Man with the Gun

A stranger (Robert Mitchum) helps farmers tame their lawless town, even after they have second thoughts.

Man with the Gun is a straightforward western that’s refreshingly devoid of novelties or distractions. Instead, it’s just Robert Mitchum kicking ass and taking names as he cleans up a dusty town he only drifted into in order to find his estranged wife and daughter.

Fortunately, neither the wife nor the daughter turn into a plot device and instead serve more as window dressing for Mitchum’s tough-guy, supreme bad-ass character. It’s just the right kind of role for Mitchum, who easily cultivates the dark, laconic cool the character requires.

The supporting cast is good too, with scene-stealing uncredited turns by Claude Akins and Angie Dickson as well as a typically solid performance from veteran Henry Hull as a reluctant Marshal. Barbara Lawrence goes a little overboard as a greedy dancer, as does John Lupton as a would-be farmer, but they’re minor quibbles.

At only 83 minutes, Man with the Gun is remarkably efficient, telling its simple story and wrapping things up before it ever wears out its welcome. They could have added a lot of useless drama, had Mitchum’s character’s daughter turn up in the hands of the baddies or had his estranged wife go completely over the top, but they didn’t. And bless them for it. If you’re a fan of westerns, or of Bob Mitchum, you could definitely do worse than Man with the Gun.