Product Details

• Actors: Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, Karen Sharpe, Henry Hull, Emile Meyer
• Directors: Richard Wilson
• Writers: Richard Wilson, N.B. Stone Jr.
• Producers: Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 15, 1998
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 079283917X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,122 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The same year he delivered one of the indelible performances in American movies--the cracked preacher in The Night of the Hunter--Robert Mitchum played another stranger who comes to town bringing death. In 1955's Man with the Gun, however, Mitchum's on the side of good, even if his actions are viewed through a somewhat ambiguous lens. Clint Tollinger is known throughout the West as a "town tamer," the badass you call in when outlaws get the upper hand in a place. The good citizens of Sheridan City are terrified of a local cattle baron, so Tollinger's arrival is just what they want--at first. His no-nonsense approach to wiping out the bad guys is enough to give a person pause. Meanwhile, Tollinger is reacquainting himself with an old flame, now the local bordello madam (Jan Sterling, from Ace in the Hole), who doesn't want any part of him. Mitchum, all broad-shouldered jackets and sucked-in gut, strides through this with his typically confident appeal, although it must be said he doesn't get much heat going with Sterling. (One wonders what might have happened if one of the uncredited cathouse ladies, Angie Dickinson, had played Sterling's role.) Man with the Gun was directed and co-written by a very civilized man, Richard Wilson, who had worked at Orson Welles' side back in the days of the Mercury Theater and during Welles' early years in Hollywood. He makes this film a thoughtful entry in the post-High Noon era, when Westerns were allowed to be complicated and serious. The main problem is, Man with the Gun just doesn't have a great deal of oomph, despite its good intentions and literate approach. As a Mitchum Western, though, it's solid enough. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A major Mitchum masterpiece., August 15, 2001

By	darragh o'donoghue (dublin, ireland) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

There should be a sub-genre in the Western called 'the Robert Mitchum Western'. Mitchum's brilliant, idiosyncratic, usually undervalued Westerns import his film noir persona to etch some compellingly dark character studies, and bring an elegiac world-weariness prefiguring the films of Sam Peckinpah. 'Man with the gun' is one of his best. Directed by Orson Welles protege Richard Wison, it is a stark, monochrome beauty, full of chilling silhouettes and terrifying outbursts of savage violence, as Mitchum comes to tame a town terrorised by a monopolist with a private army. Mitchum's regression from soft-spoken stranger to deranged murderer, with a host of dark emotions in between, is a marvel of expressive, physical acting.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mitchum's Best Western, February 7, 2005

By	Terence Allen (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Robert Mitchum was definitely in his element making Westerns, and this is his best work in this genre. In Man With The Gun, he plays Clint Tollinger, a town tamer (a gunfighter who is hired by townspeople to drive out, or in most cases, kill off the bad element to clean up the town) who happens into a town desperately in need of his services. He's there to see his ex-wife, trying to find out how their little girl is doing. He's hired by the town to clean up, but his relationship with his wife complicates his job, and revelations impair his judgment. Mitchum is outstanding, with great support from the likes of Jan Sterling, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, and Claude Akins. If you're a fan of westerns and/or Robert Mitchum, this film is a must-see.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mitchum's Best Western, March 12, 2008

By	Terence Allen (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Man with the Gun (DVD)

Robert Mitchum was definitely in his element making Westerns, and this is his best work in this genre. In Man With The Gun, he plays Clint Tollinger, a town tamer (a gunfighter who is hired by townspeople to drive out, or in most cases, kill off the bad element to clean up the town) who happens into a town desperately in need of his services. He's there to see his ex-wife, trying to find out how their little girl is doing. He's hired by the town to clean up, but his relationship with his wife complicates his job, and revelations impair his judgment. Mitchum is outstanding, with great support from the likes of Jan Sterling, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, and Claude Akins. If you're a fan of westerns and/or Robert Mitchum, this film is a must-see.