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Parents' Guide to

The Gunfighter

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Good movie about the consequences of our choices.

Movie NR 1950 85 minutes
The Gunfighter Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

Jamiephares
Jamiephares Adult
October 22, 2019
age 12+

All talking, almost like a play

Explored interesting themes: what happens when outlaws get older? Very reflective. A bit heavy for my 10 year-old and pretty slow. But if your kid is a thinker or likes drama, it could work! I enjoyed it. Literally two shots fired in the whole movie.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

THE GUNFIGHTER centers on Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck), the fastest gun who ever lived, which makes him a target for every young man who wants to prove himself. After Ringo kills a young man in self-defense, the dead man's brothers pursue him to Cayenne. Sheriff Mark Strett (Millard Mitchell), Ringo's old friend, tells him he will have to leave because there are too many young men who will risk everything to be able to claim the credit for killing Ringo. Ringo wants to see his wife Peggy and their child, but his enemies are closing in on him. Peggy tells Ringo that if he can settle down in a place for a year without trouble, she will join him. He spends some time with his son, and prepares to leave, happy at the thought of his new life. But a local man is waiting for him, and shoots him in the back. As Ringo dies, he says that he drew first. He doesn't want Hunt hanged. He wants him to suffer as he has, knowing that wherever he goes, there will be someone who wants to be known as the man who shot the man who shot Ringo.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This Western provides a good opportunity for a discussion of notions of manhood and courage. Ringo would trade all of his fame for the chance to live with his family. He's more successful with his intelligence than his speed -- he is able to avoid many shoot-outs, arranges to have money paid to Peggy without giving away their connection, and thinks of a plausible reason to tell his son why he wanted to see him without revealing the truth. His innate decency and sense of justice are shown in many scenes.

This is also a good movie about the consequences of our choices. There are so many movies about redemption and triumph that it is automatically branded an "adult western" when a gunfighter doesn't shoot the bad guy and ride off into the sunset. Unlike Alan in The Petrified Forest, who dies to help someone else, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, whose deaths at the end of the movie only brightens their legend, Ringo chooses to tarnish his legend as he dies, to curse Hunt to the same fate that he suffered, and possibly also to give little boys and young squirts less reason to try to be like him.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about notions of manhood and courage, and the consequences of our choices. Also, why does every town have a "young squirt" who wants to prove he is faster than Ringo? Why doesn't Mark carry a gun? Why does Ringo insist that he drew on Hunt? Why was Mark able to get away and start over, when Ringo and Buck were not? Why does Peggy call herself Mrs. Ringo at the end?

Movie Details

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