SHOOT OUT
US, 1971, 94 minutes, Colour.
Gregory Peck, Pat Quinn, Robert F. Lyons, Jeff Corey, James Gregory, Rita Gam.
Directed by Henry Hathaway.
Shoot Out is a minor Western, well enough acted and directed, but derivative of so many other Westerns. This one is especially related to True Grit (via producer Hal Wallis and director Henry Hathaway) in its portrayal of a young girl in relation to an older gunman.
Gregory Peck has a chance to be partly nasty and Robert F. Lyons (the psychotic killer of Pendulum and The Todd Killings) really is nasty. The film has a strong revenge theme.
1. Was this just a conventional Western designed for the perennial Western audiences, or was it a Western with a difference? Does the title give an indication?
2. What picture of the West was given:- the hero as an ex-convict robber seeking revenge on the partner who betrayed him; the betrayer, a robber become respectable on stolen wealth, hiring a killer to save himself from revenge; the hired killer, young, with a group of similar conscienceless types, violent, lustful, inhuman, with an insane laugh; the hotel-man, a friend who still has to be paid for information and who gets shot in cold-blood; the hotel girls, with hearts of gold, but stuck out in an isolated West; the widow, a good woman, proud of her son, hard-working but lonely and longing for companionship besides the bottle; the boy, a good boy, hard-working, but in a harsh West where a gunman can tease him by shooting cups on his head, where death is always possible; the little girl, illegitimate, dead mother, no-one to turn to except a convict possible father, made to witness a killer's terrorising a family? Is this an accurate picture of the West? is it a glamorous picture? was it presented glamorously here?
3. Was the introduction of the little girl a touch of sentimentality or was she well integrated into the story? Did she add humour to the film?
4. How were the problems of middle-aged people in the West highlighted? Did this make the film more humane, personal, interesting?
5. What was the moral code behind the final shootout, the taunting of the killer as he had terrorised the children? Was this the only way of justice in the West? Was there too much revenge in the heart of the hero?
6. Was the ending too conventional or was it right for this film?
