Gunman's Walk

Rancher and old school westerner Lee Hackett is determined to mould his two sons in his own tough gun-fighting image. Something that backfires when his eldest boy, Ed, becomes a murderer.

Gunman's Walk on plot synopsis and summaries sounds like your standard B Western fare, and certainly the theme of parental influence is nothing new. But Phil Karlson's film, adapted from Ric Hardman's story, has many things going for it to keep it from being mundane and used solely as a time filler. It fuses together multiple issues, parenting, prejudice and ignorance during a time of change in the old Wild West, it's central character, Lee Hackett (Van Heflin), is seen as the link between old and new.

He has primarily lived his life as a shooter and killer of Indians, something that he is not totally committed to shaking off, but here he is now, a most respected and feared member of the community, faced with his two sons both taking different paths. One, Ed (Tab Hunter), is full of bile and gun slinging machismo, represents the old West. The other, Davy (James Darren), doesn't need a gun to feel like a man, his affection for half Indian Clee Chouard (Kathryn Grant) clearly gives a point of reference to the new West. It gives us two sides of the coin with one Lee Hackett perched firmly on the fence, to which Van Heflin gives an emotionally driven standout performance.

I wouldn't say that Gunman's Walk is undervalued as such (its director most definitely is though), it's possibly more like it's been tarred with that old saying brush called "B Western", a saying that unfortunately some use as being derogatory. Whilst if the truth be told the support to Heflin is rather flat (both Hunter & Darren are average at best). But some average support acting can't stop Gunman's Walk from being an intelligent and potent genre piece. I mean if only for Heflin and the catchy central song, "I'm A Runaway", then you should see this, but as it is, if you give it your undivided attention you hopefully will find it's really rather good and clever. 7/10

This western is well directed and smartly acted by all involved, but the stand out performance is Tab Hunter's role as the oldest son, Ed. The story begins at the point of our witnessing the finality of Ed's hatred and idolatry of his father, a hard-as-nails, always-has-to-be-better-than-his-sons kind of man. Ed is wound so tight that he has little give for anyone. This performance reminds me of Denzel Washington's Oscar winning role in Glory. As the story goes along, more and more nuances are revealed that show the depth of the character. I watched Glory three times before I caught the depth in that character that deserved an Oscar. I have watched Gunman's Walk twice and saw more depth in Hunter's character the second time. It's a fascinating role (maybe Hunter was drawing from the anger he felt for having to hide himself within the Hollywood treatment he underwent) and I don't think anyone could have played Ed any better. It is a shame when such levels of acting come out of actors not expected to do so brilliantly, because they don't get their just recognition, kind of like Val Kilmer's Doc in Tombstone. Hunter was the beefcake, male blond beauty presented in such a manner by Hollywood. He wasn't expected to actually act well, they didn't even consider it (and he didn't do very well with most of the movies they put him in). When you read the biography of Hunter given here on IMDb, Gunman's Walk isn't even mentioned. The focus is on his Hollywood image. Hunter's Ed is well worth the look. Heflin's Lee (everyone calls him Lee, including his sons) is very well acted and, but for Hunter's performance, shines as the gregarious, tough, but flawed father who had no idea how to raise his sons. In the scenes the two are together, the tension is always there and they play off each other well. All the acting is done well (Bert Convy's ability to ride a horse well is suspect, though). The movie is tightly directed, the action is constant, and there are no scenes that will lull you to sleep. If you like westerns with tense action and flawed characters, you won't be disappointed with Gunman's Walk.

I just saw this, for the first time, on TCM (July 2019) . It's an amazing film experience. I'm not a fan of westerns, by and large. This is one I can recommend. The storytelling engages the timeless themes of fathers and sons, and does so in a way that touches your heart directly enough that you can overlook the one or two fairly obvious scenes.

Tab Hunter was the real deal. :)

Very good western,where one more time the villain (Tab Hunter) is much more interesting than the good (James Darren) and his bland girlfriend . The a- man -had-two-sons subject was plundered since the Bible was written ,but,unlike "East of Eden" ,in the boys rivalry for the love of their fathers,it's the one the old man likes best who turns out badly."I wish you could be like your brother" he says to dutiful Davy.The relationship between Ed and Lee Hackett is much subtler than it at first appears.Good use of cinemascope,notably in the scene when Ed Hackett catches a beautiful white mare.The ending is a bit too predictable but it is a thoroughly enjoyable western.

Van Heflin played second lead in a score of pictures over 3 decades. In this excellent western he gets to play the lead, and his performance is one of the greatest of his long career. He displays a completely believable fatherly range of emotion and makes the audience identify with his 'how the west was won' mentality. Phil Karlson's deft direction keeps the pacing of this picture very crisp and poignant. The settings and western scenes are also quite excellent. All of this has been said without mentioning Tab Hunter's taught performance, which is really the defining touch that makes this movie great. Surprisingly, Hunter was a teen idol especially developed by the movie studio to be just another screen image. He defied the studios by delivering this amazing performance as a wild and reckless young man growing up in the shadow of his father's hard nosed old western legacy, determined to leave his own stamp on the developing times in the west. Gunman's Walk may be the most underrated western in screen history. It almost feels like a real metaphor for the western motif, and the changing civilization that beckons just over the horizon.