At Gunpoint *** (1955, Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, Walter Brennan) – Classic Movie Review 8136

Director Alfred L Werker’s 1955 Western for Allied Artists Pictures, At Gunpoint [Gunpoint], stars Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Malone, who give strong, intense portrayals.

This handsomely mounted Western boasts a well-trodden plot about an upright, peaceful citizen doing his duty being stalked by a gun-toting outlaw gang. MacMurray, replacing Joel McCrea, is just right in the Gary Cooper-style role of Mr Average, a US storekeeper who accidentally kills a bank robber and seeks the townsfolk’s help, High Noon-style, against the victim’s avenging brothers.

Director Werker uses the CinemaScope screen effectively and keeps the action admirably taut and tense. It looks good in Technicolor shot by Ellsworth Fredricks.

Also in the sterling Western cast are Walter Brennan, Tommy Rettig, John Qualen, Skip Homeier, Harry Shannon, Whit Bissell, Irving Bacon, Jack Lambert, Frank Ferguson, James Anderson and Harry Lauter.

At Gunpoint [Gunpoint] is written by Daniel B Ullman (story and screenplay), shot in CinemaScope and Technicolor by Ellsworth Fredricks, produced by Vincent M Fennelly and composed by Carmen Dragon.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 8136

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com