- Directed by Andre de Toth
- July 30, 1953
- Based on the 1953 short story Yankee Gold by John W. Cunningham
A former spy for Quantrill’s Raiders wanted as a war criminal moves to Arizona to join a gold robbery but decides to change his life when they begin killing.
Quantrill’s Raiders were an infamous group during the Civil War. They cemented their notorious legacy with the Lawrence, Kansas raid which is portrayed in The Stranger Wore a Gun and connected to the hero of the story Jeff Travis aka Mark ‘An Alias’ Stone (Randolph Scott) who is on the run/in hiding for most of the film. Jeff is against killing which, when a little thought is applied, brings into question just how smart he is given who he associates with.
Scott tries to play a morally gray character. He just did not have it in him. He had the good guy looks and attitude in every performance. Jeff’s fine line on violence is a little silly and not helped by the nice guy portrayal. That is obviously to make him able to come over to the side of good at some point in some way.
Scott’s character is not larger than life or a man of strong moral clarity or of such darkness (for the time) that he stands out. His best moment occurs in a shadowy alley when the climax of a personal conflict occurs. Jeff needed more moments like that. Or to make Jeff a complete hero to play into Scott’s skillset.
Another strike against the general worldliness of Jeff is that when he flees to Arkansas, he hooks up with saloon owner Jules Mourret (George Macready) who is talked about as being very dangerous. Jeff is somehow horrified when once again killing becomes a part of the job. Was he just expecting stern words?
What’s a Western without a little romance? Of course Jeff has a loyal woman. Josie (Claire Trevor) is not some piece of furniture but a capable character in her own right. Trevor gives her a spine and attitude often lacking in the more straightforward, less complex Westerns. The pair has a new genuine romantic chemistry. Josie is the female version of Jeff-more or less. I can at least believe that she would be willing to root up her life to chase this man down and by the end I can believe that he would be willing to settle down with her. That worked the best out of all things in this movie.
If they had really wanted to make Jeff dastardly for the ‘50s they would have had the character seriously pursue young Shelby Conroy (Joan Weldon) while posing as security for her father’s gold-running stage. It looks like they could be a couple but it goes nowhere once Josie arrives. Then given the structure he would have needed to abandon Josie before the end and the two were obviously intended as a healthy couple.
Lee Marvin as Dan Kurth and Ernest Borgnine as Bull Slager, members of Jules’ band of henchmen, feature in this. Both help elevate the material a little bit. Lee Marvin adds menace with his voice alone with Borgnine being jovial yet dark.
Once the action gets going and the movie picks up pace, you won’t think too much about the questionable aspects. Jeff’s weird line of what he will and won’t do ceases to matter in this amiable bit of comfort food that wraps up neatly by the end. Jules is a gentlemanly villain with enough control over things that looks like he might win. The issue there is he delivers his lines far too kindly making you forget he is the real villain.
I didn’t feel terrible watching The Stranger Wore a Gun, but it didn’t quite scratch the eternal itch I have for an action-adventure Western. It was old fashion Western but it was one done by the numbers.
