Day of the Evil Gun *** (1968, Glenn Ford, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger) – Classic Movie Review 8309

Director Jerry Thorpe’s torpor-ridden 1968 B-movie Western Day of the Evil Gun may be routine but at least it has a very decent cast and a lot of old-style professionalism to recommend it.

Glenn Ford stars as weary gunfighter Lorn Warfield, the hero who comes home after an absence of three years to find his wife Angie Warfield (Barbara Babcock) and two children have been kidnapped by the Apaches. Next he is being helped by his neighbour Owen Forbes (Arthur Kennedy) to hunt for the wife and daughters, though this is an extremely uneasy alliance as Owen courted Lorn’s wife in his absence.

Competently written by Charles Marquis Warren and Eric Bercovici, it is mundane, run-of-the-mill entertainment for die-hard Western fans, but given a considerable little lift with a reliable cast going through their familiar paces, and Ford and Kennedy on good form. And the esteemed Western character actors set a seal of authenticity on it.

Also in the cast are Dean Jagger, Paul Fix, John Anderson, Nico Minardos, Royal Dano, Harry Dean Stanton, Pilar Pellicer, Parley Baer, Royal Dano, Ross Elliott, and James Griffith.

Day of the Evil Gun is directed by Jerry Thorpe, runs 95 minutes, is made and released by MGM, written by Charles Marquis Warren and Eric Bercovici, based on a story by Charles Marquis Warren, shot in Metrocolor by W Wallace Kelly, produced by Jerry Thorpe and scored by Jeff Alexander.

 © Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8309

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