Warlock (1959)

Henry Fonda is Clay Blaisedell, a famed gunman hired to come to the town of Warlock and deal with Abe McQuown and his cowboys. Abe was the first man to settle in these parts, and he considers himself above the law, and certainly above any deputy sheriff hired by the town leaders.

But Blaisdell arrives with a partner, Tom Morgan, a gambler and fellow gunfighter who cares about two things above all else — keeping Blaisedell alive and making sure Blaisdell is top dog in whatever town they travel to. Ah, Blaisedell also arrives with a warning: He’ll quiet down Warlock, then the townsfolks will start to fear his power.

All of which happens, of course. Before long, the town has a new deputy sheriff, Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark), a former member of Abe McQuown’s bunch who tired of their violent ways. Now he finds himself caught between Blaisedell, who’s used to taking the law into his own hands, and McQuown’s cowboys, who are first out to get Blaisedell because he’s warned some of them to stay out of town and then because he killed two cowboys who ignored that warning.

And so there’s a three-way struggle for power in this frontier town, with Abe and his cowhands on one side, Blaisedell and Morgan on another and Gannon and the townsfolks trying to regain control of their community. And when it comes to fast guns, Blaisdell and Morgan hold the upper hand.

Richard Widmark as Johny Gannon, ready to pin on a badge in Warlock (1959)

Henry Fonda as gunman Clay Blaisedell, meeting the leading citizens of Warlock in Warlock (1959)

Review:

A superior Western that’s especially good on first viewing, because plot twists, like the crippling of Gannon’s gunhand, provide unexpected obstacles for the film’s reluctant hero.

Oh, and the relationship between the characters played by Fonda and Quinn is particularly intriguing. Tom Morgan will stop at nothing to protect Clay Blaisedell, and cringes at the very notion that his partner wants to marry, settle down and let someone else run the town of Warlock.

In the female leads we have Dolores Michaels as Jesse Marlowe, a townswoman who argues against hiring Blaisedell, but then finds herself falling for him, partly because she’s tired of being good. Then there’s Dorothy Malone as Lilly Dollar. Once she was Morgan’s lover; then Blaisedell killed another man she fell in love with — the only decent man she says she’s ever known. In Warlock, she finds another decent man in Johnny Gannon, and finds herself hoping he doesn’t fall to the same fate.

The film also gets high marks for an unexpected ending.

Dolores Michaels as Jesse Marlow, addressing the problems in Warlock (1959)

Dorothy Malone as Lily Dollar, worried about Johnny Gannon in Warlock (1959)

Directed by:
Edward Dmytryk

Cast:
Richard Widmark … Johnny Gannon
Henry Fonda … Clay Blaisedell
Anthony Quinn … Tom Morgan
Dorothy Malone … Lily Dollar
Dolores Michaels … Jesse Marlow
Wallace Ford … Judge Holloway
Tom Drake … Abe McQuown
Richard Arlen … Bacon
DeForest Kelley … Curley Burne
Regis Toomey … Skinner
Vaughn Taylor … Henry Richardson
Don Beddoe … Dr. Wagner
Whit Bissell … Petrix
Frank Gorshin … Billy Gannon

Anthony Quinn as Tom Morgan, engaged in some thievery on the side in Warlock (1959)

Tom Drake as Abe McQuown, coming face o face with Blaisdell while Billy Gannon looks on in Warlock (1959)

Memorable lines:

Jesse Marlow, on the townsmen suggestion that they recruit Clay Blaisedell: “Well, is this superhuman going to subdue the savage beast by the pure power of his eye, by the menace of his six-shooter or by his reputation.”
Townsmen: “None of those, Jesse. Blaisedell’s only hope in Warlock is to be lead-proof.”

Tom Morgan to Blaisedell, on the citizens of Warlock: “Maybe they can’t hold guns, but they sure can hold meetings.”

Tom Morgan to Blaisdell: “You know, thinking of weddings can lead to funerals.”

Billy Gannon: “I just wanna know what you’re gonna do. You gonna back me or Blaisdell?”
Johnny Gannon: “I won’t back him cause you’re my brother. And I won’t back you cause you’re wrong.”

DeForest Kelley as Curley Burne, ready to stand up against Blaisdell in Warlock (1959)

Frank Gorshin as Billy Gannon, ignoring his older brother’s pleas to leave town and avoid a showdown with Blaisdell in Warlock (1959)

Vaughn Taylor as Henry Richardson, the shopkeeper who calls for the town to hire Blaisdell in Warlock (1959)

Richard Widmark as Johnny Gannon, offered Clay Blaisedell’s gun after a shooting in Warlock (1959)

Dolores Michaels as Jessie Marlowe and Whit Bissell as Petrix, watching a wild bunch of cowboys ride into town in Warlock (1959)

Anthony Quinn as Tom Morgan, talking to a bouncer to make sure Blaisedell stays safe in Warlock (1959)

Richard Widmark as Johnny Gannon with Dorothy Malone as Lily Dollar in Warlock (1959)

Henry Fonda as Clay Blaisedell, the gunman who comes to Warlock in Warlock (1959)