THE GUNFIGHTER
DIRECTED BY HENRY KING
PRODUCED BY NUNNALLY JOHNSON
ORIGINAL MUSIC ALRED NEWMAN
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
Aging gunslinger, Jimmy Ringo, rides into a strange town
where he's immediately recognized.
As kids gather at the saloon windows to glimpse the killer
and townsfolk gossip about his
exploits, the town marshal tries to keep the peace.
He wants Ringo out of town, but Ringo asks for a few hours' grace
to see his sweetheart,
whom he hasn't seen in more than eight years,
and their son, whom he's never seen.
Meanwhile, three angry cowboys are on his trail
and the town's young hothead is scheming to see just how fast Jimmy is.
Ringo wants to be left alone, to live with his family,
maybe on a small ranch away from his reputation.
But can he escape that reputation and find peace?
Written by J Hailey
Full Cast
Gregory Peck ... Jimmy Ringo
Helen Westcott ... Peggy Walsh
Millard Mitchell ... Marshal Mark Strett
Jean Parker ... Molly
Karl Malden ... Mac
Skip Homeier ... Hunt Bromley
Anthony Ross ... Deputy Charlie Norris
Verna Felton ... Mrs. August Pennyfeather
Ellen Corby ... Mrs. Devlin
Richard Jaeckel ... Eddie
Murray Alper ... Townsman at Funeral (uncredited)
Larry Buchanan ... Bit Part (uncredited)
Cliff Clark ... Jerry Marlowe (uncredited)
Angela Clarke ... Mac's Wife (uncredited)
David Clarke ... Second Brother (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb ... Citizen (uncredited)
Dick Curtis ... Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Eddie Ehrhart ... Archie (uncredited)
Alan Hale Jr. ... First Brother (uncredited)
Harry Harvey ... Ike (uncredited)
Jean Inness ... Alice Marlowe (uncredited)
Tommy Lee ... Long Fu - Cayenne Restaurant Cook (uncredited)
Pierce Lyden ... Barfly (uncredited)
Mae Marsh ... Mrs. O'Brien (uncredited)
Harry B. Mendoza ... Frank Loving (uncredited)
James Millican ... Pete (uncredited)
Alberto Morin ... Pablo (uncredited)
Edward Mundy ... Man on Street (uncredited)
B.G. Norman ... Jimmie Walsh (uncredited)
Eddie Parks ... Joe the Barber (uncredited)
Hank Patterson ... Jake (uncredited)
John Pickard ... Third Brother (uncredited)
Harry Shannon ... Chuck (uncredited)
Kim Spalding ... Clerk (uncredited)
Houseley Stevenson ... Mr. Barlow (uncredited)
Ferris Taylor ... George the Grocer (uncredited)
Kenneth Tobey ... Swede (uncredited)
Archie Twitchell ... Johnny (uncredited)
William Vedder ... Minister (uncredited)
Dan White ... Card Player in Barber Shop (uncredited)
Anne Whitfield ... Carrie Lou (uncredited)
Credda Zajac ... Mrs. Cooper (uncredited)
Writing Credits
William Bowers (Story & screenplay) and
William Sellers (screenplay)
André De Toth (story) (as Andre de Toth)
Nunnally Johnson uncredited
Cinematography
Arthur C. Miller
Trivia
Large painting on wall behind Gregory Peck's chair in bar room is "Custer's Last Fight", painted in 1884 by Cassily Adams and reproduced as a lithographic print by Otto Becker from Adams's original painting. These prints were distributed in 1896 to bars and taverns all over America by the Anheuser Busch Company.
The studio hated Gregory Peck's authentic period mustache. In fact, the head of production at Fox, Spyros P. Skouras, was out of town when production began. By the time he got back, so much of the film had been shot that it was too late to order Peck to shave it off and re-shoot. After the film did not do well at the box office, Skouras ran into Peck and he reportedly said, "That mustache cost us millions".
Bob Dylan's 1986 song "Brownsville Girl," co-written with Sam Shepard, alludes to watching Gregory Peck in this film. Peck himself thanked Dylan publicly when he delivered the speech when Dylan was given his Kennedy Center award in 1997.
In 1996, veteran character actor Richard Jaeckel, who played "Eddie", was diagnosed with cancer at the same time his wife had Alzheimer's disease. The Jaeckels had lost their Brentwood (CA) home, were over $1 million in debt and Jaeckel was basically homeless. His family tried unsuccessfully to place him into the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. Peck lobbied for Jaeckel's admittance, and three days later Jaeckel was placed in the facility. He stayed in the hospital until his death in June 1997.
The western street in this film is the same one used in The Ox-Bow Incident.
Based on the life and exploits of an actual western gunslinger named John Ringo, a distant cousin of the outlaw Younger family. The real Ringo was a ruthless murderer and survivor of the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral, against (Dr.) John Holliday, Wyatt Earp and the Earp brothers. Also unlike the movie's account, the actual John Ringo--his real name--suffered a severe bout of melancholy following a visit to his family in California in July of 1882 and went on a monumental ten-day alcoholic binge, which climaxed when he sat down under an oak tree, drew his gun and used it to commit suicide.
"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on June 7, 1951 with Gregory Peck reprising his film role.
Spoilers
This film was the subject of the classic Bob Dylan song "Brownsville Girl". It starts: "There was this movie I seen one time, about a man riding 'cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck. He was shot down by a hungry kid, trying to make a name for himself, the townspeople wanted to track that kid down and string him up by his neck. 'Turn him loose, let him go, let him say he outdrew me fair and square. I want him to feel what it's like to every moment face his death'" Then Dylan goes on to compare his own position in pop music to the gunfighter.
Goof
Continuity: When Jimmy Ringo goes into the hotel room to get the sniper with the winchester rifle, the lock on the door is just a handle. There is no mechanism to go into the jamb to allow the door to lock.
Filming Locations
Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA
Death Valley National Park, California, USA
Melody Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA
Stage 8, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA(studio)