"No Name on the Bullet" is just such a great title for a Western; it conjures up so many images of gun fights, shoot outs and showdowns. I enjoyed the film with one reservation - I just can't get used to the idea of Audie Murphy portraying a heel. For me, it just doesn't work, just as Roy Rogers wouldn't have worked as the lead character. A baby face on the lead villain doesn't create the tension needed in a psychological Western.
That aside, the film works on it's premise - a hired gunman rides into town on a mission with a reputation that precedes him. His method is always the same, stay awhile, get the lay of the land, and let the town's nervous citizens take themselves and each other apart until the day of reckoning.
Fine performances are turned in by Willis Bouchey as Sheriff Buck Hastings, and Charles Drake as Dr. Luke Canfield who befriends gunslinger John Gant (Murphy) before he realizes who he is. As his contact with Gant is entirely amiable, including a game of chess, Canfield has a tough time acknowledging Gant's reputation as a cold hearted killer.
Gant plays his cards close and observes, as if waiting for the town to take out his intended victim for him. Along the way, crooked banker Pierce (Whit Bissel) commits suicide, and cowhand Ben Chafee (John Alderson) forces a confrontation with Pierce's partner Stricker (Karl Swenson). The finale allows Gant to dole out his own brand of justice without firing a shot, yet know that his career is over as he heads into sundown, the victim of a healer with a hammer.
That aside, the film works on it's premise - a hired gunman rides into town on a mission with a reputation that precedes him. His method is always the same, stay awhile, get the lay of the land, and let the town's nervous citizens take themselves and each other apart until the day of reckoning.
Fine performances are turned in by Willis Bouchey as Sheriff Buck Hastings, and Charles Drake as Dr. Luke Canfield who befriends gunslinger John Gant (Murphy) before he realizes who he is. As his contact with Gant is entirely amiable, including a game of chess, Canfield has a tough time acknowledging Gant's reputation as a cold hearted killer.
Gant plays his cards close and observes, as if waiting for the town to take out his intended victim for him. Along the way, crooked banker Pierce (Whit Bissel) commits suicide, and cowhand Ben Chafee (John Alderson) forces a confrontation with Pierce's partner Stricker (Karl Swenson). The finale allows Gant to dole out his own brand of justice without firing a shot, yet know that his career is over as he heads into sundown, the victim of a healer with a hammer.