Gun the Man Down *** (1956, James Arness, Angie Dickinson, Robert J Wilke, Harry Carey Jr, Don Megowan) – Classic Movie Review 11,615

Director Andrew V McLaglen’s neat and nifty 1956 black and white Western B-movie Gun the Man Down stars James Arness, Robert J Wilke and Harry Carey Jr, but is most notable for Angie Dickinson’s first starring role.

Three outlaws rob a bank, one of them, young Rem Anderson (Arness). is wounded and his partners (Robert J Wilke and Don Megowan) kidnap his girlfriend (Angie Dickinson), take his share of the money and run, leaving him bleeding to be captured by the sheriff and jailed by Sheriff Morton (Emile Meyer) and his deputy (Harry Carey Jr).

Out of prison a year later, enraged by the double cross, vengeful Anderson searches for his partners and girlfriend, and finds them in a run-down town, where he plays deadly cat-and-mouse with them.

McLaglen’s direction and Burt Kennedy’s well-plotted screenplay are tense, suspenseful and characterful. It runs only 74 minutes. The performances are strong, with Arness a solid hero, Dickinson striking, Meyer and Carey Jr enjoyable as the lawmen, and Wilke a good villain.

It is produced by Robert E Morrison for his brother John Wayne’s company Batjac Productions. Wayne’s real name was Marion Morrison.

It is McLaglen’s second feature as director, following Man in the Vault (1956), and the second screenplay by Burt Kennedy.

The cast are James Arness as Rem Anderson, Angie Dickinson as Janice, Emile Meyer as Sheriff Morton, Robert J Wilke as Matt Rankin, Harry Carey Jr as Deputy Lee, Don Megowan as Ralph Farley, Michael Emmet as Billy Deal, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as hotel man, Robert Hinkle as second sheriff, Al Haskell as Posse Rider, and Frank Fenton as sheriff leading posse.

US reissue title: Arizona Mission.

Angie Dickinson previously appeared in Lucky Me, Tennessee’s Partner, The Return of Jack Slade, Man with the Gun, Hidden Guns and Tension at Table Rock.

McLaglen directed 96 episodes of TV’s Gunsmoke, reuniting him with Arness, who rides the same Buckskin horse (Buck) in this movie as in many episodes of Gunsmoke. Arness was recommended by Wayne for the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke, playing it for 20 years from 10 September 1955 to 31 March 1975 on CBS, with 635 total episodes. It was the longest-running, primetime, live-action TV series at 20 seasons, until September 2019 with the 21st-season premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  Arness and Milburn Stone played their Gunsmoke characters for 20 consecutive years, surpassed by Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for over 21 consecutive years.

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,615

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