The Quick and the Dead *** (1995, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe) – Classic Film Review 1223

Director Sam Raimi’s entertaining, if patchy, very violent 1995 black-comedy Western spoofs the style and themes of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns. It stars Sharon Stone as you never saw her before as Ellen, a leather-clad female Clint Eastwood-style ‘Woman with No Name’. She’s a drifter who hoves up to join a small town’s shooting match and kill the bad local Mr Big (played by Gene Hackman, reprising his Unforgiven performance).

Stone plays The Lady, a gunfighter who rides into the frontier town of Redemption, controlled by gunslinger John Herod (Hackman). The Lady joins a deadly duelling competition in an attempt to exact revenge for her father’s death.

It’s odd that such a violent film with so much gunsmoke could be likeable, but, in its campy way, it is, and Stone makes an astonishingly good, sexually ambivalent – and lovely – action hero.

Co-producer Stone wanted Leonardo DiCaprio to co-star in the movie so much, she offered to pay his salary. Stone’s keenness is right because the 20-year-old DiCaprio’s appearance as Kid is crucial, making a big difference to the movie’s success. Russell Crowe auditioned for a different role before Stone asked that the actor try for the lead male role, which he landed, as Cort.

Roberts Blossom, Tobin Bell, Kevin Conway,Keith David, Lance Henriksen, Gary Sinise, Fay Masterson, Olivia Burnette, Woody Strode, Pat Hingle and Mark Boone Jr co-star. Raimi’s regular actor Bruce Campbell appeared as Wedding Shemp, but his scenes were deleted from the release print.

It is Strode’s final performance and the film is dedicated to him. It is the last theatrical release of Roberts Blossom. The phrase ‘the quick and the dead’ of course comes from the Book of Common Prayer’s version of the Apostles’ Creed describing the final judgement.

Principal photography began in Old Tucson Studios in Arizona in November 1993. It’s a handsome looking movie, thanks to Dante Spinotti’s stylish cinematography.  But after all the good work, it flopped: costing $35million, it took only $18million at the box office.

Stone had a love scene cut before the film’s US cinema release, thinking it didn’t fit in, but it was restored for home cinema release. The town of Redemption is designed by Patrizia von Brandenstein, known for her work on Amadeus (1984) and The Untouchables (1987). Sony chose The Computer Film Company to create the VFX sequences.

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(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 1223

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more film reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/

 Sam Raimi went on to direct Spider-Man (2002). Russell Crowe described him as ‘sort of like the fourth Stooge.’