Gun Fury [HD]

Entertaining Rock Hudson Western
Rock Hudson, Donna Reed, Phil Carey, and Leo Gordon are part of a fairly enjoyable Western directed by the great action director Raoul Walsh.

Gun Fury involves characters mixed up a stagecoach robbery. The stagecoach, carrying impending married couple Hudson and Reed, are ambushed by a gang of ex-Confederate rebels led by Carey and Gordon, including gang members Neville Brand and Lee Marvin. Hudson is left for dead, and Carey, who appreciates the beauty of fellow Southerner Reed, takes her with him. When Gordon objects, Carey and the gang rough Gordon up, leaving him for dead.

Hudson recovers and goes after his fiancee, and when he runs across Gordon, they reluctantly team up to go after Carey. They don't get much help along the way, except for an Indian who also has a socre to settle with Carey.

Walsh knows what he's doing, and the action sequences are first rate. It's hard to know at times if Hudson is doing a bad job of acting, or if he's nailing...

Be prepared for a rough ride...
"Gun Fury" is a little colorful Western that was originally shown in 3-D... The film shows outdoor scenes, set against spectacular Arizona scenery...

Walsh introduced his main characters quickly:

Ben (Rock Hudson) is a California-bound settler interested only in the future... He spent five years fighting somebody else's quarrel... The woman he intends to marry is meeting him in Haynesville...They will go on to his place from there...

Jennifer Ballard (Donna Reed) has never been so happy... She just can't believe that she is really with Ben... She has waited for him so long...

Frank Slayton (Phil Carey) is a ruthless 'Southern gentleman' who fought the war and saw 'his' world die...For him, Jennifer brought back things he hadn't thought of in years: Richmond, the ladies in fancy dresses, garden parties, dances...

Jess (Leo Gordon) was not trying to run things... But he refused to let Slayton drag Miss Ballard along...

Frantic, undemanding but a bit flat
This is your typical Saturday afternoon fifties western. Lots of gun play, lots of horse chases and a frenzied music score that seems to play throughout the entire movie. Rock Hudson is the ex-soldier who has turned his back on the ways of violence, but is forced to strap on his sidearms once more when his fiancee (Donna Reed) is kidnapped by villainous Phil Carey (who does a nice turn as a southern gent gone bad). The movie strays into High Noon territory as Hudson vainly tries to enlist aid to get his wife back, but only ex-outlaw Leo Gordon and an Indian whose sister was killed by the outlaws side up with him for the show-down. There's a lot of potential here (stunning New Mexico scenery, an ace action director and a great ensemble of villains, including Lee Marvin, Neville Brand and Leo Gordon). But strangely, it doesn't quite click into a satisfying whole. The villains (Carey included) put up a shocking fight in the final gunfight, so it comes across as more of a turkey shoot...

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