BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film has a lot going for it, like Scott playing a different type of hero. If you really look into it, what kind of a good guy is he? He was a spy at Lawrence, Kansas and helped indirectly Quantrill kill people he was friendly with. After that he goes to Prescott, Arizona and becomes a spy again, this time against the stagecoach owners. Considering this western was directed by Andre de Toth (Day of the Outlaw, The Last of the Comanches, House of Wax) you would expect something better.There are many action scenes, which are the greatest fun in a western like this, but most poorly made. We also have great actors like Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Claire Trevor. Perhaps De Toth got lost with so many 3D effects and did not concentrate on the movie, which had everything to succeed, specially one of the most interesting characters Scott ever played. Still, I cannot say I didn't enjoy it.

Claudio Carvalho During the American Civil War, the Quantrill's raiders use the spy Jeff Travis (Randolph Scott) to plunder the city of Lawrence, in Kansas, and Travis leaves Quantrill when he sees the massacre of the town. After the war, Travis believes that he is a wanted man and he heads to Prescott, in Arizona, to start a new life. However, the powerful Jules Mourret (George Macready), who apparently is a businessman but actually is the leader of a gang of thieves, knows his past and forges documents with a fake identity to give a job in the local Conroy Stage and Freighter Line. Mourret is unsuccessful trying to steal the money and gold transported by the company but is frequently lured by Jason Conroy (Pierre Watkin); he intends to use Travis to get inside information about the transportation of gold. When one of Mourret's men kills the driver of the wagon, Travis schemes a plan to get rid of the gang. "The Stranger Wore a Gun" is only an average Western and is disappointing considering the names of Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine in the cast. The story is weird and the motives of the ambiguous character performed by Randolph Scott are absolutely confused, but in the end this movie entertains. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "O Pistoleiro" ("The Gunman")

bkoganbing I have a feeling that a lot of The Stranger Wore a Gun was left on the cutting room floor and if someone's ever interested in a director's cut it might explain some of the holes in this story.The film opens in the middle of raid on Lawrence, Kansas by William Quantrill. Disgusted by all the killing, Randolph Scott quits the outfit, but can't outrun his reputation. Going further and further west Scott gets himself involved with another ex-Quantrill man, George MacReady who's looking to set himself up in Arizona as another version of Quantrill.This is the last of four films Scott made with George MacReady, not counting their joint appearance in Follow the Boys. The first one they did together, Coroner Creek, is a classic among westerns. Sad to say the quality diminished as the two worked together until this one.I couldn't follow the story nor could see what Scott's motivations were for doing what he did. It might be a case of bad editing or maybe it wasn't that good to begin with. I think it's one of the weaker Randolph Scott westerns.Claire Trevor is yet again a saloon girl with a heart of gold and a yen for Randolph Scott and her rival is Joan Weldon, stage line owner. Doing almost a dress rehearsal for the parts they did in Bad Day at Black Rock are future Oscar winners Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin as a pair of MacReady gang members.I will say if you can sit and sift through the plot you will not be disappointed in the shootout between Scott and MacReady inside a burning saloon. Would that the rest of the film was as good.

krorie Having been shot in 3-D, expect a lot of guns to be pointed at you and sometimes shot, fire coming at the camera, and even rock formations in Lone Pine to appear to have shelves. Outside of this minor distraction, the story is a good one concerning the aftermath of Quantrill's Raiders involving one of his spies, Jeff Travis (Randy Scott), who is determined to run away from his past and begin a new life. Following a fracas on a riverboat, he ends up in Prescott, Arizona, just as the capital of the territory is being moved to Phoenix because of the lack of law and order in the town. Somewhat of a mentor to him as well as lover is the soiled dove Josie Sullivan, played knowingly by Claire Trevor. He rides into Prescott loaded for bear, hence the title "The Stranger Wore a Gun." That he can't shake his past even in an out of the way western hamlet becomes obvious when both Josie and Jules Mourret (George Macready), another ghost from yesterday, turn up there. It's not quite clear where the stranger is heading until a close pal is murdered by Jules' henchmen. To muddy the water a damsel in distress appears, pretty Shelby Conroy (Joan Weldon), who seems shy and innocent. The stranger begins falling in love with her to the displeasure of Josie. Newcomer Jules is holding a Mexican gang at bay led by the colorful Degas (Alfonso Bedoya). The stranger begins playing one gang against the other to almost be gunned down in the crossfire.Two of Jules' henchmen would go on to win Academy Awards a few years later, Lee Marvin as Dan Kurth and Ernest Borgnine as Bull Slager. Borgnine wears one of the loudest cowboy outfits ever, including a green shirt. He looks like a dude from the east. This doesn't stop him from being the sadistic bully he usually played in those days. Marvin too is his usual twisted demented character fans loved to hate. To see these two in action is worth the price of admission.Postscript: Look for Tap Canutt, son of famous stunt man Yakima Canutt, in a bit part. He was also one of the stunt men for the film.