This is a disappointing follow-up to the same writer-producer-director team who made TRUE GRIT (1969) – here tackling another Western with child interest, but replacing John Wayne with Gregory Peck. Not a genre stalwart like The Duke, perhaps, but he did manage some 12 appearances in Westerns between 1946 and 1989 – sometimes to striking effect as in DUEL IN THE SUN (1946), THE GUNFIGHTER (1950) and THE BIG COUNTRY (1958).
Anyway, the film is a standard revenge tale which starts with Peck being released from a 7-year prison sentence (caught after he was shot by his own partner, James Gregory, as they were fleeing the scene of a bank robbery); on his way to town, he is told to pick up something from an arriving train – which turns out to be a little girl, the daughter of an old flame of his who has since passed away! The relationship between weathered cowboy Peck and the cute yet spirited girl is nicely handled; this, however, serves to render the star’s character mellow as opposed to mean – and, consequently, diverts attention from the central plot (which sees Gregory hiring a trio of brash young gunman to follow Peck’s movements).
The cast is divided between old pros and new talent – the former including Jeff Corey (as a crippled bartender brutally murdered by the reckless gang) and Paul Fix, and the latter, Pat Quinn (from Arthur Penn’s ALICE’S RESTAURANT [1969] – as a widow who shelters Peck and the girl, but falls foul of his pursuers) and Susan Tyrell (soon to be Oscar-nominated for John Huston’s FAT CITY [1972] – as a prostitute who tags along with the villains). As a sign of the times, too, the film features mild instances of nudity and foul language. Perhaps the best thing about it is the fine score by Dave Grusin; while certainly harmless and commendably brief (running only a little over 90 minutes), there’s more talk than action here – the film’s title notwithstanding – and it doesn’t even rise to the expected climax!
I had missed out on the film countless times on Italian TV over the years (the same goes for Peck’s next Western, BILLY TWO HATS [1974]); this viewing, in fact, came via a dubbed pan-and-scan version (but, frankly, it’s not worth fretting over the lack of original language and correct aspect ratio where minor stuff such as SHOOTOUT is concerned)!
Anyway, the film is a standard revenge tale which starts with Peck being released from a 7-year prison sentence (caught after he was shot by his own partner, James Gregory, as they were fleeing the scene of a bank robbery); on his way to town, he is told to pick up something from an arriving train – which turns out to be a little girl, the daughter of an old flame of his who has since passed away! The relationship between weathered cowboy Peck and the cute yet spirited girl is nicely handled; this, however, serves to render the star’s character mellow as opposed to mean – and, consequently, diverts attention from the central plot (which sees Gregory hiring a trio of brash young gunman to follow Peck’s movements).
The cast is divided between old pros and new talent – the former including Jeff Corey (as a crippled bartender brutally murdered by the reckless gang) and Paul Fix, and the latter, Pat Quinn (from Arthur Penn’s ALICE’S RESTAURANT [1969] – as a widow who shelters Peck and the girl, but falls foul of his pursuers) and Susan Tyrell (soon to be Oscar-nominated for John Huston’s FAT CITY [1972] – as a prostitute who tags along with the villains). As a sign of the times, too, the film features mild instances of nudity and foul language. Perhaps the best thing about it is the fine score by Dave Grusin; while certainly harmless and commendably brief (running only a little over 90 minutes), there’s more talk than action here – the film’s title notwithstanding – and it doesn’t even rise to the expected climax!
I had missed out on the film countless times on Italian TV over the years (the same goes for Peck’s next Western, BILLY TWO HATS [1974]); this viewing, in fact, came via a dubbed pan-and-scan version (but, frankly, it’s not worth fretting over the lack of original language and correct aspect ratio where minor stuff such as SHOOTOUT is concerned)!