Gunman's Walk

Rebellious son Ed Hackett (accomplished rider Tab Hunter, in the saddle) has been challenged by his prominent rancher father Lee (Van Heflin) to see who can get to the saloon quicker, leading to stunts then a confrontation in the barroom, Paul Bryar the bartender, Ray Teal the observant stranger, in director Phil Karlson’s Gunman’s Walk, 1958.

Van Heflin as titanic rancher father Lee Hackett is angry with son Davy (James Darren), for being unwilling to wear his gun, and shooting poorly when he does, offering instruction when they’re joined by more dangerous brother Ed (Tab Hunter), in a striking bit of Western macho family dynamics, in Gunman’s Walk, 1958, from a Rick Hardman story and Frank Nugent screenplay.

Handsome opening by director Phil Karlson, photographed by Charles “Buddy” Lawton, introducing James Darren as voluble Davy, and avid horseman Tab Hunter as elder brother Ed, taciturn by comparison, and whistling, in the Columbia Technicolor Western, from a story by Ric Hardman and screenplay by Frank Nugent, Gunman’s Walk, 1958, starring Van Heflin.

A rancher's rebellious son tries to teach him that violence is no longer an answer in Gunman's Walk (1958).