A Gunfight is a Gunfight (1971) western drama by Lamont Johnson about two aging shooters, played by Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash. Both are legends dear to the Russian heart. Johnny because Cash, Kirk because our compatriot, his real name is Iser Danilovich, his parents are from Mogilev region. Johnny left in early 2003, Kirk most recently – in February 2020 at the age of 103 (!) years.
Attention! The review may contain spoilers revealing the content of the film.
Will Tennery has settled in well
Battered gold digger Abe Cross (Johnny Cash) leads a wounded horse to the town of Dodge City near El Paso. Will Tennery (Kirk Douglas) lives here with his wife and son. Gentlemen have heard about each other before and are formally opponents, although nothing prevents them from being friends. Abe remains neutral, does not plan a conflict, but the residents behind his back are whispering about a possible duel. And then they start openly goading the two of them and discussing the future Gunfight between Cross and Tennery. The sweepstakes opens. The owner of the Alvarez store is interested in the duel, he will receive his 10% in any case. Tennery also needs money, he half-jokingly, half-seriously offers to sell tickets to this performance, which infuriates Cross – he is more prudent. But he needs a new horse, and you can’t earn money for it here – as the character of the famous 90s western used to say, “the only job for you here is to play in the box.”
The rivals can have a friendly conversation
So Cross is still inclined to fight. The show will take place in the arena, where bullfighting was held days earlier, a kind of allegory to the fact that the public can only serve murder, it doesn’t care – bulls or people. For the coming week, everyone is talking about the Gunfight. Newspapermen arrive, rivals take pictures, here they shake hands, here they point guns, here they smile. Cross buys a horse and plays cards on account of his future winnings. The news has already spread outside the town, a young shooter appears, who is ready to fight the survivor next. The guy is played by Keith Carradine, remember the elderly agent Lundy in Dexter, who had an affair with his sister? Here he is still very young.
Nora Tennery (Jane Alexander)
On Sunday, the whole city rushes to the arena as if for morning mass. Tennery and Cross are like two ancient Roman gladiators, and the crowd is hungry for their blood, but the shooters themselves can’t do anything else and feel truly alive only in a duel on the verge of death. The gunfighters will enter this stage and when the bell rings for the 4th time, it will be the signal to start. The outcome is predictable, one of them will die. But which one of them? And what if the other one? Who will cry for a single Cross? And what will happen to the Tennery family?
A smile at parting
It should be noted the excellent game of the main characters. Cash looks on par with Douglas, despite the fact that he was shot relatively little. And in one TV show they generally say that this is Cash’s debut as an actor, perhaps meaning that this is the 1st movie where Johnny has the main role. Kirk appreciated Cash’s acting talent, noting that he did a great job. First I came across a rip from a German DVD without the natural voices of the actors – and you definitely need to hear Cash! I had to find another option with the original audio. The title song to Gunfight – It’s A Devil Wind That Blows was written by Johnny Cash himself.
Johnny Cash – It’s A Devil Wind That Blows
Unfortunately, the song was not released on any of his albums and was performed only for the film and on television.
Download the movie or watch online Gunfight (1.46 GB), Russian dubbing and original soundtrack
Watch the movie Gunfight (1971) online VK
I finally got to this movie. Not to say anything, a huge western. It seems to be quite cheerful, as cheerful as a movie of this genre can be, and terribly tense. You’re sitting right down to the finale. Interesting plot, good actors… Everything is in place.
I would remake the ending a bit, but it’s actually cool. It’s a pity that movies rarely do something like this; to be honest, I only remember one movie with a similar ending: Buffalo 66 – and it’s mainly because of the unusual ending of Buffalo 66 that I remember.