Heaven with a Gun

Glenn Ford turns in a fine performance, contrary to what some have said. Who better to portray a reluctant hero, a reformed gunfighter/preacher? Clint Eastwood--John Wayne? Don't be ridiculous. Ford is perfect for the part, just as Clint was perfect for the Man with No Name and Dirty Harry, and the Duke was perfect for the lead role in The Cowboys and True Grit. If you don't like Glenn Ford, fine. But don't belittle his acting. I'm a fan of Eastwood and Wayne, but Ford is a better actor than either. David Carradine turns in a top notch acting job also as a villain/foil to Ford as hero. True Western fans will appreciate this film.

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 ****

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.

It's looks like a deja vu on Ford's way, likes in "The Sheepman" he has to handling this matter again, this turn he is a sort of gunfighter and pastor, trying to make peace among them, the old stars like Ford and Jones appear newcomers as David Carradine & Barbara Hershey promissing actors to next generation.

Meanwhile we have the fine John Anderson as angry rancher and Noah Beery Jr. Who seem to be enough mind to realise such killing, apart that the saloon's girls garnish the picture with some rare nude scenes in werstern in this period, really the time is changing!!

Resume:

First watch: 1990 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.

What you have here is a western made late in the period of Westerns. For us of that era, we see the similar. Beery, Anderson, Griffith, Bryant are western mainstays. Especially Anderson. They came from the late 30s. We KNOW they're acting level. They don't even need scripts. In this movie they are bringing the next generation up, like David Carradine who is not his father John, but does ok. These actors and actresses, especially Carolyn, a favorite from the noirs are known characters. Even Glenn still wears his brown corduroy jacket that he wore in Evil Gun on 1958. And he wears on Cades County etc. Its his character. The acting in these artists is always good. Its THEM. What is bad is the late 1960s silent directing coming into the 70s where blood and gore gets more prevalent, like in Gene Hackman. Thats when westerns became awful. This Glenn Ford movie is one of the last of the era. I could see it over and over. Oh and the plot, it is one of seven pulled for a western story, dealing with land rights. It looks to me some commentels are judging by today's movies for comparison. Like even mentioning Eastwood..come on. This story isn't in Eastwood's generation. But if you want to see Clint in Sheep watch the Rawhide episode where he becomes a sheep man.