Forty Guns (1957)

Set in the Arizona of the 1880s, a reformed gunslinger (Barry Sullivan) now working for the Attorney General's office arrives in Tombstone to arrest a deputy (Chuck Roberson) for robbing the U.S. mail. The deputy is one of the forty hired guns employed by a landowner (Barbara Stanwyck) who runs the territory with an iron fist. Written and directed by Samuel Fuller (PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET), this often outlandish western is superbly executed by Fuller and while it may not reach the heights of Nick Ray's JOHNNY GUITAR, it's an excellent example of the western as a feverish melodrama. Shot in crisp B&W, Fuller and his cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc (FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX) make outstanding use of the CinemaScope format. With the exception of John Ericson as Stanwyck's bad seed brother, the acting is good. Ericson isn't a strong enough actor to go over the top and get away with it. With Gene Barry, Dean Jagger, Eve Brent, Robert Dix and Ziva Rodann.