After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Very polished,as one might expect from such an experienced director as Mr F.Waggner,who,along with cinemaphotographer Mr F.Jackman jr had a long career in films and tv - always relied upon to bring his stuff home on time and professionally produced. There are some elegantly posed interiors that would not disgrace Ford here. Not unlike "The Big sleep" this is a story of a father and his two daughters and the Philip Marlowe figure who becomes involved in their lives. Enter the straightforward,honest gunfighter Brazos Kane (Mr R.Scott) wrongly accused of murder his partner and railroaded by The girls' father and a crooked sherriff who scarcely escapes a lynching before setting out on a revenge mission. One sister is good and the other not quite so good and frankly they run rings round the bemused Brazos. Appearances by Mr B.Cabot,Mr F.Tucker and other familiar Western characters add a pleasing sense of deja vu as Mr Scott unravels the mystery of his partner's death. Films like "Gunfighters" filled our screens in the years immediately after the second world war as the British movie industry struggled to re - invent itself, and supplied a much - needed reassurance that good would triumph over evil to a nation that had endured a very close - run thing for six years. Mr Scott represented the old values of decency and courage that had threatened to be overcome and we loved him for it. Right up until "Ride the High Country" in 1962 his righteous bloody - mindedness represented the best of the American Spirit for us Limeys who were grateful to his countrymen for saving our arses in two world wars..

Good Scott oater. Looks like Columbia popped for an A-budget (for them), what with Technicolor, Sedona locations, and a large, accomplished cast. Seems Brazos (Scott) realizes the tragedy of being the fastest gun around, so he ditches the belt and heads for an old friend's place and what he hopes is a new peaceful life. Of course things don't turn out that way, otherwise we wouldn't have a real western.The plot's pretty complex, but the many characters are mainly well etched, especially Grapewin's feisty old rancher Inskip. But what really had me going are the, not one, but two leading ladies (Britton & Hart). It's not that they're just attractive, which is expected, it's that they look exactly alike. The only way I could distinguish them was the hairdo's, but those kept changing, so I kept struggling. They're more like identical twins than just movie sisters. Okay, no big deal, but I've never seen such a resemblance in decades of viewing.Anyway, Scott's near his physical peak and as convincing as ever. While Harry Joe Brown, who would later produce the legendary Ranown western series with Scott, produced this early scenic effort. In fact, some of those red rock spires soaring into the clouds are real visual grabbers. I guess my only reservations are with Cabot's baddie Bard who's too understated to compete effectively with Scott's Brazos, and a rather flat showdown. Nonetheless, it's post-war Columbia Pictures and the great Scott getting off to a fast Western start.

For a fairly standard Forties Western, this one had a few interesting elements beginning with the opening showdown between Brazos Kane (Randolph Scott) and an unknown assailant who calls him out. We learn immediately after that it was Kane's best friend who wanted to see how fast he really was with a gun. I'm not certain that would be the best way to test one's quick draw reflexes, a guy could get seriously hurt that way.And then there was that scene in Bannertown when Bard Macky (Bruce Cabot) ran his horse into Kane's, and actually knocked Kane's horse down! I had to wonder if that was scripted or just happened and the crew just kept on filming. The rest of the scene played out curiously as well, with Kane dodging Macky's horse as he tried to bring his opponent to ground level.But you know, as I sit here and think about the story, it seems to make less and less sense. Kane's attempt to investigate his friend's murder eventually leads him to Banner henchman Macky and daughter Bess (Barbara Britton), who's boot-print turns up at the murder scene. So in the tradition of all your cowboy hero good guys, you'd expect Kane to bring both of them to justice by the end of the picture. Especially since Banner himself (Griff Barnett) ordered the murder of Bob Tyrell.So with the picture setting us up for a Kane romance with Bess's sister Jane (Dorothy Hart), was it Bess who got to ride off into the sunset with Kane? The sisters did look an awful lot alike. Actually, I do know which one hooked up with Brzaos at Monument Rock; the tease here is just to see if you were paying attention.

Very little.Randolph Scott alone is enough to make a good movie, but here he has a superlative script performed by some of the best actors Hollywood has ever had, including the excellent Bruce Cabot, a wonderful Charles Kemper, and two lovely ladies who look surprisingly like each other (at least here), which is good because they are supposed to be sisters: Barbara Britton and Dorothy Hart, two great actresses.Mr. Scott, a genuine gentleman, used to pooh-pooh the notion he was an actor, but in "Gunfighters" he gives not only one of his best performances, but a great performance by anyone's standards.He is alternately subtle and obvious, showing just the right emotion and attitude called for by the script, by Alan LeMay, who knew a thing or two about westerns.Mr. Scott has a lot of help in this powerful story, with the above and Forrest Tucker, rather quietly effective as the hired gunman, and Steven Geray as Jose in an intelligently funny role (so many westerns had very unfunny funny roles), as well as so many great atmosphere and minor players, such as the ubiquitous Hank Bell, as usual uncredited."Gunfighters" is not only one of Randolph Scott's best movies, it is a great movie, one of the best I've seen lately, and I've been watching a lot of them recently. I highly recommend "Gunfighters," and can even highly recommend the print at YouTube. Enjoy.