Winchester ’73 (1967)

Tom Tyron is Lin McAdams, a lawman who finds himself trying to track down his own cousin because of a prized Winchester ’73.

The rifle, dubbed one in a thousand because it’s so perfect, is the prize in a shooting match taking place as part of the 10-year celebration of the town of Onyx.

Just as Bart McAdam (Dan Duryea) hoped, offering the coveted rifle as a prize lures his estranged son Dakin (John Saxon) back to Onyx.

But it’s hardly a happy reunion. Dakin still blames his father for a six-year stint the former spent in prison.

And his stop in Onyx has just one mission: Win the gun before setting out with his partners on the next bit of thievery they’re planning.

But Lin winds up winning that shooting contest. And to get it, Dakin has to steal if from the McAdams family gun shop. In the process, he kills Lin’s dad Ben (Paul Fix).

And so Lin sets out after Dakin. So does his younger brother Dan. He wants to see Dakin dead; Lin merely wants to bring him back for a trial.

After all, Bart McAdam, desperate to win back his son’s affection, is telling everyone that his son killed Ben McAdam in self defense.

Review:

John Saxon tries his darndest as the villain of the piece. Barbara Luna lights up the screen as a female huckster, which probably explains why she’s in so many scenes for such a peripheral part.

But anyone who’s seen the 1950 version of this film, directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, is likely to be unimpressed by this TV version of the same story.

To their credit, filmmakers attempted to keep things interesting by altering the plot a bit. And came up with a unique way to bring the prized rifle back into the climatic showdown.

But some of those changes wind up doing more harm than good. For instance, the Indian tribe High-Spade Johnny Dean is selling guns to consists of two Indians … that’s it, just two.

And instead of stealing the prized rifle and launching an attack on a cavalry patrol with a band of warriors by his side, our renegade Indian here single-handedly attacks a band of helpless Mexican peasants.

Those scenes are nearly as bad as Tom Tyron’s wooden performance in the lead role.

Dan Duryea, the villain is the 1950 film, is back as the father of the villain here. John Doucette, a member of Duryea’s outlaw gang in the original, plays a man who forbids gunfire at his trading post here.

Directed by:
Hershel Daugherty

Cast:
Tom Tyron … Lin McAdam
John Saxon .. Dakin McAdam
Dan Duryea … Bart McAdam
John Drew Barrymore … Preacher
Joan Blondell … Larouge
John Dehner … High-Spade Johnny Dean
John Doucette … Jake Starret
David Pritchard … Dan McAdam
Paul Fix … Ben McAdam
Jack Lambert … Scots
John Hoyt … Sunrider
Jan Arvan … Santiago Ortega
Robert Brice … Master of ceremonies
Ned Romero … Wild Bear
Barbara Luna … Meriden

Runtime: 97 min.

Memorable lines:

Lin McAdam to cousin Dakin: “Man would have to be a good shot to kill his blood and his past. No need for you to try.”

Ben McAdam, watching Dakin admire the prized Winchester ’73 he’s holding: “What are you doing with that gun, boy?”
Dakin McAdam: “Deciding whether to say goodbye to it. Or with it.”

Sunrider, Indian chief, to Wild Bear, after the latter vows to accomplish great deeds with his new Winchester ’73: “The days of great deeds are done. Today, it is gold. And guns.”

Meriden to Dan McAdam: “There are lots of things a gun can’t do. Even if it loves you back.”

Starret, the trader who forbids gunfire in his establishment, chasing off Dakin McAdam: “Once you’re off my land, you can kill each other twice a day.”

Starret, wielding a shotgun, to Dan McAdam: “You’d make a mess on my floor. Just sit down.”

Lin McAdam of Dakin McAdam: “He’s as safe as a two-headed dog with a bite on both ends.”

John Hoyt as Sunrider, the Indian chief who trades gold for guns in Winchester ’73 (1967)

John Drew Barrymore as Preacher, a member of Dakin McAdam’s gang in Winchester ’73 (1967)