When you know Audie Murphy's story, decorated war hero, small man, his character here as hired gun John Gant shows how versatile he was, playing the hero or the villain equally well. This is a short movie, listed at 77 minutes but actually running a bit under that, and is the proper length to tell the story.
His reputation is well known, and when he comes to this small town a number of the men have to worry. Gant takes his time, to see what will develop. As it turns out, his target is Judge Benson, who is now elderly and sick, confined to a wheelchair. But Gant is a professional, he has a job to do, but can even he shoot a man in a wheelchair?
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. The pretty Joan Evans plays Anne Benson, the daughter to Judge Benson. Gant gets her in his hotel room, and all we see is him ripping her dress, exposing her in undergarments. We don't see what happens next. But, when Gant visits Judge Benson a few minutes later, he pulls a part of Anne's dress out of his pocket, showing it to the Judge, implying he had harmed her. The old man gets up, grabs a gun as Gant walks outside, prepared to "defend" himself. But the old man dies on his own, Gant has him cleaned without firing a shot.
The irony is, the town doctor shows up a minute later, not knowing what transpired, as Gant turns hits Gant on the shoulder with a large hammer, wounding him and partially crippling his shooting arm. The Doc offered to look at it, but Gant took his fate in stride and rode off, to the END of the movie, knowing that his time had come too.
His reputation is well known, and when he comes to this small town a number of the men have to worry. Gant takes his time, to see what will develop. As it turns out, his target is Judge Benson, who is now elderly and sick, confined to a wheelchair. But Gant is a professional, he has a job to do, but can even he shoot a man in a wheelchair?
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. The pretty Joan Evans plays Anne Benson, the daughter to Judge Benson. Gant gets her in his hotel room, and all we see is him ripping her dress, exposing her in undergarments. We don't see what happens next. But, when Gant visits Judge Benson a few minutes later, he pulls a part of Anne's dress out of his pocket, showing it to the Judge, implying he had harmed her. The old man gets up, grabs a gun as Gant walks outside, prepared to "defend" himself. But the old man dies on his own, Gant has him cleaned without firing a shot.
The irony is, the town doctor shows up a minute later, not knowing what transpired, as Gant turns hits Gant on the shoulder with a large hammer, wounding him and partially crippling his shooting arm. The Doc offered to look at it, but Gant took his fate in stride and rode off, to the END of the movie, knowing that his time had come too.