The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)

Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford had already co-starred in Convicted and Human Desire. For their third and final pairing in The Fastest Gun Alive, MGM gave them a whole flock of familiar character faces in support who are too numerous to mention. The two play a pair of men of whom destiny put on a collision course. Broderick Crawford is a swaggering psychotic gunfighter who kills frequently to preserve his reputation as The Fastest Gun Alive. As the film opens he picks a fight with another fast gun, Walter Coy, and outdraws him with lightning speed. A later bank robbery by Crawford and his two sidekicks Noah Beery, Jr., and John Dehner puts a posse on their trail. To get fresh horses they stop off in a small town that doesn't even have a sheriff. It's also where Glenn Ford and wife Jeanne Crain operate the general store.Unknown to everyone else the mild mannered Ford is also a fast gun, taught by his father who was a legendary sheriff. But Ford is a man with issues, different than Crawford's, but the issues that both these men have are what drives this film to a conclusion. When Crawford hears about Ford being a fast gun he feels compelled to see if it is true.Glenn Ford did a series of excellent westerns in the Fifties and his career was heading toward its apex. He and Crawford are just wonderful in their contrasting characters. The editing in The Fastest Gun Alive is particularly noteworthy, especially in a church scene similar to the one in High Noon where all those familiar movie faces get to etch some good characterizations with only a few lines.The Fastest Gun Alive is an absolute must for Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford fans.

In a movie made previously, "The Gunfighter" (1950), the point is made that having a reputation as a gunslinger is a curse, because there is always some punk who wants to prove he is faster. This is the premise of "The Fastest Gun Alive." Through most of the movie, we believe that George is trying to give up his gunslinging ways because his wife Dora has insisted on it, and therefore he is pretending to be just an ordinary citizen. When his need for respect leads him to show off his skills with a gun, word gets out, and Vinnie, another gunslinger, comes looking for him. The townsfolk plead with Dora to release George from his promise to her, so he can kill Vinnie, who is terrorizing the town. That is when we find out that she does not care if George kills Vinnie or anyone else with his gun. The problem is that George is a coward who has never been in a gunfight, and she is simply tired of running from town to town whenever George starts showing off and word gets out that he is fast on the draw. This is such a reversal from the usual story of the gunfighter with a guilty past who wants to hang up his guns that most people forget about this twist ending when they think about the movie years later.

Stand-out Western marvelously performed by an all-star-cast and stunningly directed . Whenever it becomes known how good he is with guns, ex-gunfighter George (Glenn Ford) and his wife Dora (Jeanne Crain) must flee the Cross Creek little town in fear of all the gunslingers who might want to challenge him , but villagers swear to hide his secret and support him . Some bandits (Broderick Crawford, John Dehner , Noah Beery Jr.) pass through and decide to spend that day . Citizens ask the unexperienced storekeeper to rid the little town of bandits when a vicious gang of freebooters arrives in town . George carries out protecting people who ran like rabbits when the going got roguish . He has to take a stand when a gang of nasty outlaws takes over his town . Meanwhile , the outlaws are pursued by a motley posse . What happens in the next few minutes makes one of the most dramatic climaxes of any story you've ever seen! .This excellent , meaty Western contains interesting plot , intrigue , thrills , shootouts and results to be quite entertaining . Outstanding Western balances action , suspense and drama . It's a classical recounting about an unexperienced shopkeeper , general merchandise's owner , a peace-loving who is really an expert shooter and surrounded by 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 surprise at church and , of course, the final gundown . The traditional story and exciting screenplay was well written by Frank D. Gilroy though clichés run through-out , the enjoyable tale is enhanced for interesting moments developed among main characters and especially on the relationship between Glenn Ford and his wife Jeanne Crain . Magnificently performed by Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford , 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 Broderick Crawford , John Dhener, Noah Beery as well as villagers perfectly performed by Rhys Williams as Tibbs , Virginia Gregg as Rose , Chubby Johnson as Frank , John Doucette as Ben , Leif Erickson as as Lou and special appearance by Russ Tamblyn as Eric playing a spectacular as well as amusing dance number . Atmospheric cinematography in Black and White is superbly caught by cameraman cameraman George Folsey , though being necessary a correct remastering . Thrilling as well as lively musical score by Andre Previn .This is another superbly powerful Western being compellingly directed by Russell Rouse . He was an expert screenwriter as the classic D.O.A. filmmaking occasionally for cinema all kind of genres as Caper films such as ¨The Caper of the Golden Bulls¨, Dramas as ¨The Oscar¨, Noir cinema such as ¨Wicked Woman¨, ¨New York Confidential¨ , ¨The Well¨ , ¨The thief¨ and another Western titled ¨Thunder in the sun¨. Well worth watching and it will appeal to Glenn Ford fans .

There was a time when Westerns pretty much ruled the movie screens. And many (perhaps even most) were pretty forgettable. There were occasional great Westerns (e.g., "Rio Bravo"), and others that were at least significantly above average. This is one that is quite above average.I have to get one gripe off my shoulders first, though. Russ Tamblyn. Fine performer particularly remembered for "West Side Story". But even at a barn dance, his dancing here was really out of place...despite being very good. Whose bright idea was this??? As I was watching this film, it occurred to me that it is almost the reverse of "High Noon". Here, Glenn Ford is reluctantly forced into a confrontation by a gun fighter who always seeks out those faster that he. And where are the people who are pushing our hero into a confrontation? In a church.Except for a gunfight at the beginning of the film, and the one climaxing the film, this is more a psychological Western. Why is Glenn Ford so gun shy when he's clearly the fasted gun alive? The cast here really is very good. Glenn Ford was a dependable leading man. Perhaps just under the level of actors like Cary Grant and Clark Gable. But he rarely let us down in any role, and he certainly didn't here. He carries the film and is why it's better than the average 1950s Western. Jeanne Crain is always a pleasure to watch, and she balances the need to be a forceful wife who will not tolerate her husband's addiction to guns, without being an unreasonable nag. Broderick Crawford is the primary villain here...the role he was best at. This film followed on the heels of his success in the syndicated television series "Highway Patrol". As a couple of our reviewers pointed out, he seems a bit chubby to be so fast on the draw, but he knows how to be menacing. As mentioned earlier, Russ Tamblyn is fine here, but totally out of place in the plot. Allyn Joslyn (whom I usually remember as one of the bad angels in "The Horn Blows At Midnight") is the loud mouth here, and is quite good at it. John Dehner is fine as another of the bad guy trio. I was a little sad to see one of my favorite character actors as the third bad guy, and he was rather wasted here -- Noah Beery, Jr.If you've become wary of Westerns, as I have, I recommend this one to you. It's clearly above average and has a good story with more drama than the typical shoot-em-up cowboy flick.