Gunfight in Abilene

1967 "The time: NOON! The odds: DESPERATE! The result: MEMORABLE!"
5.7| 1h26m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 01 March 1967 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Fighting in the Civil War a man accidently kills his friend. Returning to Abilene after the war he finds his former sweetheart about to marry the brother of the man he killed. To pay his debt he not only refuses to win her back but takes the job of Sheriff, a job he doesn't want, when the brother asks him. Still haunted by the killing he refuses to carry a gun. But there is trouble between the ranchers and the farmers and when he finds the brother murdered he straps on a gun and heads after the killer.

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Reviews

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
zardoz-13 Some celebrities weren't born to be leading men. Handsome but slight of stature Bobby Darin is a prime example. The "Splish Splash" songwriter and singer is miscast as a resourceful but tortured sheriff in William Hale's lackluster Universal Picture's western "Gunfight in Abilene" with Leslie Nielsen. Mind you, Darin had proved he could act. After all, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Gregory Peck movie "Captain Newman, M.D." Meantime, this thoroughly predictable law & order oater about the usual tension simmering between pugnacious cattlemen and resentful sodbusters is nothing more than an uninspired remake of director Charles F. Haas' "Showdown in Abilene" (1956) that top billed a far more formidable Jock Mahoney. Comparatively, in an early scene when the hero intervenes in the action from hotel balcony, Darin wears his shirt open partially, while Mahoney displays his naked muscular torso. Interestingly enough, producer Howard Christie bankrolled the original sagebrusher, and he doesn't deprive this dreary horse opera of anything that a polished western requires. The streets teem with lots of extras, and the stores appear less generic than either might in the typical B-movie oater. The stock footage of cattle in long shots doesn't look like stock footage used one time too many. In other words, like its star, "Gunfight in Abilene" is a handsome looking western.An immaculate, silver-tongued, Leslie Nielsen plays the chief villain, but he is no match for Lyle Bettger in the original "Abilene. He differs from Bettger because he sports a wooden hand rather than a stump. Nevertheless, Nielsen isn't a helpless cripple who solicits sympathy. He uses his wealth to keep Abilene under his thumb. Nielsen is an urbane, well-dressed, cattleman and his hooligans ride the range roughshod over the passive farmers. These were the days, we're told, when you could shoot trespassers on sight because you were within your legal rights. The farmers are struggling to cast off Evers' dominance, but they lack the courage. Darin is former Confederate officer Cal Wayne. During the American Civil War prologue, Darin makes a convincing officer, but he doesn't retain a shred of believability when he arrives in Abilene. As it turns out, Wayne accidentally shot and killed Nielsen's younger brother during a chaotic battle. Impulse more than caution prompted Cal to gun down his friend before he recognized that he wasn't the enemy. Our mentally castrated hero experiences so much guilt for killing his friend that he shuns guns. Captured while struggling to get his friend to a hospital, Wayne wound up languishing for the remainder of the war in a Union prisoner-of-war camp. After the South surrenders, Wayne rides back to Abilene to find Grant Evers (Leslie Nielson of "Airplane!") making life unbearable for the farmers. For example, in an early scene, Evers' men tear down a barbed wire fence, and its owner gets entangled in the wire as it coils around him. Evers's men then stampeded their steers through the farmer's property, and the cattle trampled the crops. Later, a young farmer, Cord Decker (Michael Sarrazin of "Sometimes A Great Notion"), comes home from the war to his wife. Unlike Cal, Decker served in the Union Army. Unfortunately, he incurs the wrath of Evers' right-hand henchman Slate when he suggests Cal is better qualified to be the town sheriff. It is only a matter of time until the wicked Slate (Donnelly Rhodes of "Touched by a Killer") crosses paths with Decker and bullwhips him. This scene is probably the most violent. This is all the timid farmers need to unit them and rise up against Evers. Slade hates the way that his boss Evers has given into the farmers. First, Evers convinced Slade to relinquish his badge; Slade had bullied the farmers as Evers' bought and paid for gunman. Second, Evers showed weakness when he gave into the farmer's initial claims for his steers devastating crops. After this moment of reconciliation with the farmers, Evers persuaded his old friend Cal to pin on the sheriff's badge. It seems that Cal was responsible for Evers' missing hand. Predictably, Cal posts an ordinance that firearms are forbidden now inside the city limits, and he has to beat up one of Evers' unruly ruffians to prove that he can still defend himself.Of course, there is the question of the woman, Amy Martin (Emily Banks) who promised herself to Cal. Everybody, including Amy, believed Cal had died during the war. She has since agreed to marry Grant Evers. When Cal shows up in Abilene, Amy regrets her decision. Slowly, the wedge between Cal and Evers deepens, but it is the evil Slate who precipitates the bloodshed when he whips Cord to death. At the same time, a gulf of discontent has been widening between Slade and his boss. Slade kills Evers after Evers tries to pay him off and send him packing. It is always a dramatic mistake to let the second-string villain kill the first-string bad guy. Inevitably, Cal musters the strength of mind to buckle on a pistol belt. Similarly, sticking to the western formula, Slade must have the first shot before our hero can vanquish him. "Journey to Shiloh" director William Hale qualifies as a thoroughly conventional craftsman until the inevitable showdown between Slade and Cal. At this point, Hale relies on Dutch tilt camera angles to depict the gunplay. Make no mistake, the gunfight looks good, but it isn't high drama. This may qualify as Donnelly Rhodes' best performance; he is a villain you love to hate. . Anybody who doesn't know that Leslie Nielson used to play straight roles instead of specialize in comedy may be alarmed at his villainous turn as Darin's adversary. Altogether, "Gunfight in Abilene" is a tolerable western, but "Showdown in Abilene" completely overshadows it in virtually every respect.
peter-2749 I spent and enjoyable 90 minutes or so watching this film a few months ago and I would have summed this up as a good film and probably given it a higher rating (6-7).However yesterday I sat down to watch the earlier made "Showdown at Abilene" and for the first 20 minutes had this feeling of "deja-vu". It was then I realised that this was an almost identical re-make of a film that was only 11 years old and wondered why on earth they bothered.The lead in "Gunfight" is hopelessly miscast; Bobby Darin always seems to come across as a poor-man's Dean Martin and seems to have a constant grin on his face throughout. I am also of the generation that can no longer take Leslie Nielson seriously in ANY film which is a shame as he makes quite a good fist of this role. I am also always uncomfortable watching Michael Sarrazin (although that is an entirely personal thing and admit that this probably has more to do with his "intensity" as an actor than any lack of skill in his trade). Even in this, his first role, he is the stand-out act.One thing on which I must comment however is Darin's Confederate uniform however is laughable (more Las Vegas than Civil War) and is so tight, he dare not bend over at any time!To be fair to Gunfight however I thought I should give this another go and then watched the pair back to back.The original (Showdown) is a much better and much more subtle in its approach to the reasons why he will not carry a gun (I'll say no more for fear of it being a "spoiler"). Had I not seen the earlier film, I would have been quite happy with this version but it is not really a patch on the first one and seems a pointless re-make.If you have time and love Westerns as much as I do give this a go but if you can only watch one watch the original.
Ram76114 This western isn't well known but it's really a pretty good movie. Bobby Darin puts in a fine performance as a Civil War veteran returning back from the war after accidentally killing his friend, and for that reason no longer wearing a gun. It can be highly recommended to those who really love westerns. Even those who only watch westerns occasionally should be able to appreciate "Gunfight in Abilene" as well. It also features a fine song called "Amy." It was released only as the flip side of Bobby's hit "Lovin' You," but should have been a hit in its own right. "Gunfight in Abilene" definitely deserves more recognition than it's received so far.
Michael O'Keefe Typical, predictable...but watchable. An ex-confederate officer(Bobby Darin)upon his homecoming to Abilene takes the job of Sheriff and tries to settle disputes between farmers and cattlemen. Darin is not as convincing as others in the cast:Leslie Nielsen, Emily Banks and Donnelly Rhodes. Also of note are Don Galloway and Barbara Werle. At times the background music is more interesting than the script.

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