Fastest Gun Alive, The (1956)

Writer Russell Rouse (Pillow Talk (1959)) directed and co-wrote the screenplay (with Frank Gilroy, on whose story "The Last Notch" the film is based) of this Western which delves into this popular, titled stereotype like no other before (or since?), featuring Glenn Ford. Since the majority of the interesting drama and tension is contained within the last 15-20 minutes of the film (including a new wrinkle), I won't spoil it. However, it is certainly worth watching for the atypical way it deals with the subject matter. Ford plays a tortured shopkeeper trying to escape his past as he hides the secret of his ability, along with his expecting wife Jeanne Crain (looking as beautiful as ever, and not one bit pregnant). Of course, eventually his skill is revealed and impressively demonstrated, much to his wife's dismay. Broderick Crawford plays the "challenger", a bank robber obsessed with being known as the "fastest" (draw, that is). While on the run from a heist in another town, he and his gang's other members (John Dehner & Noah Beery Jr.) land in Ford's town, which brings the film to its most compelling, concluding third act. Allyn Joslyn (a gun twirling wannabe, and "braggart"), Leif Erickson (a man of sterling character, and a loyal friend to Ford's), J. M. Kerrigan (who continually tells the story of a shootout in another town he witnessed, ironically involving Crawford's character), Rhys Williams (the bar owner whose son figures in the story), and Russ Tamblyn (as out of place as his lengthy dance solo is in this film) play some of the town members who must face a decision of their own as the truth unfolds.

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