A Gunfight (USA, 1971) 89 min color DIR: Lamont Johnson. SCR: Harold Jack Bloom. PROD: Harold Jack Bloom, A. Ronald Lubin. MUSIC: Laurence Rosenthal. DOP: David M. Walsh. CAST: Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash, Jane Alexander, Karen Black, Dana Elcar, Robert J. Wilke, Keith Carradine, Raf Vallone. (Paramount Pictures)
Ex-gunslinger Will Tenneray (Kirk Douglas) has settled down in the town of Baja Rio, making a living as a saloon conversation piece, as a (forgive the pun) “draw” to get cowboys out to buy more drinks. Along comes gunfighter Abe Cross (Johnny Cash), and in their congenial banter, each man knows that despite their attempts at domesticity, they’re still gunfighters at heart. While neither man bears any ill will or grudge against the other, they mutually agree to have a “winner take all” gun duel to the death, in a bullfighting ring.
This very good, underrated western is evocative of such other 1970s pictures like The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid or The Shootist, which examine the theme of “gunfighter as a museum piece”. The gunslinger is considered a novelty act, or incongruous in a changing world. But in this enjoyable satire on capitalism, the two gunmen take advantage of their archetypal roles by putting on a grand spectacle (fittingly in an arena where a human can now be slaughtered with the same kind of entertainment value as the killing of an animal), and stand to profit from this humility. But this movie is also an elegiac fable, as each man realizes that at heart they’re meant to live and die by the gun, despite the consternation of their women: honey-haired Karen Black is the hooker with a heart of gold who puts the chink in Cross’s armour; Jane Alexander in an early role as Tenneray’s wife. In one of his earliest roles, Keith Carradine has a memorable scene as a third gunfighter who tries to horn in on the action.
Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash are well-matched– Kirk’s gregarious character is balanced by Cash’s more introspective persona. In this rare acting role, singer Johnny Cash appears sometimes awkward in front of the camera, yet it is hard to tell if it is due to his lack of experience as an actor, or if he’s really in character as the introverted Cross. Director Lamont Johnson, a veteran of television, made a few character-driven big screen movies such as The Last American Hero or Cattle Annie and Little Britches. Yet the mind-blowing finale of this sleeper is perhaps the most cinematic he ever got, with the use of slow motion, zooms and dissolves to compliment the double ending, offering alternative conclusions if one or the other survived, but showing why the ending must be so. It is a fitting end for such a thought-provoking movie.
I originally saw A Gunfight late at night on Global Television, no doubt included in its package of Paramount films, and it is just the kind of interesting curio to discover on Global’s 1:30 AM movie after an episode of Kung Fu. The film did have a VHS release of suspect origin (which briefly begat DVDs of suspect origin), but as of this writing, it has yet to receive a sorely-needed DVD or Blu-ray remaster. Clips from this film can be seen in the video for Cash’s 2002 hit song, “Hurt”.