Death of a Gunfighter

1969

Action / Drama / Western

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 75% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 58% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.2/10 10 1923 1.9K

marshal saloon owner

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Plot summary

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

Director

Don Siegel Photo
Don Siegel

Top cast

Frank Ellis Photo
Frank Ellis as Townsman
Kent Smith Photo
Kent Smith as Andrew Oxley
Larry Arnold Photo
Larry Arnold as Townsman
Robert Sorrells Photo
Robert Sorrells as Chris Hogg
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
862.67 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
TV-PG
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 3
1.56 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
TV-PG
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by R T 5 / 10

Death of a Gunfighter was originally directed by

Death of a Gunfighter was originally directed by Robert Totten, who directed the original The Quick and the Dead, as well as plenty of TV like Gunsmoke and Mystery In Dracula's Castle. Despite a year of work, he couldn't get along with star Richard Widmark and lost that battle, getting replaced by Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry and John Wayne's last movie, The Shootist). Siegel had been the original choice to direct, but was overworked, according to the Chicago Tribune. However, in Siegel's memoirs, he wrote that Widmark pushed from day one to get Totten kicked off the film and replaced by the unwilling Siegel. Finally, three and a half weeks into making the movie, Widmark got Universal boss Lew Wasserman to personally get involved. When Siegel looked at Totten's footage, he thought it was great and even made sure his own footage matched. In fact, he didn't reshoot a single scene, only finishing off the film's opening and closing sequences, as well as some pick-up shots. In the end, he didn't think he had done enough work to take directing credit. However, Totten wanted nothing to do with the film. Siegel didn't want his name on the film, which upset Widmark even more. Finally, an agreement was made with the Directors Guild of America for the pseudonym Alan Smithee to be used. In fact, this was the first Alan Smithee-directed film. Here's where it gets weird: critics loved the film and the new director. The New York Times claimed that it had sharp direction and that Smithee "has an adroit facility for scanning faces and extracting sharp background detail." Roger Ebert said that it was "an extraordinary western by director Allen Smithee, a name I'm not familiar with, allows his story to unfold naturally." I wonder if Ebert was aware what was going on and was having fun with his review. I'd like to think so. Based on Death of a Gunfighter by Lewis B. Patten, this movie feels like Hollywood realizing that some of the better Westerns were coming from other countries, mostly Italy, at this point. Marshall Frank Patch (Widmark) is an Old West-style lawman in Cottonwood Springs, Texas, a town determined to be modern and, as such, conveniently forget its numerous sins and just whitewash the past. "What would happen," the mayor says, "if an Eastern businessman came to town and saw old Patch there, wearing that shirt he probably hasn't washed in a week?" Patch shoots a drunk in self-defense, which the town leaders use as a way to get him out. Knowing that the town is about to murder him with their own gunfighters -- he knows too much -- the old lawman settles his affairs, including marrying brothel owner Claire Quintana (Lena Horne), an interracial relationship that is a fact of life, something bold for 1969. This is a film rich with character actors that I love -- Carroll O'Connor, Royal Dano, John Saxon -- and a town unlike many other Westerns, one made up of all races, a place where a lone car causes worry, where the trains must get ever closer, where the past -- and Patch -- must die to move progress ever forward, no matter what.
Reviewed by Aldo G 7 / 10

This is one of several movies seeing aging

This is one of several movies seeing aging Hollywood stars use the Wild West as a metaphor for their own careers or even the old studio system. Richard Widmark is as good as ever as the aging sheriff being forced out of his job by town council people who are anxious to modernize. Don Siegel directed a portion of the film after Widmark could not get along with the original director, Robert Totten. That's why Alan Smithee gets the directing credit on the film (Smithee is the industry's pseudonym when a director wants his name removed from the credits.)
Reviewed by Nick F 8 / 10

Death Of A Gunfighter is a fine Western

Death Of A Gunfighter is a fine Western starring Richard Widmark at his leathery steely-eyed best. He plays Frank Patch, a marshal whose gun-happy law enforcement has worn thin with town elders, who want him to retire. Set in changing times – an early motor-car is seen among the horses in the main street – this 1969 film has a strong cast which includes Western stalwarts Carroll O’Connor, John Saxon, Dub Taylor and Royal Dano, and was directed by the great Don Seigal, who replaced first-choice Robert Totten. Widmark was 55 when the film was made - though he looks older - and his single-minded gritty persona means he doesn’t have many friends in the town, so when a few cowardly citizens start taking pot-shots at him to hasten his retirement, he inevitably retaliates. The film is a little too introspective at times - too many lingering facial shots and over-extended dialogue - but even so, Widmark is always compelling and the climax is gripping and unpredictable. Reviewed by NICK FLETCHER
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