DKosty123 When I started watching this one, the beginning seemed very much like the typical Western of the 19050's. It was in a bar and some young punk decided he wanted to take on Ringo, the man reputed to have the fastest gun. He takes him on, and he loses. Then Ringo has to take it on the run as 3 brothers wanted to avenge the death of their youngest, even though he had created his own demise. That is where this movie changes. Ringo (Gregory Peck) has a place to go and a purpose to go there. He sets the 3 brothers after him on foot and heads for that place. It is a town, where his wife and son live, only he does not know where in town they are, or their names. Peck is absolutely brilliant as Ringo, and his character raises this way above the usual Western. Ringo is a character who wants to escape his reputation, but he can't. It seems he has a lot of help with a top notch support cast. Millard Mitchell is great as his friend, the Sheriff of the town Ringo's wife live in. He does everything he can do to protect Ringo but urgently try to get him to leave his town.Karl Malden is brilliant as the saloon keeper who gives him shelter and food and tries to help him leave too. Henry King who directs this had recently finished 12 O'Clock High which was also great with Peck. This next movie may not be as famous as the former, but it is every bit as good. Helen Westcott is Ringo's wife, though her role becomes more profound in the later part of this one. For anyone who likes Peck, this is above the average western, way above. The ending is a bit predictable, yet it is done so well and with a couple of extra twists, that the viewer is totally pulled into the story long before it ends.

smatysia I can't really put my finger on what is wrong with this movie. The plot is predictable and formulaic, but hey, this is 1950. (Interesting that we see Western films of this era as less authentic than, say, Clint Eastwood films, when, after all, the times depicted were in living memory in 1950) Anyway Gregory Peck was a fine actor and did the role well. Millard Mitchell played the consummate Western supporting role. I really liked Helen Westcott and Jean Parker, although I am not familiar with their work. I understand that this movie is thought of as a classic, and I have to judge it as a product of its time, but, bottom line, it bored me.

vincentlynch-moonoi How did I miss this film for 65 years? I won't hesitate to say that this has to be one of the top ten Westerns of all time, and a notch above "High Noon".When I read the synopsis, I had my doubts. Another of the "renown gunfighter wants to quit, but young guns won't let him" genre. And while that basic story line was done to death, never this well! Is there a flaw in the film. Well, much has been made about Gregory Peck's mustache here...and it was a bit distracting, but apparently accurate to the period. So, no...no real flaws.Peck is brilliant, not overplaying role even a tad. Completely believable, which was helped by an excellent script.The supporting cast is interesting. I was not at all familiar with the female lead -- Helen Westcott -- as Peck's estranged wife. She does all right, but I can only assume the producers intentionally didn't choose a big name actress. Millard Mitchell is one of those classic Western actors; excellent here as the marshal and friend; a role seemingly made for his type. Karl Malden is here in the key role of the bartender, but it's not a very good role for such a fine professional actor. I'd almost forgotten there was a Skip Homeier, but seeing him here as the young punk made me remember him.This film is top notch. The pace is excellent, the detail impressive. This is a Western that counts! Highly recommended.

Prismark10 Westerns tend to shoot em ups with good guys and the bad guys and the man with the white hat usually wins. This film is more thoughtful and its not trying to make a political point like High Noon but it does deal with the consequences of living a violent life where you are the top gun.This film is pared down with Gregory Peck as Jimmy Ringo, the deadliest gun-slinger in the Old West. Although he is regarded as a veteran even though aged only 35, he has had enough of gunning down squirts at every saloon who wants to challenge him.After getting into an altercation with a squirt and then dealing with his brothers, Peck heads to the nearby town of Caynenne where he hopes to sort things out with his estranged wife and the son he has never seen. The Sheriff of the town happens to be his old partner in crime and wants him to leave but Ringo's reputation at his arrival precedes him and more young bucks fancy their chances.This lean film keeps your interest, there is a young Karl Malden amongst the cast as a sly bartender and although you can sense that things might not turn out too happily for the gunfighter it is worth a watch for western fans.