''Gun Fury'' is a 1953 3-D American

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

, directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...

and starring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular film stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades, and was a prominent figure in the G ...

and Donna Reed, with major supporting roles for Philip Carey and

Leo Gordon Leo Vincent Gordon (December 2, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American character actor and screenwriter. During more than 40 years in film and television he was most frequently cast as a supporting actor playing brutish bad guys but oc ...

. The supporting cast includes

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as th ...

and

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA A ...

. The film is based on the novel ''Ten Against Caesar'' by Kathleen B. George and Robert A. Granger.

Plot

After a stagecoach holdup, Frank Slayton's notorious outlaw gang leave Ben Warren for dead and head off with his fiancée. Warren follows, and although none of the townspeople he comes across are prepared to help, he manages to recruit two men who have sworn revenge on the ruthless Slayton. One is Jess Burgess, gang member who had objected to the kidnapping and was abandoned to die in the desert. The other is Johash, an Indian with an equally personal grudge---his sister was abducted and murdered by Slayton under identical circumstances. As the pursuit continues, "Southern Gentleman" Slayton kills three members of his gang for real and/or imagined offenses. Just short of the Mexican border, his gang is forced to take shelter in a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. Johash's deadly skill with a

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

cuts off the gang's escape route, as three more gang members fatally discover. Warren places the only available water in an open space and challenges Slayton to come and get it. Slayton is out of ammunition, and Warren eventually wins a lengthy fistfight that begins at the top of a steep hill and slowly and dangerously progresses to ground level. Warren's experiences during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

had made him basically a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. But thanks to Johash, he is able to keep his own hands basically clean; and he and fiance Jennifer Ballard are re-united.

Production

The film was shot in the Red Rocks area near

Sedona, Arizona Sedona ( ) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino and Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

, with the striking features of Cathedral Rock as the backdrop in a number of scenes.

Cast

as Ben Warren * Donna Reed as Jennifer Ballard * Philip Carey as Frank Slayton * Roberta Haynes as Estella Morales *

as Jess Burgess *

as Blinky *

as Brazos * Ray Thomas as Doc * Bob Herron as Curly Jordan (as Robert Herron) * Phil Rawlins as Jim Morse *

Forrest Lewis Raymond Forrest Lewis (November 5, 1899 – June 2, 1977) was an American actor of the theater, radio, motion pictures and television. Early years Lewis was born in Knightstown, Indiana, the son of Joseph Saint Lewis and Myla Leota Lewi ...

as Weatherby * Pat Hogan as Johash

References

External links

* 1953 films 1953 3D films American 3D films 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films about outlaws Films shot in Arizona Films directed by Raoul Walsh Columbia Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Films scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff Films with screenplays by Irving Wallace English-language Western (genre) films {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub