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26 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :- A pretty exciting law and order Star Western..., 15 June 2000 Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
The Colt revolver was a tool and the more you study the men who used it at a high professional level the more it becomes obvious that they were also tools, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes (according to Western films) quite the opposite... Necessary tools, necessary men in a very compressed package of American history... They have their brief moment on the stage and then it's time to take their leave, preferably with their boots on, knowing, or not knowing that they've done the job that history actually required, but that history, in fact, won't thank them for it...Fonda—a quiet dominant personality in Westerns—puts this over perfectly in Edward Dmytryk's 'Warlock,' unpretentious Western… Here Fonda is a professional hired gun brought in specially, and most temporarily, one always feels, to calm down a town plagued by cowboys, some of them with outlaw affiliations...Every word he says ('I'm a simple man, handy with Colts'), every calculated ploy, shows that he's marvelously clear-eyed about his situation—that today he's wanted, that tomorrow he won't be—because he's an old professional and it's all happened before... Spruce as spry as ever, Fonda is Clay Blaidsdell, a legendary gunfighter, the ideal professional gunman with great expectations... He is hired, temporarily, by the citizens of Warlock to clean up their town from the outlaws... The movie focuses on his rise when he succeeds in removing the bad guys in a spectacular confrontation, and his fall when he is forced to face his best friend in a showdown...Fonda brings with him his hero-worshiping right hand and conscience, the ex-killer Tom Morgan (Quinn), who challenges his one-man rule, one vindictive old girlfriend and one loving new flame... When the pair defeats the San Pedro gang, one of its members, Johnny Gannon (Widmark), stays behind and volunteers to become Blaisdell's deputy...As an uneasy peace settles onto Warlock, the relationship between Blaisdell and Morgan deteriorates when the marshal finds romance with a local girl, Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels). Gannon, meanwhile, becomes involved with Lily Dollar (Dorothy Malone), who at one time had been Morgan's mistress and now hates both Blaisdell and him for killing a man she had hoped to marry...Blond for the only time in his career, Quinn – curious and different as the complex, clubfooted gambler-gunman whose relationship with Clay, leans rather strongly toward homosexuality – made Dmytryk's multi-plotted film somewhat daring for its time... Its complicated story line, working at various levels, and its shadowy psychological innuendos, turned off critics and audiences alike, and from several corners came concern that Dmytryk had carried the 'new convention' Western too far too fast... Nevertheless "Warlock" remains a typical law and order Star Western, well written, pretty exciting, and entirely in the classic mold...
19 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :- One of the Best Westerns of the 50's, 28 May 2005 Author: Erik Rupp from Southern California
In the 50's Westerns were extremely popular, and many of that decade's best movies were Westerns. The Searchers, Winchester '73, The Man From Laramie, The Naked Spur - the list of great Westerns from the 50's could practically go on for days. One movie that should always be included on any list of best Westerns from the 50's is Warlock.Warlock's strengths start with a very well written, intelligent script that gives the characters three dimensions and realistic motivations. The script uses these characters well in pushing forward the many solid plot points. Warlock isn't a "shoot 'em up," Western, but it does have its share of good action. Many fans have described this as one of the quintessential "Psychological Westerns," and to a degree that is true. It also features solid drama, and genuine excitement when the action scenes come.Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, and Richard Widmark give some of their finest performances in Warlock, and a strong case could be made that this is Anthony Quinn's best performance in a Western. Fonda's dark, brooding performance foreshadows the even darker and nastier performance he would give almost a decade later in Once Upon a Time in the West. DeForest Kelley gives a strong supporting performance as well, showing his natural abilities in the Western genre.Edward Dmytryk directed Warlock with a steady hand. He didn't overdo the direction looking to push the artistic envelope with unusual camera angles, but he did direct the movie with a flair and style ideal for a Western.Ultimately, Warlock holds up not only as one of the best Westerns of the 50's, but as one of the best Westerns of all time and may be one of those movies that receives more acclaim with each passing decade.
22 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :- About changing and the fear of changing., 19 July 2003 Author: tmwest from S. Paulo, Brazil
This great film never got the recognition it deserved. Edward Dmytryk had a lot of problems starting in 1947, because he was an ex member of the communist party, he ended up in jail, and eventually revealed some names that apparently were common knowledge. Richard Widmark is Johnny Gannon a man who changes and also changes sides. He was a member of McQuown's gang and in spite of his brother remaining in the gang he becomes the marshal. He is very much like Marlon Brando in "On The Waterfront" which was made by Elia Kazan who had the same political problems. Henry Fonda is hired to clean the town and he comes along with his partner Anthony Quinn. Fonda falls in love with Dolores Michaels and wants to change(get married and settle down) but Quinn has a terrible fear of changing and being alone. There is nothing homosexual in their friendship-partnership, only too much mutual dependency.
17 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :- Perhaps the best psychological western ever made, 8 January 2001 Author: pzanardo (pzanardo@math.unipd.it) from Padova, Italy
I consider "Warlock" the best psychological western ever made. The main purpose of the movie is to draw a thorough inner design of the characters; nonetheless there is (happily) plenty of action and gun-fights, with no lowering of strain or moments of bore. As a matter of fact, important sides of the psychology of the male characters are represented through their attitude in violent action.Clay (Henry Fonda) is a cool-headed gunslinger who, somewhat hypocritically, deludes himself to be fair since he kills people following "the rules". And it's a bit disappointing to see that people like and trust him mainly because he is handsome and well-mannered. However, Clay doesn't like violence and has noble sides, as shown when he stops a lynching.Morgan (Anthony Quinn) is more honest in his self- judgment: he knows to be an assassin, who solves any possible problem caused by other people by simply killing them. There is a single important thing in his life, which he is even too ready to die for: his friendship-love toward Clay. Johnny (Richard Widmark) is the repented outlaw who has had the strength to quit a life of crime. He is naturally fair and non-violent, yet he knows when it's necessary to draw the six-shooter, for his own honor and moral code, and to protect innocent people. McQuown (Tom Drake) is just a loathsome, treacherous coward, who never face a duel without an accomplice ready to shoot his opponent in the back.Of course, the main theme of the movie is Morgan's morbid affection for Clay. This totally absorbing love is masterly represented in the movie, in a crescendo of intensity, finally showing Morgan close to sheer madness. Reasonably enough, most critics have inferred a homosexual love in the relationship between Morgan and Clay. I'm not much Freudian and I have no tendency to find sex everywhere. I think that the director Dmytryk has made a deliberately exasperated, unconventional representation of the manly friendship, a classical motive in western movies. Here we have two adventurers, two gunslingers who deeply understand each other's feelings. Women (saloon-girls) are good for fun, and that's all: a real friendship is something completely different, extraneous to the feminine mentality. And deep friendship can be more jealous than love. In fact, Morgan begins to suffer when he realizes that Clay has found a true love, a coming spouse in Jessie (Dolores Michaels): he's not just infatuated by some meaningless, cheap girl. Morgan's natural, psychologically exact reaction can only be a brutal interference.The preceding theme of the movie is really so interesting that one could miss to notice how beautifully treated is the psychology of all other characters. Let me focus and make some comments on Lily (Dorothy Malone), the cynical, life-tired former saloon-girl, devoted to a revenge against Clay, which she visibly makes a point of, without being really convinced of the sense of adding violence to violence. Malone is perfect for the role. Her charming beauty make us fully believe that both Clay and Morgan were once infatuated with her. And her splendid, sad, stern yet ironic eyes describe the weariness of her inner core more effectively than words. Lily has a pair of my favorite lines. "How could I love you... a cripple!", showing her capacity to wound her hated enemy Morgan, where it most hurts. "What do you want? A whole life in one night?": Lily loves Johnny, who is going to face a mortal duel, yet she's unable to check her spiteful irony, to get rid of her own former wasted life, showing herself worse than she actually is. And, moreover, she can't stand these preposterous honor codes of men killing each other, and for what? Really great stuff!Other merits of "Warlock": the perfect script, the accurate photography, the magnificent locations. The acting by Fonda, Quinn, Widmark, Malone is superb, to say the least: that's exactly what we expect from them. The final clash between Fonda and Quinn is a powerful piece of cinema. Splendid movie, highly recommended (even to people not fond of westerns).
11 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Psychological western in disguise, 17 January 2006 Author: Matti-Man from London, England
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
After banging on about the sea change in Westerns from the 1940s to the 1950s in my reviews of THE TALL T and MAN OF THE WEST on this site recently, I watched 1959s WARLOCK unfold with a certain set of expectations in my head.At first glance, WARLOCK appears to be a western of the old school, not that far removed from earlier classics like MY DARLING CLEMENTINE or THE WESTERNER. In fact, it even shares some plot similarities with John Ford's 1946 Wyatt Earp biopic. But the key difference here is that in the older style of western, the immutable Code of the West is the salvation for men such as Earp, but in WARLOCK it is the millstone that will drag them into the abyss.For Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark), the Code causes him to leave behind the lawless San Pablo ranch cowhands lead by the increasingly psychotic Abe McQuown (pronounced McEwan), to accept the post of Deputy Sheriff, eventually bringing him into conflict with his old gang, which includes his own kid brother, and finally making him face up to hired gunslinger Clay Blaisedell (Henry Fonda).For Blaisedell, though he initially believes he can leave his old life and marry local beauty Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels), the Code re-asserts its grip when Blaisdell is forced to confront his own partner Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn) in a street shoot-out, and he realises that he will never escape his destiny as a gun-for-hire, no matter how he tries.(Incidentally, I disagree with another reviewer here who claims Anthony Quinn's line "I won!" as he gasps his life out on the Warlock street means only that Quinn won the draw. I believe that line signifies that Quinn has proved that Fonda cannot escape his fate as a hired killer. The only way for Fonda to prove he'd changed would have been to NOT shoot Quinn. So in that sense Quinn won not just the draw but also the philosophical point that Fonda would never change.)The Tom Morgan character has no loyalty to the Code. He simply enjoys his life as a "friend" of the great Clay Blaisedell. His motivation is that at Clay's side, men fear him and, though they may think him just a "cripple", they'd never dare say it aloud. Without Clay, Morgan would be just another casino owner. But ultimately, you could say Morgan sacrificed his life to save Clay from himself. Because without Morgan's manoeuvrings, Clay may well have tried to settle in Warlock and would probably have ended up "backshot" by some old crony of Abe McQuown.So, not the simple tale of the west it might at first appear, WARLOCK is a clever, subtle and insightful look at the psychological motivations at work in this deceptively complex three-way conflict.A movie definitely worth more than one viewing ...
10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- "Looks Like Law's Coming Back To Warlock", 25 January 1999 Author: Michael Coy (michael.coy@virgin.net) from London, England
Warlock is a little mining town in the Wild West. Local heavies from San Pablo are terrorising the citizens of Warlock, and the movie starts with the sheriff being run out of town. The citizens' committee decides to hire the notorious Clay Blaisdell to reimpose order.Ethical positions are relative in the strange little world of Warlock. The citizens are willing to give Blaisdell free rein when it comes to cleaning up the town, even though his methods are famously ruthless, and his 'package' includes installing himself and his partner Tom Morgan in the saloon with their travelling casino. Blaisdell intends to earn a rake-off as the faro dealer. He will also collect $400 per month as the 'marshall', even though Warlock has no town charter and does not qualify for a marshall.Blaisdell is himself a man of deep moral equivocation. Henry Fonda plays him as an emotionless killer who paradoxically forms deep personal attachments - first to Morgan, then later to Jessie Marlow (Dolores Michaels). He crusades to rid western towns of their bad guys, but does so on a strictly commercial basis. Blaisdell knows that the citizens' hero-worship will turn in time to resentment, and he and Morgan will have to move on to the next beleaguered town.Morgan, too, is a man of profound contradictions. The cynical casino owner has little regard for the human race, but adores Blaisdell, "the only person ... who looked at me and didn't see a cripple." Morgan is Blaisdell's partner in the law-and-order campaign, and yet there is a strong suggestion that Lily is a whore and Morgan her pimp. The relationship between Blaisdell and Morgan has a definite homoerotic tinge, and when Blaisdell takes up with Jessie, Morgan behaves like a jealous lover. Eventually, he even gives up the will to live."Warlock" is an idiosyncratic film with its own look, its own terminology and a curious plot. The quaint high street with its rutted red clay is quite unlike standard western towns. When the characters talk of 'road agents', they mean stagecoach hijackers. 'Backshooters' are men who shoot others in the back. In the mean moral climate of Warlock, backshooters are everywhere. McEwan never sets up a confrontation without putting his backshooters in place, and Blaisdell's answer to the San Pablo boys is to cover their backshooters with backshooters of his own.Richard Widmark plays Johnny Gannon, the San Pablo man who throws his lot in with the people of Warlock. Johnny is the measure of the town's growing maturity. If the people are prepared to back Johnny against the bad men, there will be no need for hired guns such as Blaisdell. The judge warns Johnny that his status as the town's totem will single him out for trouble - "You're a target, a symbol, and they must come after you." And so it transpires.Changes of clothing signify changes of heart. Once Johnny decides to embrace the law, he doffs his denim jacket and starts wearing fancy duds. When Clay transfers his allegiance from Morgan to Jessie, he discards the silk waistcoats which are Morgan's 'uniform'."Star Trek" fans will spot DeForest Kelly ("Bones") in the role of Curly, the sarcastic joker of the San Pablo gang. We quickly form the view that Curly is not as brutal as the others, and this is borne out when the shooting starts in earnest.The film has two climaxes. First, Johnny has to face down McEwan and his men, and then there has to be a reckoning with Blaisdell. This eccentric film manages to contrive an unexpected ending.In a strong cast, Fonda and Quinn stand out as the ill-matched friends - the cold killer and the emotional gambler.
14 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :- Surprisingly complex and intelligent film, 19 August 2000 Author: esr
What looks at first like it will be an enjoyable but mindless genre Western turns gradually into something rather darker and more nuanced. Almost nobody in this film is who they seem at first, and several characters undergrow gradual inversions, with results ranging from noble to deeply creepy. Who are the heroes? Who are the villains? You'll leave this movie much less certain than you were when you arrived.Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn are nearly upstaged by -- of all people -- DeForest Kelley, seen here just a few years before his career would be wrenched sideways by the role of Leonard McCoy in the original Star Trek.
8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :- Who's Dishing Out the Law and Order, 26 March 2006 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
Warlock has always been a favorite western of mine. With a top flight cast of leads and familiar western supporting players and a good director who gets pluperfect performances out of his cast, Warlock is one of the best westerns made in the last half of the last century.Richard Widmark and brother Frank Gorshin belong to an outfit called the San Pablo cowboys run by a truly malevolent man played by Tom Drake. This bunch comes into the as yet unorganized town of Warlock and just shoot the place up and behave like animals. After the harmless town barber is killed and a deputy sheriff run out of town, the city fathers look to hire their own gunslinger to stand up to these people.Who they hire is Henry Fonda and you get a package deal there, where Fonda goes so goes Anthony Quinn and a traveling saloon. Fonda's arrival sets off a complex series of events involving changing loyalties and motives. And a couple of romances get started, Widmark with former Fonda and Quinn gal, Dorothy Malone and Fonda with the prim and proper daughter of one of the town founders, Dolores Michaels.Warlock has always been cited by film historians as demonstrating a not so subtle homosexual relationship with Fonda and Quinn. I think a case could be made for it, but I think it's a one sided crush with the crush on Quinn's side.Fonda's a thoroughgoing professional, he's well aware of the pitfalls of his trade and the fact it's a dying profession as civilization creeps ever so slowly westward. His scenes with Michaels have some real poignancy to them, a man who wants more than anything else to leave killing behind, but knows nothing else.Widmark takes up the challenge for official law enforcement. Oddly enough ten years later he did a western called Death of a Gunfighter where he becomes the man on horseback that Fonda has the potential to be in Warlock.The supporting cast has some really fine and familiar character players. You always can tell a good film when the smallest of character players give indelible performances in a film where they might not have as much scenes and/or dialog to work with. My favorite in this film is DeForest Kelley who as a San Pablo cowboy demonstrates a streak of innate decency and fair play. If he didn't gain immortality with the original Star Trek as Doctor McCoy, this might very well have been Kelley's career part.In a good John Wayne western, Tall in the Saddle, Gabby Hayes has one of my favorite western lines about law and order when he says he's for it, but it depends who's dishing it out. In Warlock it's the who and the how of the dishing that is explored here with a lot of disturbing questions raised.
8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :- Complex Western, 19 August 2003 Author: Dawnfrancis (dawnfrancisuk@yahoo.co.uk) from Uk
This is not your run of the mill western. Rather darker than most and covering issues at a level rarely seen in this genre. It tells the story of a hired gunslinger (Fonda), hired to protect the town of Warlock. But beyond that simple premise is an allegorical tale that that tells us something about society and the nature of relationships. But this is not to say it's dull. There's enough action here for it to be appreciated at a ground level. Both Widmark and Quinn have interestingly complex characters that interact well with Fonda. The female cast is suitably attractive and Malone is particularly good as the embittered ex lover of Quinn.
9 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :- A Must-See Western for ALL movie fans, 5 June 2001 Author: CharlieD from Phila., PA
This is one of those little known westerns that captivates you from the opening scene. It has everything you want in this genre of film: a great story, excellent characters, excellent actors and beautiful scenery & music. I'd never seen this movie and came across it while checking out the cable guide and was attracted to the title because I'm a sci-fi/horror lover. I didn't know it was a western. When I flipped it on, I noticed what kind of movie it was and almost changed the channel when I spotted DeForrest Kelly of Star Trek fame (I'm a devout Trekker). Then I saw Richard Widmark & Henry Fonda and just stayed tuned. I was taken my this flick and recommend it to anyone. I caught it in the middle so when it was over, I immediately went to the cable guide and searched for when it would be on again and made sure I watched it from beginning to end. WHAT A GREAT MOVIE! I also just ordered the VHS tape from Amazon.com. Definitely a MUST-SEE!!!
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