Fair Western and not really that much of a remake of the original classic film. Excellent cast tries their best, but not much to work with. Bright spot is the beautiful and talented Barabra Luna who steals the show. Decent entertainment for a rainy midnight.
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angelsunchained16 February 2020
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ma-cortes13 January 2022An inferior remake , this fare is a plain , brisk-paced , direct , mean and entirely entertaining , but mediocre . The picture is developed in 1873 in Onyx and talks about Lin McAdam (Tom Tryon in similar role to James Stewart) and there arrives his cousin Dakin McAdam (John Saxon) to participate in the town competition , and the competitor to be a winner , he will acquire the latest iron from the East , a Winchester 73 rifle . Two cousins - one an ex-con and the other a law officer - compete for possession of a famed repeating rifle. The sheriff obligates strangers to leave their guns . Both of them participate in a shot-contest, then Lin earns an state-of-the-art Winchester 73 , the greatest rifle in the west , but it is robbed and starting the possession through hand to hand , as the sheriff chases his stolen rifle as it changes hands , going on a merciless manhunt . Starring finally corners the original thief at a church with an engrossing and unfortunate shooot-out . Meanwhile , the. Mile by Mile...Showdown by Showdown...He Wreaked the West's Most Terrifying Vengeance! .The Gun That Won The West!
A regular television Western with nice actors , action-packed , sweaty , shootouts , chases , plot twists and breathtaking duels . The script results to be an adaptation based on ¨Big gun¨ , a novel written by Stuart L. Lake and screenwriter by prestigious Borden Chase, being also based about real events because 4 July 1876 in Dodge City had a shot competition and the winner was rewarded with a Winchester 73 model 1873 with ability shoot 17 cartridges caliber 44/40 in a few seconds . Of course, all the western's essential elements are in this film, such as : crossfire , Red Indian attack , violent raids by outlaws , final showdown , among others . Based on the 1950 landmark western ¨Winchester 73¨ that achieved to revive the genre during the decade 50s and that had excellent acting by an outstanding and notorious cast as Dan Duryea , Tony Curtis , Shelley Winters , John Doucette and James Stewart in his first western , subsequently following a lot , most of them directed by Anthony Mann ; formerly , in the early 1930s Stewart had worked with Mann in the theater . This TV retelling Winchester 73 (1967) stands out thanks to an extraordinary support casting , some of them in brief apparitions , such as : John Drew Barrymore , Paul Fix , Jack Lambert , John Hoyt , Ned Romero , James Griffith , Joan Blondell , John Dehner . While Dan Duryea and John Doucette also appeared in the original 1950 theatrical rendition directed by Anthony Mann, of which this is a reboot.
The breathtaking cinematography in in brilliant colour is well made by Bud Thackery , accompanying a thrilling and moving musical score by Sol Kaplan . This oater was regularly directed by ordinary TV director , whose career expanded exclusively in the small screen . He is known for his work on a lot of TV series , such as : General Electric Theater (1953), Star Trek (1966) and Misssion: Impossible (1966) , The Time Tunnel , Banacek , Cannon , Petrocelli, Murder for Murder , Ghost Story , Hawaii 5 0, Cimarron , High Chaparral , Hec Ramsey, Marcus Welby , Custer , Shane , Doctor Kildare , Bonanza , FBI , Gunsmoke and many others. Rating : 5.5/10 , only for Western hardcore lovers. -
gerryn-101-9319425 October 2013First, let me say that I am a big fan of the 1950 Winchester 73 movie starring Jimmy Stewart, Shelly Winters, Steven McNally, Millard Mitchell (High Spade, Stewart's sidekick), and Dan Duryea (Waco Johnny Dean, (McNally's sidekick). McNally and Stewart are brothers. I have enjoyed it many, many times. One of the gems in this movie is the short performance by John McIntyre as an Indian gun runner at the Tascosa trading post. Finding this version on TV, I decided to give it a try.
Dan Duryea, who played Waco Johnny Dean, in the original movie is introduced as Bart McAdam, the father of an angry and bitter Dakin McAdam (John Saxon) early in this version. Bart has convinced his brother, Ben McAdam (Paul Fix) to offer the prized Winchester as the reward for the shooting match in hopes of attracting Dakin, recently released from prison, to the contest. Sheriff Lin McCadam, (Tom Tyron), Ben's son and Dakin's cousin is rebuffed when he tries to make nice with Dakin when the meet just before the contest.
After the initial stage of the contest, only Dakin and Lin are left in the contest. They take turns driving nails into a board (With the fabled rifle). Lin wins when he hits a dime thrown in the air. Dakin sulks away. He confronts his uncle, Ben McAdam (Lin's dad) who is just starting to engrave the rifle, kills him and leaves to follow his gang to Tascosa. Bart tries to convince Lin that the shooting was self defense.
Lin tries to convinces Dan McAdam, son of Ben, (David Pritchart) to accept a deputy badge instead of just hunting down Dakin, but Dan rides out for Starett's the night before his father's funeral. At the burial, Bart tries to convince Lin that the shooting was self defense.
When Dakin arrives at Starett's he meets John Dehner (High Spade Johnny Dean)- (The John McIntyre gun runner role in the original, not Stewarts sidekick Hi Spade). Dehner and Gavin play poker, finally for THE gun. Dehner wins. Dehner angers An Indian, who kills him, taking the Winchester. Dakin is trailing behind and attempts to regain the rifle. The Indian shoots his horse, but Dakin gets Dehner's handgun. David arrives at Starett's just before Dakin returns. Starett runs them off, giving Dakin a 30 minute head start. Dakin takes David's horse, leaving him on foot. When Lin shows up later, he leaves David on foot at Starett's.
The Indian attacks a small group of Mexicans and Lin comes along. He engages the Indian one on one, killing him. Not realizing the Indian had his rifle, he rides off. Thinking the rifle to cursed, the Mexicans decide to take it to the padre for blessing.
Soon Dakin has caught up with his gang in Tascosa, where they plan to commit a robbery. Lin walks in to Joan Blondell's Catina and confronts his cousin Dakin. Meanwhile, Bart & Ben have caught the stage and have arrived in Tascosa. Bart convinces Lin that Dakin will surrender in the church at midnight. David smells an ambush. Leaving David behind, Bart and Lin meet Dakin in the church, and up pop Dakin's gang. Now we learn that the robbery is to be the church's holy treasures. As the robbery is completed, the Mexican family bring the Winchester into the church to be blessed. Dakin urges the young girl to bring him the gun and Bart knocks him aside to grab the gun. Dakin recovers and wounds Bart (his father). In the ensuing fight, as Dakin tries to kill Lin, David finishes off the 2 members of the gang, recovering the treasures. Dakin and Lin, fighting on the church grounds outside end up with Lin shooting his cousin. This was a better than average made-for-TV western, but did not measure up to the original Winchester 73. The original was better written, better acted, better directed, and had a more realistic storyline.
Waco Johnny Dean was the sidekick of Dutch Henry Brown, the estranged brother of Lin McAdam in the original movie. Tom Tyron is his cousin, Lin McAdam. -
skinnybert29 April 2020It's always tough to do a remake. This is no exception -- indeed, an excellent example of the remake challenge. Since there was nothing wrong with the excellent Jimmy Stewart version, there was no need to remake it -- except to do it differently. And different is indeed what they do.
Does it work? Well, not as well as Anthony Mann's did. The various criticisms of previous reviewers are valid: there is wooden acting (especially by the lead, Tom Tryon), and the story line is highly altered. However, there are strong points here, even if the production-as-a-whole is not as well-realized as the 50s version.- First, the message and emphasis is different. Mann genuinely focused on the rifle as his central plot point (hence the title!), but this film uses the titular rifle as more of a MacGuffin.
- Second, there are genuinely interesting efforts at direction -- e.g., the camera riding along with the coffin during the funeral procession.
- Thirdly, there are strong performances among the more pedestrian (more detail below).
Does it all work? Well -- not quite as well as they wanted. But there is something there, and it does work sometimes. Part of the problem is being a TV movie -- acts must end in cliffhangers, for the commercial breaks, and the whole production has to be made quickly. So it isn't what it might have been, but there are still things to appreciate.
John Saxon is hugely responsible for this version's effectiveness, being the central character -- being a dark reflection upon his father. We are told this more than shown it, but Saxon makes us believe in him throughout, even as we fear him.
There is also Luna's character, which (despite not featuring in the 50s version) is the second joy here. She's very much the actress we see on the original Star Trek, or later on Fantasy Island -- perfectly capable of going from sexy to dangerous in .01 seconds, while stealing the scene. Nice to see she's still working, even if she never had a major hit to call her own. She and Saxon make this worth seeing, and either one or the other appear in almost every scene.
Joan Blondell appears about an hour into the movie, for no real benefit (except to see her perform). One might suppose there were scenes which explained why her character mattered, rather than just a few scenes for her to strut. Personally, this was highly disappointing, as her inclusion was mainly why I bought the DVD.
Overall: the opening is a little slow, the conclusion is a little clumsy, the plot points are sometimes a bit mushy. And yet, I just watched it for a second time and was firmly involved from beginning to end. It's a solid production, which attempts a subtle depiction of dysfunctional family dynamics, and doesn't come off terribly articulate -- and yet, the message is there, with some fine performances along the way. -
keithhire8 January 2014Not unwatchable, but close to it. I agree with malcomgsw, this pales in comparison to the classic from 1950, one of my personal favorites from any genre. The changes to the plot do not improve upon the original but overly complicate it - in this case less is more. John Saxon gives the best performance here, making the most of a thin script. Saxon is good at playing creeps, see him in "The Appaloosa" with Brando. Tom Tryon gives a wooden performance, shortly before giving up acting to become a writer. It was gratifying to see Dan Duryea from the earlier film, but his turn here seems tired, while in the original he was one of the more memorable villains in screen history. John Drew Barrymore's hippie character is unusual, but out of place in a western, kind of like Donald Sutherland in "Kelly's Heroes". All in all, an inferior remake of a superior film. I would, however, take issue with malcolmgsw's comment that some IMDb contributors seem to "want to eulogize the guns that are featured in films rather than dwell on their harmful consequences". We can of course, dwell on anything we want to, but while we're dwelling, what about the people living on the frontier whose lives were saved by having firearms nearby? Just saying.
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crood13 November 2017As a made for TV movie from that time, it's OK. John Saxon is pretty good and it fits that he's the most recognizable of the main three characters.
Calling it a remake is stretching things a bit. They changed a lot, including that the titular rifle doesn't get passed around nearly as much and isn't apparently as central to the story as in the original.
The biggest change is to the relationship between hero and villain. In the original, it's a twist revealed only at the end and gives the whole thing a much more personal angle. Here, the relationship (cousins) makes the whole thing less personal. Also, they did a weird merge and split with the hero's character. Lin, played by Stewart in the original, has been combined with Wyatt Earp from that film. Some of his character was then split off into the newly created younger brother, who feel superfluous most of the time.
There's one scene which just makes the hero look incredibly stupid by walking straight into what can only be an obvious trap.
With the original easily available, there's no real reason to watch this one.
I would like to point something to the "no reason to remake it crowd". Keep in mind that this remake was made well before cable and home video, at a time when TV stations was looking to increase color content. An older, black & white movie, even a good one, would have been relegated to late night or weekend morning airings. It would have be severely cut up, as well. It doesn't make this remake more watchable, but chances are there was little to no opportunity to see the original at the time. -
redwhiteandblue17766 December 2017There must be a terrific laundry in this town. Every actor's clothes are perfectly cleaned and pressed except for John Saxon. Appears the costume lady just went down the movies studio's "cowboy clothes" department and pulled out something from the 1950's for everyone. Secondly, I take part in shoot competitions and have never seen anyone who could shoot as well as these guys. Totally unbelievable. Thirdly, the depictions of "Indians" is an insult to real native Americans. It's hard to understand why movie studios would put money into this kind of amateurish film. I gave it a 2 only because it had some nice scenery.
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FightingWesterner21 February 2010This television remake of the Jimmy Stewart classic finds sheriff Tom Tryon and his no-good cousin John Saxon competing for the title weapon, being offered up as a prize in a shooting contest by Saxon's father Dan Duryea. When he loses, the vile Saxon kills Tryon's father and takes off with the gun and both of his cousins in pursuit.
This isn't as loosely plotted or episodic as the original film, nor as great. Still, it's a pretty good TV movie with more of a theatrical feel to it than other movies-of-the-week, with some entertaining action scenes.
John Drew Barrymore stands out and delivers an interesting, amusing performance as a long-haired member of Saxon's gang, who talks and dresses like a preacher and drives a hearse!
A couple of the actors from the 1950 version return, most notably Dan Duryea.
The Winchester looks exactly like the one from the original film, with the same etchings and brass plaque on the stock. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Universal dug through it's prop department and dusted off the same gun. -
malcolmgsw8 October 2006I don't know what it says about some of the contributors to this site that they seem to want to eulogise the guns that are featured in films rather than dwell on their harmful consequences.This is a cheap and shoddy TV remake by Universal of one of the great Westerns of all time.They have a determination to reduce everything to the lowest common denominator .It is quite apparent that they want to keep the cast list to below 10 and use all of their standing sets at Universal City.Their "Indian Tribe" seems to consist of just 2 individuals.The acting of the younger members of the cast is so wooden that you would believe that their faces are incapable of mobility.The shootout at the end is poorly staged and the whole film is a total bore which even a fine actor such as Dan Duryea cannot redeem.
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jenny-725265 July 2021If you have just watched the original Winchester 73 with Jimmy Stewart and foolishly followed it with his one -- you have my utmost sympathy. At least the screen writers didn't make a duplicate of the original. That probably would have even been worse. There are a handful of talented actors in this movie; however, they couldn't save it from the bad script or the other actors who were the proverbial flash in the pan -- only on the screen because they had the Look and nothing more. This movie might be more palatable if I had not watched the original right before this one.
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andrewburns-9551112 July 2021The only thing that kept me watching was how impressed I was with the picture for 1967 - bright, vid, and quite sharp. I don't know if I was watching an upgraded version or what but it looked amazing.
Now, the writing - wow, it's really bad. None of the characters make any sense in what they are doing. None of them. They all seem to make the most random and horrible decisions. I could only watch 20 minutes but it kept getting worse and worse. Do not watch more than a couple minutes. -
garthfan4 June 2002This is a fantastic remake of the original that starred James Stewart. John Saxon plays the bad guy and guess who plays his father, Dan Duryea who also starred in the original. I hope someday they will distribute this on VHS or DVD. If not, I hope they will at least air it again on television.