings with him his hero-worshiping right hand and conscience, the ex-killer Tom Morgan (Quinn), who challenges his one-man rule, one vindictive old girlfriend and one loving new flame... When the pair defeats the San Pedro gang, one of its members, Johnny Gannon (Widmark), stays behind and volunteers to become Blaisdell's deputy...

As an uneasy peace settles onto Warlock, the relationship between Blaisdell and Morgan deteriorates when the marshal finds romance with a local girl, Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels). Gannon, meanwhile, becomes involved with Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), who at one time had been Morgan's mistress and now hates both Blaisdell and him for killing a man she had hoped to marry...

Blond for the only time in his career, Quinn – curious and different as the complex, clubfooted gambler-gunman whose relationship with Clay, leans rather strongly toward homosexuality – made Dmytryk's multi-plotted film somewhat daring for its time... Its complicated story line, working at various levels, and its shadowy psychological innuendos, turned off critics and audiences alike, and from several corners came concern that Dmytryk had carried the 'new convention' Western too far too fast... Nevertheless "Warlock" remains a typical law and order Star Western, well written, pretty exciting, and entirely in the classic mold...

Quality, complex, psycholical, sociological western

[phlbrq58 · 7/10 · 8 February 2022]

At 16 I saw The Good Bad.... It' grittines and confused morality caused me to reject 50s Western like this one. Then in the 70s I discovered Anthony Mann, Budd Boeticher and understood many U. S. filmmakers were stretching the genre despite clean costumes and unrealistic sets.

This film is a terrific example of just such filmmakers. The morality play resonates in light of Jan 6th. It resonates with a homoerotic subtext. Resonates with 2010" s Appaloosa, contemporaneous Liberty Valance, and Shane. I'm sorry I passeed on seeing it sooner.

Dmytryk's best western

[funkyfry · 8/10 · 7 March 2009]

This is probably Edward Dmytryk's best western, and really an outstanding entry in the late 50s cycle of "adult" or "psychological" westerns, the flood began by George Stevens' "Shane." Visually, the film is competent but not really outstanding -- however it has a memorable story full of interesting characters. It manages to take certain cliché situations of the western genre and create them again with new life. It's a major film discovery for anyone who enjoys the later Leone films or the earlier films of Boetticher and Anthony Mann.

Warlock is a town without law. A gang of outlaw ranchers ride into town and do whatever they want to terrorize the locals and scare off the deputies. Frustrated, the town's citizens get together and decide (albeit not unanimously) to hire a professional killer, Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda) to clean the town up. Blaisedell shows up in town accompanied by his trusty accomplice Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn), a "cripple" gambler who loves Blaisedell like a brother and looks over him. But legitimate law and order is on the horizon -- one of the ranchers, Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark), has decided that his friends are going too far, and he moves into town and accepts the job of Deputy. That puts him up in a potential fight not only against the outlaw ranchers (including future "Star Trekkers" DeForest Kelly and Frank Gorshin) but against legendary gunman Blaisedell himself.

And yes, let's not forget that there are women in this story. Not just one token woman with no real character development, but two women who are well established and who develop throughout the film. Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels) is a do-gooder who doesn't like the idea of hiring a gunman. But she falls in love with Blaisedell and ultimately betrays her principles simply out of emotional loyalty to him. More intriguing still is Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), who may have earned her moniker by way of her trade if you get my meaning. She shows up in Warlock to get revenge on her ex-lover Blaisedell for killing the man she loved. She treats Johnny as if he were a simpleton, but he tells her "I'm not a boy" and spends the rest of the movie proving it. By a long shot, Malone and Widmark are the most interesting aspects of this movie and they really do the most with such interesting characters. But Quinn and Fonda and everybody else have their moments as well.

This is a really excellent ensemble western that has a leisurely pace and might not have quite enough action to please a lot of people then or now. But if you're interested in seeing a western with a lot of good drama and dialog then this is bound to please I think. Plus it's fun just to see stuff like Dr. McCoy talking trash and pulling out his six shooter. Kelly is actually really excellent in the role, and would be somewhat notable here in a small role even if it weren't for his TV fame later. Gorshin is really good too in the more prominent role of Johnny's brother, who has more pride than he can back up with his guns. Well here come the spoilers: I love the way Fonda says "Billy.... billy!" with such disappointment when he guns him down. Like he was a kid who stole a piece of candy right in front of the store clerk, not a man about to plant his earthly remains in the dry soil of Warlock.

Maybe there aren't a huge amount of surprises in the plot, and in a lot of ways it's a variation on a lot of basic western themes. What's interesting about this movie is that the focus isn't all on Fonda like it was in "Tin Star" which is somewhat similar to this one. But Widmark's character isn't a protégé like the Anthony Perkins character in that film, and he doesn't need to learn anything from the veteran gunfighter; if anything the total opposite. There's a lot of attention sprinkled around even to some of the minor characters like Kelly's. A second viewing really pays off because you can notice this more and more. It makes for a fairly convincing atmosphere to the town, as all the supporting characters are somewhat more than the usual stereotypes. They still conform to some of the typical behavior, but there's just a bit more explanation of why they do the things they do. Wallace Ford's character of the disapproving judge would be a good example. He argues with Fonda's character and for most of the film seems to be a wiser man, but at some point his spiels become annoying even to the audience and we're not all that put off in the end when Fonda makes him grovel when he insults Morgan. I think we know what Blaisedell means when he says that at least Morgan was a "real man." Morgan did some really despicable things, but at least he actually stood up for what he believed in and didn't just talk about the way he thought the world should be, he did things to make it that way. Blaisedell knows that he's at the end of his rope and that his time in the West was ending and the time for men like Johnny Gannon was already upon him, but it doesn't mean that he should accept ridicule from hypocrites. In this movie anyway, he still gets to ride off with his pride and his woman, though each have been tattered and betrayed by the course of the film and seem less to us than what they once were. And by way of Gannon winning the love of Lily Dollar, we see again the metaphorical taming and maturation of the West.

"I'd like to see them all burn in Hell."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 25 August 2014]

The town of Warlock is being terrorized by a gang of violent cowboys. So the townsfolk hire notorious gunfighter Henry Fonda and his club-footed sidekick Anthony Quinn to protect them. Later, a man (Richard Widmark) who has left the cowboys because he disapproved of their actions is appointed the deputy sheriff of Warlock. This sets up conflicts involving the cowboys, the hired guns, and the law.

Strong cast in thinly-veiled version of Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday story. The stars are all great. Fonda appears to have had an accident with ink and got a lot of it in his hair. There's solid support from the likes of Wallace Ford, Tom Drake, DeForest Kelly, and Frank Gorshin. Dorothy Malone and Dolores Michaels have the only two prominent female roles and both are fine. It's an intelligent, layered western with good performances and a quality script. The basic plot is nothing new, even for 1959, but it's handled in such a way it feels fresh. Subtext fans will have a field day with Quinn's character.

So weak, so mediocre, badly defined characters, too many twists

[claudg1950 · 2/10 · 19 September 2022]

Dmytrik was a great director, but NOT here; he seems uninterested in salvaging this pathetic script.

Characters make no sense: Clay (Fonda), a gunslinger, speaks like a hardened cynic philosopher but falls in love overnight like a teenager. He speaks wonders of his partner Morgan (Quinn), but in the end we learn that Morgan did really really bad things of which good ole naive Clay was utterly unaware. Which bad things Morgan did, specifically, is unclear. The worst he did had something to do with a Ben whom Clay killed in self defense, or maybe not. Dorothy Malone's character also have an axe to grind against Morgan, but it is, again, unclear why she is holding such a grudge.

Anyway, Morgan misteriously learns of a future attack on a stagecoach and also learns that a passenger is a brother of the late Ben, who is coming for revenge. So Morgan arrives with time enough to stop the whole robbery and kill the robbers --who are part of the gang terrorizing the town-- but he does not kill them, in spite of his advantageous position. He only kills Ben's brother and let the others go. Don't ask for coherence.

A normal western plot should have been simple: a town of cowards don't know what to do with a gang that is giving them bad time (mostly for nothing; this gang is just a pain in the neck for the fun of it. Only later is mentioned in passing that they were rustling cows, but that sounds like an afterthought.) So the town hires gunslingers Clay and Morgan to stop them. A rational story should elaborate that until the happy ending, but screenwriters decided to complicate and stretch things.

Logic goes further down after the gang is more or less neutralized, which it happens in one of those mysteries of the plot: All of a sudden, the town of cowards is no more; they have all prepared themselves with many guns, so VERY EASILY the bad guys are taken to jail by the town people. (If only they had decided that before... ) The plot should have stopped there but it drags for another 20 minutes, mostly fueled by macho posturing by almost everybody, to the extent that finally Clay, (stupidly) kills Morgan. Though Clay does it immediately after learning that Morgan betrayed him, when Morgan is dead Clay turns into a worshipper of him, so he burns a building (as an homage?) which, by the way, was not his own to burn. That was a great way to gain the friendship of the town people.

Clay is the moral hero, yet he valiantly kicks the crutches of the old disabled "judge", sending him to the floor. Sure the "judge" babbles idiotically about the law, but forcing him to drag on the floor is a little too much. Just another way to make friends, perhaps.

At the very end, instead of getting married Clay abandons his brand new girlfriend because she wants him to stop being a gunslinger but gunslinger is the only profession Clay knows about. After the break up, Clay refuses to leave the town, against the wish of a "Deputy" (Widmark), appointed by God knows who. Anyway, makeshift deputy Widmark takes his job seriously and wants Clay to go away, on the technical grounds that killings happen everywhere Clay hangs his hat. So Clay and Deputy end up in a gunfight in the middle of main street (where else?) At the very last second Clay does not kill the Deputy, throws his two magnificent guns to the sand and rides to the sunset (remember that he needed those guns to work as a gunslinger? Never mind: If Gary Cooper threw his badge in the end of High Noon, Henry Fonda should do no less, and if it is ridiculous much to the better.)