David's Guide to Westerns

Gun Fury (1953)

People

Review

Rock Hudson chases after the gang of outlaws that kidnapped his wife. Along the way he's helped by the good outlaw (Leo Gordon) who was kicked out after standing up to the gang's leader (Philip Carey). The plot really is that simple, and thus—although quite watchable (and also short enough that no one should be able to get bored)---there's very little depth to Gun Fury.

The small amount of depth that is there comes is from the baddie (Carey). He's a slimy former confederate, who fancies himself as a southern gentleman, but only occasionally seems to realise how far he's fallen. Seeing himself as continuing the civil war, he's taken to robbery, ever-increasing brutality, implied rape (at least in the past) and hasn't really realised that he's largely abandoned the cause he claims to be fighting for. The contrast are the two fellow southerners: Hudson, who has put the past behind him and claims to now be pacifist and non-interventionist (although him abandonment of those ideals later in the film is dealt with very superficially dealt with), and Gordon, who is increasingly uncomfortable with the direction his boss has taken, but who again, doesn't get much in the way of motivation beyond that.

The film looks good, is basically enjoyable, has a good villain, but is a bit lacking in terms of any substantial characterisation beyond that. According to wikipedia, it was originally in 3D.

Categories


Comments

Guide to commenting (opens in new window)