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The Gunfighter

A key forerunner of the new breed of dark, brooding westerns that would cast a shadow over America’s frontier folklore, this subversive psychological saga sounds a death knell for the myth of the outlaw hero. In one of his most morally complex roles, Gregory Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, an infamous gunslinger looking to hang up his holsters and start a new life, but whose reputation draws him inexorably into a cycle of violence and revenge from which he cannot escape. Directed with taut efficiency by the versatile studio-era craftsman Henry King, and shot in striking deep-focus style by master cinematographer Arthur C. Miller, The Gunfighter forgoes rough-and-tumble action in favor of an elegiac exploration of guilt and regret that speaks to the anxious soul of postwar America.

Film Info

Henry King
United States
1950
84 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Spine #1053

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interview about director Henry King and the film with filmmaker, writer, and archivist Gina Telaroli
New video essay on editor Barbara McLean by film historian and author J. E. Smyth
Audio excerpts of interviews with King and McLean from 1970 and ’71
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
More!
PLUS: An essay by film critic K. Austin Collins

Is that a Drew Friedman cover? Very nice.

Never that excited about King's later work, except The Gunfighter and Twelve O'Clock High back to back in 1949 is outstanding. What was in his whiskey that year?

Others are Parasite (including the B&W version), Claudine (the 70s African-American romantic comedy), Godard's Pierrot le Fou and Stephen Frears' The Hit.

Mike Gebert wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:08 pm

Is that a Drew Friedman cover? Very nice.

New illustration by Jennifer Dionisio

Oh well. Still nice!

Mike Gebert wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:08 pm

Is that a Drew Friedman cover? Very nice.

Never that excited about King's later work, except The Gunfighter and Twelve O'Clock High back to back in 1949 is outstanding. What was in his whiskey that year?

I think that was the year he tried drinking Canadian whisky instead of that American stuff.

Jim

Jim Roots wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 16, 2020 6:41 am

Mike Gebert wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:08 pm

Is that a Drew Friedman cover? Very nice.

Never that excited about King's later work, except The Gunfighter and Twelve O'Clock High back to back in 1949 is outstanding. What was in his whiskey that year?

I think that was the year he tried drinking Canadian whisky instead of that American stuff.

Well, he always was a bit Old Fashioned.

Mike Gebert wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:08 pm

Never that excited about King's later work, except The Gunfighter and Twelve O'Clock High

Many of his later films are mediocre, but the The Bravados (1958) is an excellent western that inverts several movie cliches regarding vengeance.
I haven't seen them, but I've heard good things about three of King's later works of Americana: Margie (1946), I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951), and Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1952).