TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Wordiezett So much average

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Richie-67-485852 Westerns of the 50's are the best and to be missed if not for the fact we can see them again via rentals, DVD's and TCM entertainment. They had the quality movie stars, great plot points, good subject matter, were educational and tugged at all our emotions. Throw in horses, good and bad guys, love interest, dust, posse's and some shootings and we are off! Fonda comes through as a veteran of the time who survived using his abilities, guts, savvy and experience but gets dealt a life blow which he doesn't recover from until this movie. Its a believable story and will pull you in. Then there is the new sheriff who wants to do good and right but doesn't know what that is. That be Perkins. Put him together with Fonda and the story takes hold. The Wild West was unexplored times and territories and there are no end to the stories that came out of it. This be one of them. Good solid entertainment from start to finish with one of the best endings around. Feel good is so thick you can cut it with a knife. That's good directing. Enjoy a nice meal while watching along with a tasty drink too. Saddle up

John Brooks This is better than one would expect looking at the poster and cast and what not. Obviously running in at about 1h30, and given its plot, it's not meant to be a masterclass in film making either, but it's always at least interesting to have a watch of Anthony Perkins or Henry Fonda on screen. Here, we're even given a pretty entertaining flick with interesting scenes and fine moments of sensitivity. There's a nice subtly to the film that helps instill a certain sense of fairness, respect and ultimately justice. It's not done in the cheesy way you'd expect though. The characters are good: the film is complex enough in its actors to not be the utterly straightforward affair these often become. Sure it could've had a bit more development, depth, and quality overall, and it really did have potential for more - but this is good enough.

sol- Once a respected sheriff, a cynical bounty hunter takes to mentoring the nervous, inexperienced young sheriff of a sleepy town in this western drama starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins (in the time before he became typecast in psychopath/horror roles). A common criticism of the film seems to be the casting of a timid Perkins as a sheriff, but his uneasiness in the role is very much deliberate and the chemistry between Fonda and Perkins works every step of the way. What does not quite work so well is a subplot with Fonda finding a surrogate son in a local boy of mixed ethnic descent. While a stranger to the town, Fonda is incredulously invited by the boy's single mother to stay at their house, and sleep in his bedroom (!), and when the boy later goes missing, Fonda's search for him is too obviously metaphorical to click (it is revealed that he lost his own son years ago). The entire second half of the film - not just the search for the boy - is weaker than the first half though with more action than acute dialogue exchanges between Fonda and Perkins. The second half does, however, feature a memorable final scene for John McIntire, who is great throughout playing a character one and a half times his actual age. The final showdown is not half bad either. The juice of the film though comes from the first half with the bond between Fonda and Perkins in the spotlight. Fonda almost seems to see a little of himself in Perkins at times, and he curiously seems to admire how genuine Perkins is about a job that he long ago dismissed as not worth the trouble or shiny, bright tin star.

btkh American's tend to look towards the Clint Eastwood westerns for "gritty realism," in their westerns, yet here is a film that is more realistic than any of Clint's with the exception of Unforgiven.In his role as a former law-man turned bounty hunter, Henry Fonda shines as the voice of life experience trying to imprint itself on the soul of naive, young Anthony Perkins. Fonda gives Perkins advice that police are still given today by law enforcement training. Exchanges like this one are still true today: Morg Hickman/Fonda: A decent man doesn't want to kill, but if you're gonna shoot, you shoot to kill.Sheriff Ben Owens/Perkins: How about hittin' them in the arm? Morg Hickman: That hokey-pokey'll get you killed fast. There're a lot of guys bragging about shooting a gun out of somebody's hand. They're lying. They shot to kill. A wounded man can still kill you.This is a movie about standing your ground when the majority are against you and learning hard lessons through bitter experience even when the voice of experience is trying to help you avoid having to learn it the hard way.If you're in the mood for an older western that is truer to life than you might think, this is a movie for you.