7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In the western frontier town of Cross Creek storekeeper George Temple is a polite and soft spoken man with a secret past.When three bank robbers on the lam stop in town to change horses George Temple's past comes back to haunt him.
Starring: Glenn Ford, Jeanne Crain, Broderick Crawford, Noah Beery Jr., Russ TamblynWestern | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Russell Rouse's The Fastest Gun Alive is the feature-length adaptation of a 1954 hour-long TV anthology series episode titled "The Last Notch". That's not necessarily a complaint, but it does explain why the film probably didn't feel like true big-screen escapist entertainment in a decade when small black-and-white boxes threatened to replace movie theaters. It nonetheless proved to be a modest hit for MGM, riding high on the public's enduring fascination with Westerns while succeeding decently well as a padded but engaging character drama that ends on a high note.
What follows is a surprisingly slow-building plot -- at least given the film's title -- that sees bulldog Vinnie and his men almost inevitably end up in George's neck of the woods. It's a mostly predictable story but one that at least takes a few much-needed detours, including a fairly clever coda that doesn't deviate from its source material and feels like viable middle-ground between the traditional "Hollywood ending" and an unfairly downbeat conclusion. Neither George nor his thankless wife are especially three-dimensional characters, but we still care what happens to them.
Yet the screenplay's hour-long origins are clearly evident at critical moments, including a few scenes that were either added or extended to fill the additional 30 minutes of runtime. (This is no 3:10 to Yuma, coincidentally also starring Glenn Ford, as small swaths of its "waiting game" feel more dragged out than suspenseful.) Its mostly understated black-and-white cinematography and 1.85:1 aspect ratio also fall short of the grand, ultra-wide landscape provided by Technicolor and then-new CinemaScope format -- both of which stood out sharply against TV's boxier, monochrome viewing experience -- and this also contributes to The Fastest Gun Alive's almost unavoidable small-screen aesthetic. But the end result is still a solidly entertaining film, one that warrants repeat viewings and sits pretty comfortably as watchable fare that should satisfy fans of the cast, crew, and subject matter. I could even see scoring The Fastest Gun Alive a solid 4/5 on the right day, but in my opinion it falls just a little short of true genre greatness.
As usual, Warner Archive's reliably great restoration efforts lead the way as part of yet another solid Blu-ray package. This one's a recommended
release for fans and a solid overall entry during an extremely busy month for the boutique label: five more are part of this month's lineup,
including the original 1931 version of Cimarron. (Its superior 1960 remake somehow slipped through the cracks in 2020, so perhaps I'll add that to my list as well.)
The Fastest Gun Alive was restored by Warner Archive from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative, which should tell you all you need to know about the strength and stability of this rock-solid 1080p transfer. The workmanlike cinematography and production design look exceptionally crisp here -- not surprising, given its general abundance of sunny outdoor scenes and use of close-ups that draw attention to George Temple's endless supply of forehead sweat. From its costume designs to background details, The Fastest Gun Alive is a fantastically textured film that showcases excellent shadow detail and a full range of contrast values, all of which are reinforced beautifully thanks to Warner Archive's careful manual cleanup and reliably great disc encoding, which lets the show run at a supportively high bit rate with absolutely no signs of trouble. It's more great work from the best in the business for purist-friendly catalog releases, and yet another Blu-ray that pushes the format's boundaries for outstanding video quality.
Although it can't help but come in second, The Fastest Gun Alive's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix -- which has been sourced from an original mono magnetic printmaster, according to a reliable source -- offers a solid split rendition of the film's one-channel soundtrack. Dialogue is mostly crisp and André Previn's score is balanced very well with background effects and action, yet there's a lightly persistent level of hiss that can be heard along the way. It's a fair compromise, as a much heavier hand would have squashed the film's dynamic range, so die-hard fans can at least rest comfortably knowing that this Blu-ray's lossless mix is a solid step up from its Dolby Digital DVD counterpart.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the main feature only, not the extras.
This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed art and no inserts of any kind. The extras are mostly more pre-show entertainment than film-specific, but how can you be mad at two Tom and Jerry shorts?
Russell Rouse's The Fastest Gun Alive is a mostly engaging Western drama with solid performances and a decent core story... and I didn't even mention the show-stealing dance number by Russ Tamblyn, which can't be watched just once. But it's also padded at critical moments, a clear reminder of its adaptation from an hour-long TV episode. That doesn't sink the ship but it does make a potentially great movie just "good", or in this case good enough. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is a fan-pleasing effort whose top-tier restoration makes this a disc with owning. Recommended.
1950
1955
Warner Archive Collection
1950
1958
Limited Edition to 3000
1966
1947
Limited Edition to 3000
1959
Fox Studio Classics
1939
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1961
1952
1974
1971
1959
1962
El Perdido
1961
Warner Archive Collection
1952
1971
1969
1976
1965