Wonderful character development!

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Feels like Saturday morning at the movies. We want a hero; and Glenn Ford will do just fine. George Temple (Ford) is a former gunslinger, who is more than ready to put those days in his past. His reputation is discovered and he and his faithful wife, Dora (Jeanne Crain), seek another small town to call home. Temple becomes a shopkeeper, but when he gets drunk and shows off his skill with a gun, a tough guy (Broderick Crawford) would like to take him on.A good B&W western from MGM; gun smoke and trail dust in the air. No doubt about mild mannered Ford being the star. The cast also features: Russ Tamblyn, Leif Erickson, Noah Berry Jr., Allyn Joslyn, Virginia Gregg and John Doucette.

The story of the ex-gunfighter trying to put his past behind and go straight has been done more than few times in the western genre. (It's also been done to death in contemporary stories about retired hit men/mafiosi/mercenaries). The two greatest versions of this story among westerns are George Stevens' 1953 "Shane" and Clint Eastwood's 1992 "Unforgiven." Both those films depicted former gunmen truly traumatized by their violent pasts. Alan Ladd's "Shane" is a sad man doomed to a life as a lonely outcast and Clint Eastwood's "Bill Munny" knows that damnation and hellfire is what awaits him in the afterlife.But then you have "The Fastest Gun Alive's" "George Temple" (Glenn Ford). Like Munny and Shane, George is an ex-gunfighter trying to walk away from his past. His reason for doing so is to please his uberbabe-of-a-wife, "Dora" (Jeanne Crain). Escaping the past, the couple own and operate a dry goods store in a podunk town where everyone views George as a teetotaling milksop. However, unlike Shane and Munny, George has no real regrets as to killing or any fear of eternal condemnation. In fact, he's practically chomping at the bit to brag about his skills and past.What sets George over the top, though, is professional jealousy. You see another gunfighter, "Vinnie Harold" (Broderick Crawford), recently shot down a perceived rival in a nearby town in order to lay claim to the title: "fastest gun," and the people in George's town just can't stop talking about it. George's jealousy over hearing people marveling at Harold's feat makes him snap. So, he reveals his past. And that's where this film lost me: George's braggadocio and bullying while revealing himself to be A-Number-One-Gunfighter made him come across as a complete jerk. He's no Shane forced back into his profession to save a friend or Bill Munny killing again to save his family from financial ruin. Instead, George's just a braggart. Yeah, Harold comes hunting for him and threatens the town, but that would have never happened if George hadn't had such a big mouth and a bigger head. After the "reveal" scene, I really couldn't stand him or this movie anymore.Also, the ridiculous depiction of gunfighting being some sort of "sport" that requires six hours of practice a day turned what appeared to be as serious film into a kiddie matinée B-pic. As Bill Munny puts it near the end of "Unforgiven" that his being a successful gunman was nothing more than luck and an ability to kill without conscious. (Another reviewer mentioned Don Siegel's 1975 "The Shootist" which had John Wayne's character making the same point that being "willing" to kill was far more important than being the best shot or the fastest draw.) George Temple, on the other hand, would say, "practice makes perfect." Yeah, right.

Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford had already co-starred in Convicted and Human Desire. For their third and final pairing in The Fastest Gun Alive, MGM gave them a whole flock of familiar character faces in support who are too numerous to mention. The two play a pair of men of whom destiny put on a collision course. Broderick Crawford is a swaggering psychotic gunfighter who kills frequently to preserve his reputation as The Fastest Gun Alive. As the film opens he picks a fight with another fast gun, Walter Coy, and outdraws him with lightning speed. A later bank robbery by Crawford and his two sidekicks Noah Beery, Jr., and John Dehner puts a posse on their trail. To get fresh horses they stop off in a small town that doesn't even have a sheriff. It's also where Glenn Ford and wife Jeanne Crain operate the general store.Unknown to everyone else the mild mannered Ford is also a fast gun, taught by his father who was a legendary sheriff. But Ford is a man with issues, different than Crawford's, but the issues that both these men have are what drives this film to a conclusion. When Crawford hears about Ford being a fast gun he feels compelled to see if it is true.Glenn Ford did a series of excellent westerns in the Fifties and his career was heading toward its apex. He and Crawford are just wonderful in their contrasting characters. The editing in The Fastest Gun Alive is particularly noteworthy, especially in a church scene similar to the one in High Noon where all those familiar movie faces get to etch some good characterizations with only a few lines.The Fastest Gun Alive is an absolute must for Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford fans.

When discussing famed movie cowboys, Many of you will immediately think of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. However, how many of you would immediately think of Glenn Ford?For my money Glenn Ford was a great actor, one of those brilliant all rounders that could do anything. He was great in contemporary pieces like 'The Blackboard Jungle' or 'The Big Heat', but it was in Westerns that Glenn Ford found his ideal niche and I'm going on record by saying that 'The Fastest Gun Alive', was the best of the lot.Ford plays George Temple, who to all who know him, is a mild mannered, store owner in the secluded town of Cross Creek. His wife Dora (Jeanne Crain) is an expectant mother and in Cross Creek, they seem to have found their peaceful Shangri-La to live out the rest of their lives.To a lot of the townsfolk, George seems withdrawn and secluded and is often the subject of mild ridicule from some of them, but if they knew the secret he harbours, they might, however, have thought twice about it.One day a stagecoach arrives in town and aboard her is an old man with a great story to tell. In another town not far from Cross Creek, a gunfight had recently taken place between notorious outlaw Vinnie Harold, (Broderick Crawford), and known fast gunman Clint Fallon (Walter Coy), for no other purpose other than to massage the vanity of Harold to ensure he was the fastest gun alive.On hearing the news, George becomes even more withdrawn, the result being even more derision from the townsfolk. The usually teetotal George, heads to the saloon where he drinks whiskey while the townsfolk continue to talk about the Harold/Fallon Gunfight and using guns in general, Unable to keep quiet any longer, he gives the tough talking townspeople a dressing down and a few lessons on how to wear and pull a gun effectively. When asked about how a store keeper that doesn't even wear a gun knows so much on the subject, George drops his bombshell secret in the movie's best scene."I'm the fastest gun alive. Faster than Wyatt Earp, faster than Billy The Kid, faster than Fallon and faster than the man that killed him".As suspected, the towns people do not believe him and think that the whiskey he has been liberally imbibing has made him have delusions of grandeur. Pride dented, George retreats to his store and retrieves his hidden gun, much to the dismay of his wife who is desperate for him to keep his past secret.Undeterred, George returns to the saloon and proceeds to demonstrate that he is who he claims to be, by shooting bullets through two silver dollars mid-flight and shooting a falling beer glass before it touches the floor. lesson learned, the towns people are humbled, but George, now knows that as soon as word gets around of his skills, Vinnie Harold, or some other moron like him, will be looking for him so they can prove who is the fastest gun alive.George prepares to leave town but Dora, having lived through similar scenarios refuses to run again. The townspeople in order to protect George's anonymity and their town, make a pact that no one will ever mention what occurred. That is until an 'on the run' Vinnie Harold arrives in town and is told the story about the silver dollars by one of the young children of the town. Now wanting to prove once again who is the best, Harold approaches the church where the entire population of Cross Creek is congregated and threatens to burn the entire town to the ground if the so called 'fast gun' doesn't present himself for a showdown in the next five minutes.It is here that we learn that George Temple's real name is actually George Kelby Jnr, Son of a sheriff gunned down in an ambush years before who taught his son all he knew about pulling guns to the point that the son even surpassed the father in skill.Despite the pact they have made, the townspeople, not wanting to see their town turned into an inferno, try to force George on to the street to face him. George is forced to reveal another devastating secret to the townsfolk, that despite his skills, he has never pulled a gun on another man and the thought of doing so fills him with fear and terror. The thought of killing another man or being killed himself makes him sick to the stomach. So much so, that he couldn't bring himself to avenge his own Father's death. However, Vinnie Harold's deadline is almost up and a decision has to be made.The Fastest Gun alive is probably one of the most atmospheric westerns ever made as it is more a character driven piece rather than your common all garden western movie. With the exception of Vinnie Harold and is cohorts, who have no redeeming qualities whatsoever, you can empathise with all the characters in this film to a degree.The only gripe of the entire movie is the out of place dance sequence with Russ Tamblyn doing his acrobatic tumbling through a barn. Don't get me wrong, what you get from Tamblyn is pretty darn good, but why the hell was it in THIS particular movie.Great movie, great plot and great acting and definitely Glenn Ford's shining gem in a career already gleaming with them.Enjoy!!