Forty Guns (1957)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller (written by)

Release Date:

September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Plot:

An authoritarian rancher, Barbara Stanwyck, who rules an Arizona county with her private posse of hired guns...

Plot Keywords:

Arizona | Rancher | Gunfight | Murder | Funeral

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Jessica Drummond
Barry Sullivan	...	Griff Bonnell
Dean Jagger	...	Sheriff Ned Logan
John Ericson	...	Brockie Drummond
Gene Barry	...	Wes Bonnell
Robert Dix	...	Chico Bonnell
Jidge Carroll	...	Barney Cashman
Paul Dubov	...	Judge Macy
Gerald Milton	...	Shotgun Spanger
Ziva Rodann	...	Rio
Hank Worden	...	Marshal John Chisum
Neyle Morrow	...	Wiley
Chuck Roberson	...	Howard Swain
Chuck Hayward	...	Charlie Savage
Sandra Wirth	...	Chico's Girlfriend

Also Known As:

Samuel Fuller's Forty Guns (Australia)
Woman with a Whip (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Germany:16 | USA:Approved (certificate #18646) | Australia:PG | France:U (2002 re-release)

Company:

Globe Enterprises

Trivia:

Condemned in the US because of its brutal handling of the narrative, but praised in Europe for its stylistic vigor.

Quotes:

Wes Bonnell: I never kissed a gunsmith before.
Louvenia Spanger: Any recoil?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Soundtrack:

High Ridin' Woman

Strange Western

Forty Guns (1957)

*** (out of 4)

Samuel Fuller's Western about a rancher (Barbara Stanwyck) who travels around with a posse of 'forty guns' but also has her hand in everything but this changes when a new Marshall (Barry Sullivan) shows up. Fuller's directorial touches rises this film a few notches because deep down it's really nothing more than your typical "B" Western. There are plenty of wonderful scenes including a tornado but you've also got a story that gets bogged down in a few cliché moments. I could never buy Stanwyck in her role but Sullivan was very good and clearly steals the film. The scope cinematography is top-notch but what on Earth is up with those songs? The violence is another thing that really stands out due to how mean spirited it is. I wonder if the body in the window was an influence on Eastwood's Unforgiven?