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Friday, February 9, 2018

GUN GLORY (1957)

Standard issue mid-size Western finds gunslinger Stewart Granger going back to the farm, trying to make a go of things with the wary, resentful son he left behind and now hardly knows. They’re soon joined by Rhonda Fleming, pushed out of a job in town and glad to take on homemaking duties. It’d be idyllic, if only Granger & Son didn’t both take an interest; the conservative townsfolk weren't gossiping; and villainous cattleman James Gregory wasn't planning on running a herd 20,000 strong right thru everyone’s farmland & home. Too bad preacher Chill Wills can't convince the farmers to take a stand. Or that Granger’s the only person around with the skills to lead a resistance. It’s Cattlemen-vs-Farmers meets Stranger-Comes-To-Town; reasonably effective if without much texture, a factor rarely associated with Granger who homogenizes everything he touches. Fleming is quite good here, so too Chill Wills. But Steve Rowland in his first major role (he’s director Roy Rowland's son) is a crucial decade too old as the boy; an angry 25 when he needs to be a worshipful, but disappointed 15. (A better score might also help.) Nothing wrong with a SHANE/’53 wannabe, but this one isn’t very distinctive.

DOUBLE-BILL: Granger’s best Western is a chilly one, NORTH TO ALASKA/’60 with Henry Hathaway calling the shots for him & co-stars John Wayne & Capucine.

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