Heaven with a Gun

I became a movie buff at age 13, (now 63), and would have crawled to the local theater over broken glass, to see any cowboy movie showing, if I had to. By the time I was 16 years of age, I was a devout Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy fan, but when I saw "Heaven With A Gun", Glenn Ford instantly became my number 1 cowboy hero, and me old mates Randolph and Audie had to take a back seat. For me, due to the humble, yet determined character Glenn Ford played so beautifully, this movie offered some great moralistic encouragement, and at the same time, stimulated an enthusiasm to believe in myself against all odds and "stick to my guns", as the expression goes. You will relate to this expression if you watch the movie. If anybody knows where I can buy this difficult-to-purchase movie, please let me know. (noel@youngnoel.com). I would do absolutely anything to add this movie to my collection. If you want to be truly entertained, this is a "Must-see" movie.

A late 60's western about ruthless cattle ranchers and their ranch hands who terrorize helpless sheep ranchers, with the action alternating between the range, the ranch, and the town, itself with a thriving saloon/brothel where a lot of the action is centered. Into this arrives an ex gunfighter turned preacher played by Glenn Ford who wants to bring peace. The script nearly does the film in, although the story and late 60's permissiveness keep one watching. As well, even though the screenplay verges on being ridiculous, the acting by Ford, John Anderson (as the ruthless big cattle rancher with a sadistic son played by David Carridine) and some other parts (J.D. Cannon chews some serious scenery as hired gun Mace) elevate the entertainment quotient, and the film's ending doesn't make one feel remorse about watching this.

Solid acting (Noah Beery Jr, John Anderson, Glenn Ford, Barbara Hershey, and David Carradine) is compromised by formulaic direction and a script that zig-zags, forgets, remembers, and improvises, but the action occasionally rises, and the preacher-gunman conflict keeps things on track just enough to keep one watching till the end.

From the distance of 2010, 60s cultural interest is raised by the film's brief, gratuitous, and confusing nudity, as well as Barbara Hershey's hippie depiction of a half-Hopi girl, but the biggest surprise may be that this otherwise predictable western was produced as late as 1969. Except for those 60s flashes, I could imagine my parents and their siblings enjoying something similar in 1955, while I would have wished for a hero less earnest and boring than Ford.

Among the film's skewed lines, the oddest may be that the sheep-herder side of the range war is first identified with American Indians but is then shifted to a polygamous Mormon. I'd like to go back to 1969 and be 18 again, but no wonder I felt confused.

This film started off well enough, despite a hanging. There was a lot of catchy dialogue and also lots of humor. The general store scene where Glen Ford wants to buy Barbara Hershey a dress is very funny, but Caroline Jones totally steals the scene. If the film continued at this pace, it would have been very entertaining and enjoyable. However, for some totally unexplainable reason, the film goes completely off the deep end and becomes a sadistic, brutal, perverted and violent disaster. Without giving anything away, there is a disgusting scalping, an even more disturbing castration, and a nauseating brutal rape. Is that entertaining? Not for me. Positive points, some decent acting, especially by Miss Jones. Barbara Hershey is gorgeous and Mr Ford is always likeable.

Passable western looks like movie-backlot goods, but does feature a very fine performance by young Barbara Hershey (in only her second picture), and also by Hershey's future-squeeze David Carradine, in this melodramatic story of a new preacher in a tumbleweed town who is eventually forced into taking on the bad guys. Glenn Ford has the lead and he's solid as usual (Ford never really disappoints, but rarely did he try anything new; even as the heavy in "3:10 To Yuma" he was in fine form and yet unsurprising). Admirers of Hershey should take a look, she's really terrific. ** from ****