Man with the Gun (1955)

Robert Mitchum is Clint Tollinger, a professional town tamer. He seeks out wild Western towns where the residents want law and order, but aren’t brave enough to fight for it.

He finds just such a situation in Sheridan City, where Dade Holman rules, even though he rarely sets foot in town.

He lets his gunmen, led by Ed Pinchot (Leo Gordon), and his business associates, like saloon owner Frenchie Lescaux (Ted de Corsia), handle the day-to-day details of keeping the townsfolk under his thumb.

But Tollinger finds more than a town to tame in Sheridan City. He finds his former love, Nelly Bain (Jan Sterling).

They had a daughter together before Nelly tired of wondering whether Tollinger would be killed each night and became a businesswoman, organizing her own little group of saloon girls. Now Tollinger has tracked her down, trying to learn what became of that daughter.

The other occupants of Sheridan City include a headstrong young man named Jeff Castle, the one man willing to stand up to Holman; his girlfriend Stella Atkins, who also shows more than a passing interest in the handsome Tollinger; and her father Saul Atkins, who convinces the town council to spend $500 to hire Tollinger’s guns.

After a couple of killings and a burned down saloon, they begin to wonder if they haven’t made a mistake.

Robert Mitchum as Clint Tollinger, willing to hire out as a town tamer in Man with the Gun (1955)

Jan Sterling as Nelly Bain, Clint Tolliver’s old flame in Man with the Gun (1955)

Review:

Better than average taming of the town film that benefits from well-staged action scenes and short bursts of violence.

The film opens with gunman Ed Pinchot riding into town and gunning down a pet dog that barks at his horse. It closes with a cleverly planned ambush, designed to do away with Tollinger once and for all.

And here’s a rarity: Holman is the man behind all the trouble in Sheridan. But he never appears on screen until that climatic ambush scene and doesn’t have a single line of dialogue.

Another neat touch: The film’s comic relief comes from Nelly’s girls, especially ditzy blonde Ann Wakefield (Barbara Lawrence). Angie Dickinson plays another of the saloon girls in an uncredited part.

Karen Sharpe as Stella Atkins, engaged to a man fighting to hold onto his land in Man with the Gun (1955)

John Lupton as Jeff Castle, determined to stand up against Dade Holman’s henchmen in Man with the Gun (1955)

Directed by:
Richard Wilson

Cast:
Robert Mitchum … Clint Tollinger
Jan Sterling … Nelly Bain
Karen Sharpe … Stella Atkins
Henry Hull … Marshal Sims
Emile Meyer … Saul Atkins
John Lupton … Jeff Castle
Barbara Lawrence … Ann Wakefield
Leo Gordon … Ed Pinchot
Ted de Corsia … Frenchy Lescaux
James Westerfield … Mr. Zender
Claude Akins … Jim Reedy
Joe Barry … Dade Holman
Angie Dickinson …. Kitty

Runtime: 83 min.

Leo Gordon as Ed Pinchot, one of Dade Holman’s fast guns in Man with the Gun (1955)

Claude Akins as Jim Reedy, one of cattle king Dade Holman’s paid gunmen in Man with the Gun (1955)

Memorable lines:

Doc Hughes: “Might call him (Tollinger) a town doctor too. Ponka was a mighty sick town. Clint operated on it. Patient lost a lot of blood, but lived.”

Doc Hughes, about Tolliver: “Always dresses in gray. Black would fit his profession better.”

Curvy blonde aloon girl Ann Wakefield, checking out a sign banning weapons in town: “I wonder just what all he (Tollinger) considers a weapon?”

Nelly Bain: “You learned to hate so early you never learned anything else. Guns are you know about. They’re all you care about. … I know your father died because he wouldn’t carry a gun. You’ll die because you do.”

Angie Dickinson as Kitty and Barbara Lawrence as Ann, two of Nelly Bain’s girls in Man with the Gun (1955)

Emile Meyer as Saul Atkins with daughter Stella (Karen Sharpe) in Man with the Gun (1955)

Henry Hull as Marshal Sims, the man who thinks everything will work itself out in Man with the Gun (1955)

Ted de Corsia as Frenchy Lescaux, the man who runs the saloon for Dade Holman in Man with the Gun (1955)

Barbara Lawrence as Ann Wakefield, getting fitted for a new dress in Man with the Gun (1955)

Joe Barry as Dade Holman, making a rare visit to Sheridan City in Make with the Gun (1955)

Robert Mitchum as Clint Tollinger, looking for answers in Sheridan City in Man with the Gun (1955)