Heaven with a Gun (1969)

Glenn Ford is Jim Killian, a gunman turned preacher who arrives in the town of Vinegaroon, buys a barn and sets up church there.

He’ll have plenty of souls to save in this time, because a range war has broken out between the cattlemen and local sheepherders.

And everyone seems to be under the thumb of cattle king Asa Beck (John Anderson), who has a mean spirited son named Coke (David Carradine) and an imported gun named Mace to do his bidding.

But Killian quickly finds that his fists and his guns proves more useful than his sermons in getting Beck’s attention. And while he convinces some of the sheepherders and ranchers to work together — like Murdock and Patterson — Asa Beck wants no part of sharing the range with sheepmen.

Complicating matters for Killian — Vinegaroon is also home to former flame and saloon madam Madge McCloud (Carolyn Jones). And a pretty young Indian girl name Leloopa (Barbara Hershey) has attached herself to him after he showed kindness in burying her father, who was hanged by the cattlemen.

Review:

A very well done, intelligently scripted later Western from Ford. It tackles old themes — ranchers versus sheepherders and the coming of civilization to the West — but does so with a vigor that makes it seem quite fresh again.

The film also features impressive performances from Jones, fresh off her role as matriarch of TV’s “The Addams Family” and an adorable Barbara Hershey in just her second film role.

Even familiar faces John Anderson and Noah Beery Jr., as Beck’s foreman, stand out rather than fade into the background this time around.

Some of the scenes are guaranteed to stick with you, including when the cattlemen sheer a sheepherder and Coke Beck’s assault on Leloopa in a stable.

And here’s a piece of trivia: Hershey and Carradine had a son together — Tom Carradine, Hershey’s only child — in 1972.

Directed by:
Lee Katzin

Cast:
Glenn Ford … Jim Killian
Carolyn Jones … Madge McCloud
Barbara Hershey … Leloopa
John Anderson … Asa Beck
David Carradine … Coke Beck
J.D. Cannon … Mace
Noah Beery Jr. …. Garvey
Harry Towns …. Gus Sampson
William Bryant …. Bart Patterson
Virginia Gregg … Mrs. Patterson
James Griffith … Abraham Murdock
Roger Perry … Ned Hunter
Claude Woolman … Gilcher
Ed Bakey … Scotty Andrews
Barbara Babock … Mrs. Andrews
James Chandler … Doc Foster
Angelique Pettyjohn … Emily
Jessica James … Jan
Bee Tompkins … Saloon girl
Bill Catching … Willie
Al Wyatt Sr. … Leloopa’s father

Runtime: 101 min.

Song: “A Lonely Place”

Memorable lines:

Asa Beck to Jim Killian, after offering him a job as a hired gun: “I’d rather pay you than kill you.”

Asa Beck to one of the sheepmen: “I thought we taught you not to stray, Andrews.”
Scotty Andrews: “We come here for a purpose, Beck.”
Asa Beck: “Well, if your purpose is to end up dead in the street, I reckon you came to the right place.”

Jim Killian: “There will be no killing around this church unless I do the killing. Amen.”

Leloopa to Madge: “Jim not take care of me. I take care of him.”
Jim Killian to Leloopa: “I think it’d be better if you called me Padre Jim.”
Leloopa: “Why? You got baby?”

Leloopa to Madge, as they prepare to pick out her new clothes: “You find me something pretty. Very pretty. So he (Jim) see I pretty.”

Madge, when Asa Beck reveals Jim Killian’s past as a convict: “Asa, why don’t you drop it? The man’s paid his debt.”
Shopkeeper: “That’s right, Asa. The past is past.”
Asa: “We came here to talk about cattle. If I need a sack of flour, I’ll call on you storekeeper. If I should ever need a cheap drink, Madge, I’ll see you.”
Madge: “Don’t hold your breath til you get it.”

Mr. Patterson, a cattleman: “Fine thing. First I’m working hand-in-hand with a sheepherder. Now I’m takin’ in savages. I sure hope the good Lord is making note.”

Garvey: “It’s too bad about you, Patterson. A good cow man like you ought to have a right to pick better smellin’ company than this to die in.”

Madge to Jim: “It’s your choice. Gunman or preacher. Heaven or hell. Don’t be half of anything. That can really be hell.”