The Gunfighter (1950) [Criterion Collection]

Director: Henry King
Writer: William Bowers (screenplay by), William Sellers (screenplay by)
Stars: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell

A key forerunner of the new breed of dark, brooding westerns that would soon cast a shadow over America’s frontier folklore, this subversive psychological saga sounds a death knell for the myth of the outlaw hero. In one of his most morally complex roles, Gregory Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, an infamous gunslinger looking to hang up his holsters and start a new life, but whose reputation draws him inexorably into a cycle of violence and revenge from which he cannot escape. Directed with taut efficiency by the versatile studio-era craftsman Henry King, and shot in striking deep-focus style by master cinematographer Arthur C. Miller, The Gunfighter forgoes rough-and-tumble action in favor of an elegiac exploration of guilt and regret that speaks to the anxious soul of postwar America.

Extras:
- New interview with filmmaker, writer, and archivist Gina Telaroli about director Henry King and The Gunfighter - recorded in New York in May 2020
- New video essay by film historian and author of Nobody's Girl Friday: The Women Who Ran Hollywood, J. E. Smyth on editor Barbara McLean - discussion of her career and her work on The Gunfighter
- Audio excerpts of interviews with director Henry King conducted by Thomas R. Stempel in January and July 1971. They were recorded as part of the Darryl F. Zanuck Research Project for the American Film Institute's Oral History Collection. In them, King discusses his relationship with Zanuch, The Gunfighter, and the importance to him of location shooting.
- Audio excerpts of interviews with editor Barbara McLean conducted by Thomas R. Stempel in August 1970. They were recorded as part of the Darryl F. Zanuck Research Project for the American Film Institute's Oral History Collection. In them, McLean discusses her start in Hollywood and working with Zanuck and director Henry King.




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