TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 1957 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Palace (supporting the usual vaudeville bill): 19 July 1957. U.S. release: August 1957. U.K. release: 15 December 1957. Australian release: 18 July 1957. 7,981 feet. 88 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Well acted and directed, this western deals with a rover (Granger) who returns home to find his son (Rowland, the real-life son of the director) grown up and embittered. Needless to say, thanks to the encroachments of a wicked cattleman against whom our rover eventually proves his mettle, dad eventually wins his son around. There is plenty of riding and shooting and the photography is equally exciting. — Adapted from Picture Show.NOTES: Steve Rowland had a modest career. I was told he debuted in "The Student Prince", but I've not checked this information. Other films I have for him are 'Wild Youth' (1961), 'The Thin Red Line' (1964), "Battle of the Bulge" (1965), his father's 'Gunfighters of Casa Grande" (1965), and "Hallucination Generation" (1966).COMMENT: Some wag of a colorful showman once described DeLuxe as "DeLousy". I wonder what epithet he came up with for "Metrocolor" — Eastman Color processed by M-G-M's laboratory. If "Gun Glory" is a fair sample of the lab's proficiency, you'd imagine the critics having a field day — if most of them weren't half blind. (Did I ever tell you about a certain city's two leading critics, one who couldn't see very clearly any further than three feet — even with her spectacles on — and the other who had to wear dark glasses at film screenings because the light hurt his eyes).Actually, the exteriors come across with a fair degree of impact, but the interiors don't flatter the players, particularly Rhonda Fleming, erstwhile queen of Technicolor, who looks as if she's spent the day bathing her face and fingers in a basin of bleach. (The result of poor color grading by the lab). Her acting is not great shakes either, though Rowland Junior beats her hollow in the Least Convincing Performance department.As for Rowland Senior, his direction is pretty routine, though he does put the action material over effectively enough for fans of the double-bill western. And that's what "Gun Glory" is — a movie designed at best for the top half of a midweek double bill, unpretentious, but moderately entertaining in its own modest way.

LeonLouisRicci Above Average 50's Western with a few Edgy Things that Elevate beyond the mundane. Stewart Granger and Rhonda Fleming are Attractive Stars and Competent Actors. The Film was Shot in Cinemascope that adds to the Wide Open Landscape. The Colorful Setting is used to advantage and the Simple Story is Spiced with some Atypical Shacking Up and Lustful Scenes. That alone is against the grain of most Fifties Fodder and Preaching.Although, it must be said there is a Heavy Amount of Preaching in the Screenplay. Chill Wills as a Bible Toting Preacher is a Major Character and the Dialog often reverts to Philosophy from the Pulpit. It almost becomes too much but not quite.The Tension and Action are Amped Up in the Second Half as things become Violent and Explosive. The Solid Direction from Old Pro Rowland keeps things from becoming Clichéd and/or Standard Stuff.Overall, a Well-Done Entry in the Abundance of 1950's Westerns and is, Unlike the Majority of Output in the Decade, well Worth a Watch.

bkoganbing Stewart Granger as gunfighter Tom Early rides back into his home town tired of life on the trail. He'd like to settle down with his wife and kid. A lot like Gregory Peck in The Gunfighter. But his wife is dead and his kid is sullen and resentful.There's a cattle baron played by James Gregory who's looking to drive a herd through the valley where Granger's and other ranches are. If he needs to Granger is more than willing to lend his gun in defense of the valley like Alan Ladd. But the others want to try it peaceful.Granger and his kid played by Steve Rowland also have Rhonda Fleming living with them now as a housekeeper. Another reviewer likened that to Rachel and the Stranger, but in that one Loretta Young was forced by convention to marry Bill Holden.So we've got parts of three previous films and I probably could think of more. Yet it's three good films and while this one isn't great, it's enjoyable.One theme that was thrown in there for reasons I don't understand. At one point Steve Rowland, feeling his teenage oats, tries to take advantage of Rhonda Fleming. She stops his advances and there's no more made of it. I'm not sure why that was included in the film, since there was no confrontation with the father over Fleming.Two other key roles are Arch Johnson as Gregory's hired gun who's on his own mission against Granger. And Chill Wills plays the town preacher. The town is too small to have any kind of organized governing body, so the preacher is the unofficial town political as well as moral leader. Theocracy in the old west.Chill Wills also sings in this film. During a scene at his unfinished church he leads the congregation in When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. Chill Wills was a singer in fact before he became a character actor. His screen debut was in Bing Crosby's first Anything Goes as part of the Avalon Boys Trio. Not a great western, but a mix of a few films to create a good afternoon's entertainment.

Nazi_Fighter_David Westerns were in fashion after the surprise smash of "Fastest Gun Alive", 1956."Gun Glory" opens with a gunfighter (Stewart Granger), facing community rejection upon returning home to settle down... He finds his wife dead and his son resentful...Granger's personal magnetism is fair enough to carry a tedious story... He manages to be quiet fast in the gun... Strong, warm, sure and tender while remaining a father and a man in love...Rhonda Fleming comes out graceful but her character loses some of its translation to Western lead... She seems more comfortable with her lighthearted love interest...Despite a few pretentious action moments, "Gun Glory" - photographed in color and CinemaScope - is, on the whole, good only for its two stars...