Boring

An action-packed slog

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A very underrated western! Superb performances from Yul Brynner and Janice Rule. Arguably their best. Director Richard Wilson had worked with Orson Welles on his theater projects and that influence is evident in the adapted screenplay he wrote with his wife. The film questions the moral superiority of the Unionists over the Confederates. It asks, more importantly, if racism in USA is merely related to a white versus black confrontation or to white versus all non-whites (Mexicans, mulattos, cajuns, Native Indians, etc.). More than the action, the film is lifted by the spoken word (e.g., how an average American thinks Jules and Jewel are the same!) and misplaced morality. Needs to be more widely seen and appreciated.

People are nothing but a bunch of coward bad sheep. That's what this movie is proving. Between Chris Larabee Adams of "The Magnificent Seven" and The Gunslinger of "Westworld," Yul Brynner plays a similar role, as a paid gunman, but for a different cause. Janice Rule is beautiful and talented. George Segal, Pat Hingle and Strother Martin are credible and efficient as usual.

*Minor spoiler, mentioned by most other reviewers*I agree that the acting is all over the place; it was a great idea, that was too weighty to be executed through this particular writing, casting and direction.My only caveat is that, speaking from personal experience, it's often the more covert forms of racism and classism that are the straws on the camel's back. One can laugh at buffoons yelling epithets directly, and one can challenge hoods in white hoods. Societal snubbing is more insidiously toxic/cancerous, and harder to dismiss. Plus, seeing other humans relegated to this version of The Bottoms, humiliation added upon humiliation, seeing others not fighting the corruption and degradation, realizing you were paid to kill someone who didn't "need" killing...it could be that type of pressure cooker.

A modest little matinée western with little in way of style with its methodical direction, but leading the way are the strikingly prominent performances from Yul Brynner, George Segal, Pat Hingle, Janice Rule and backing it up is a lyrically well-oiled script stringed to a customary, but accessibly gripping premise that patiently builds upon its unfolding situations.A confederate solider Matt Weaver returns back to his small town after the civil war to find out his home has been sold by the dominating town boss Sam Brewster. Causing a ruckus, Brewster hires the interestingly mysterious gunfighter Jules Gaspard d'Estaing to take care of Brewster; however Jules gets caught up in the devious shades of a town run by corrupt figures.The way the story pans out is thoughtfully projected and the framework delivers it in an unconventional manner with some psychological interplays. The way the steely protagonist uses the situation to gain what he wants and hand out much needed justice within the shameful town simply holds you there. It's literally chatty, but never does it outstay its welcome. A sternly defined Brynner is outstanding (as the camera magnetically follows him around) and likewise is a booming Hingle. When the action/shoot outs occur they're rather sparse, but toughly staged despite its obvious studio bound sets.