''Gunsight Ridge'' is a 1957 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Francis D. Lyon and written by Talbot Jennings and Elisabeth Jennings. The film stars

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

, Mark Stevens, Joan Weldon,

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than 300 films between 1933 and his death in 1964. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richard ...

, Darlene Fields and Carolyn Craig. The film was released in September 1957, by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

. Parts of the movie were filmed in Wildwood Regional Park in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

.Fleming, E.J. (2010). ''The Movieland Directory: Nearly 30,000 Addresses of Celebrity Homes, Film Locations and Historical Sites in the Los Angeles Area, 1900–Present''. McFarland. p. 48. .

Plot

A number of stagecoach holdups have taken place in Arizona Territory. One of them occurs when Mike Ryan, an undercover agent for the stage line, is on board—posing as a paying customer. Another passenger on that trip is the sheriff's daughter, Molly Jones. During the robbery, one of the two bandits lets his bandana slip, revealing his face, which the coach driver recognizes. Because this outlaw's identity is now known, he is killed by his partner, Velvet Clark. In town, Clark is a respectable member of the community who has a mine which barely makes money. He can also play classical music which he does not like anybody knowing about. When the townspeople become fed up with the crime spree, they call for the resignation of the Sheriff, Tom Jones. He asks to be given one more chance and, once granted, deputizes Ryan. Clark's girl, saloon girl Rosa, works out that he robbed the bank, but promises not to tell anyone. Clark thinks of killing her but she tells him that everyone would know it was him so he agrees lets her go. Clark tries to strangle Ryan in the barn but the horses make so much noise he has to leave before he gets caught. Jones finds evidence that implicates Clark. When confronted, Clark kills the sheriff and escapes with money from a train robbery. It is left for Ryan to track down Clark. The two have a showdown at Gunsight Ridge. During the ensuing gunfight, Clark is killed. Ryan returns to the Jones Ranch and expresses regret to Molly for being unable to prevent her father's murder. At the same time, he reveals that he has been offered the job of sheriff and asks her opinion. When she approves, he announces that he will accept the position, implying the two will marry and settle down.

Cast

as Mike Ryan * Mark Stevens as "Velvet" Clark * Joan Weldon as Molly Jones *

as Sheriff Tom Jones * Darlene Fields as Rosa * Carolyn Craig as Farm Girl * Robert Griffin as Herb Babcock * I. Stanford Jolley as Billy Daggett *

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television ...

as Gus Withers *

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens took up acting, and appeared in dozens of movies and TV sho ...

as Hank Moss * Herb Vigran as R.B. Davis * Kitty Kelly as Mrs. Donahue *

Jody McCrea Joel Dee "Jody" McCrea (September 6, 1934 – April 4, 2009) was an American actor. He was the son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. Career McCrea had small roles in his father's film, '' Wichita'' (1955). He was also in '' Lucy Gallant' ...

as Groom * Cynthia Chenault as Bride * L. Q. Jones as Lazy Heart Ranch Hand *

Morgan Woodward Thomas Morgan Woodward (September 16, 1925 – February 22, 2019) was an American actor who is best known for his recurring role as Marvin "Punk" Anderson on the television soap opera ''Dallas'' and for his portrayal of Boss Godfrey, the sungla ...

as "Tex" * Jim Foxx as Lazy Heart Ranch Hand * Steve Mitchell as Lazy Heart Ranch Hand *

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the NBC Western fiction, Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was ...

as The Bartender (uncredited)

References

External links

* {{Francis D. Lyon 1957 films 1957 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Francis D. Lyon Films scored by David Raksin Films set in Arizona United Artists films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films