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The Gunfighter is a 1950 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden. It was written by William Bowers and William Sellers, with an uncredited rewrite by writer and Film producer Nunnally Johnson, from a story by Bowers, Roger Corman and Andre de Toth. The film was the second of King's six collaborations with Peck.
The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture Story for William Bowers and Andre de Toth during the 23rd Academy Awards.
Ringo arrives in the town of Cayenne, where marshal Mark Strett, a reformed gunslinger and Ringo's old friend, urges Ringo to leave town because his presence will cause trouble. Ringo agrees to depart as soon as he finds his wife Peggy, whom he has not seen in eight years, and his son, who does not know that he exists. Strett informs him that Peggy has changed her surname to conceal their relationship and does not wish to see him. Merchant Jerry Marlowe and thug Hunt Bromley resolve to kill Ringo because Marlowe blames him for his son's murder and Bromley desires fame.
Ringo spots Marlowe aiming a rifle at him and disarms him, swearing that he did not kill Marlowe's son. Molly, another of Ringo's old friends, persuades Peggy to talk to Ringo. He tells Peggy that he is weary of life as a gunfighter and wants to settle into a safer lifestyle. He intends to head west to California, or to South America, where people do not know him, and he invites Peggy to accompany him. She refuses but agrees to reconsider one year later if he avoids trouble until then. Ringo meets his son but honors Peggy's wish not to reveal that he is the boy's father.
Ringo's business in Cayenne is finished, but he has lingered too long. The three vengeful brothers try to ambush him outside of the saloon before Strett and his deputies intercept and apprehend them. Ringo bids farewell to Peggy and his son, but Bromley shoots him in the back. As Ringo lies dying, he tells Strett that he had shot first and requests that Bromley should not be arrested or tried for the crime, as Bromley will soon learn that notoriety as a gunfighter is a curse that will follow him wherever he goes.
Strett beats Bromley severely and banishes him from Cayenne, predicting that Bromley will someday meet a violent death. At Ringo's funeral, Peggy reveals to the townspeople for the first time that she was Ringo's wife and sits next to Strett as her husband is buried. A silhouetted, unrecognizable cowboy rides into the sunset.
Columbia sold the rights to Twentieth Century-Fox, where the role was awarded to Peck. Wayne's final film, The Shootist (1976), is often compared to The Gunfighter and contains numerous plot similarities.Roberts, R. and Olson, S. John Wayne: American. New York: Free Press (1995), pp. 121-2. .Hyams, J. The Life and Times of the Western Movie. Gallery Books (1984), pp. 109-12.
The script was loosely based on the purported exploits of an actual Western gunfighter named Johnny Ringo, a distant cousin of the outlaw Younger family and enemy of Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers.Tefertiller, C. Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend. Wiley (1997), pp. 86-90. As in the film, Ringo sought a reconciliation with his estranged family in California in 1882, but unlike the character in the film, his conciliatory gestures were rejected. After a 10-day alcoholic binge, he died of a gunshot wound, probably self-inflicted.Gatto, S. John Ringo: The Reputation of a Deadly Gunman. San Simon (1997), pp. 201-16. ASIN: B0006QCC9U Many of the circumstances and legends surrounding Ringo's life and adventures have been challenged in recent years.Burrows, J. John Ringo: The Gunfighter Who Never Was. University of Arizona Press (1987).
The film was directed by Henry King, the second of his six collaborations with Peck. The others included Twelve O'Clock High (1949), David and Bathsheba (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Bravados (1958) and Beloved Infidel (1959).
In the original ending, Hunt Bromley is arrested by the town marshal, but studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck was enraged at this resolution, so King and Johnson rewrote the final scene. The studio hated Peck's authentic period mustache. Zanuck, who had been abroad when production began, reportedly said, "I would give $25,000 of my own money to get that mustache off Peck."
Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times praised the film's authenticity and wrote: "By no stretch of the imagination is 'The Gunfighter' a picture that may be set down as a typical western. ... It puts drama above melodrama. But it is not lacking one whit in suspense, and it is occasionally brightly adorned with humor. ... 'The Gunfighter' may definitely be catalogued as one of the year's best."
Variety wrote: "There's never a sag or off moment in the footage... despite all the tight melodrama, the picture finds time for some leavening laughter. Gregory Peck perfectly portrays the title role, a man doomed to live out his span killing to keep from being killed. He gives it great sympathy and a type of rugged individualism that makes it real."
Bob Dylan referenced scenes from The Gunfighter in his song "Brownsville Girl", cowritten by playwright Sam Shepard, which appears on Dylan's 1986 release Knocked Out Loaded. Gregory Peck paid tribute to Dylan's words when Dylan received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997.
Elmore Leonard features two characters in conversation about The Gunfighter in his novel City Primeval. (2026). 9780061832963, Harper Collins. ISBN 9780061832963
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