Shoot Out [Shootout] *** (1971, Gregory Peck, Patricia Quinn, Robert F Lyons, James Gregory, Rita Gam) – Classic Movie Review 3500

The intriguing and dramatic 1971 Western film Shoot Out comes from the True Grit team of director Henry Hathaway and producer Hal B Wallis and brings intensity to a familiar revenge theme.

Director Henry Hathaway’s intriguing and dramatic though slow-moving 1971 Western film Shoot Out comes from the True Grit (1969) production team of Hathaway and producer Hal B Wallis and brings intensity if nothing particularly fresh to a familiar revenge theme. It‘s just a routine old-style Western that comes from the time when Westerns were going out of fashion and needed to provide that bit more impact.

Trusty star Gregory Peck does his best clenched acting as the former bank robber Clay Lomax, just out of jail, who goes after his double crossing partner Sam Foley (James Gregory), the bad guy who betrayed him and left him for dead. While Lomax also has to look after a six-year old girl, Foley then hires a psychotic killer to ensure his own safety.

The supporting players, cinematography (Earl Rath), score (Dave Grusin) and locations (New Mexico and California) are very considerable assets in a conscientious, carefully handled film, which involves and entertains, even it doesn’t quite hit the target bull’s eye.

Based on the short story The Lone Cowboy by Will James, Marguerite Roberts’s screenplay is a remake of 1933’s Lone Cowboy with Jackie Cooper, Lila Lee and Addison Richards .

Also in the cast are Pat Quinn, Robert F Lyons, Susan Tyrell, Jeff Corey, Rita Gam, Arthur Hunnicutt, Paul Fix, Dawn Lyne, Nicholas Beauvy, John Chandler, Pepe Serna and Willis Bouchey in his final film.

Peck was not a natural Western actor but was a good one anyway, as The Gunfighter (1950) shows.

Peck and Gam previously starred together in Night People in 1954.

Locations: Cerrillos, Los Alamos and Chama, all in New Mexico; Hot Creek at Mammoth Lakes, Lake Crowley, Round Valley and Inyo National Forest, all in California.

Sultry star Rita Gam died on 22 March 2016, aged 88.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3500

Link to home page for more reviews derekwinnert.com